Tuesday, April 8, 2008, is the day when voters in Dunklin County will choose who they want serving their local city government as well as their school boards.

There will be elections in each city throughout the county where there is opposition.

The City of Kennett will see a race in Ward I, where incumbent Patty Webb has filed for re-election to the council. Mark Ellis is also seeking to serve Ward I.

Webb was appointed to the council by Mayor Roger Wheeler and the city council after former councilman Randy Bridges resigned his seat due to change of residency. Webb accepted the offer and began serving the council in early 2007. Many of Webb's peers say she has been an asset to the city, standing up and fighting for what she believes to be the best interest of people she represents.

Webb's opponent, Mark Ellis, said he has always had an interest in the community and is now at a point in his career where he has more time to pursue this. "If elected, one of my top priorities would be to develop a way for our local law enforcement to keep help," Ellis said. "We keep losing good officers."

Ellis said he would also like to find a way to ensure that the fire department has access to any and all training in order to keep the same type of qualified and experienced fire department personnel. "We have an excellent fire department and we need to try and keep it that way."

There is only one other race within the Kennett city government and that is in Ward V. Incumbent Tracy Smith filed for his seat again to serve residents of Ward V. Smith found an opponent in Gene Watts, who also has filed for the Ward V alderman seat.

Watts said he initially did not intend to run for councilman, that was until residents of his ward began calling him and asking him to run and represent them.

"People just want to be heard," Watts said. "I feel like my experience as a manager has helped equip me for something like this."

Watts said it is important to understand that nobody is perfect, but at the same time nobody likes to be wrong. "The fact is, if we all work together and try and understand where the next guy is coming from, things are more likely to get accomplished," Watts said.

There is no opposition for the other three seats. Incumbent James "Jingo" Cole filed again for Ward II councilman. Incumbent Tony Crawford filed again for Ward III. Diane Thomason Risner filed for Ward IV councilman.

The City of Arbyrd has a race for the Mayor's seat. Mayor Lonnie Gibson, Jr. drew opposition in Paul Phillips. The only other race within the city government is between Robert Burgess and Alfred "Rich" Vallee, who both seek to fill the South Ward alderman seat vacated by former alderman Jeff Wilson.

Mitch Skelton has filed for city marshal. Incumbent Jessica Zolman has filed again for North Ward Alderman, two-year term. Johnnie Zolman has filed for the North Ward alderman, one year term seat, which Ron Branum was appointed to late last year.

There is no opposition in the city of Cardwell, in fact, the North Ward alderman seat has no one running for it.

There is no opposition in the City of Holcomb either. Incumbent Terry Robertson filed for South Ward alderman, Richard Rickman filed for North Ward alderman, two-year-term, and Clerk Jerry Gray runs unopposed for city clerk.

There are a couple of races in the City of Hornersville as Chief Carl Pierce and officer Johnny Van Nunnery battle again for the chief of police position. Last election there was nearly a tie between the two which resulted in a recount, ending in a one-vote difference with Pierce assuming the role as chief again.

Pierce was unavailable for comment. Nunnery said his motivation for running is to provide 24-hour service to citizens of Hornersville. "We need to have somebody that is available 24/7, and I know that I can provide that," Nunnery said. "It would be nothing short of what I do now, minus the title."

Other races in the city of Hornersville are for the seat of South Ward alderman, two-year-term, and North Ward alderman, two-year-term.

Glenn Burress will be running against incumbent Greg Fletcher. Burress was not available for comment, but Fletcher said, if re-elected, he plans to continue working toward street improvements. "As head of the street department I feel it is my duty to see that we work toward getting the streets paved and repaired," Fletcher said. "Building up our funds in the street department is the only way we will be able to afford to see this gets done."

The only other race in Hornersville is between incumbent Marty Goff, who has served residents of the North Ward, and Ronald G. Coleman and Rondia Rauls, who also seek to fill the two-year-term seat.

Rauls said she decided to file in an effort to try and bring the community together. "If we can get everyone back working together, it will improve the quality of life for us all," Rauls said. "Hornersville is our home. It is up to us to see that our future here and that for our children and grandchildren is one that we can look forward to," she said. "For most of us, this is our permanent home. So it's time we break a pathway open so that we and the generations to follow may continue to set goals to improve and enhance our quality of living."

Efforts to contact Coleman and Goff were unsuccessful up through press time.

Incumbent Phyllis Hamrick was the only one to file for the South Ward alderman, one-year term seat.

The City of Senath has drawn a race between incumbent Junior Jaco and Randy Wiseman, who have both filed for the South Ward alderman, a two-year-term seat. Jaco said he is seeking re-election for a variety of reasons. "I feel that the mayor is on the right track in his effort to get the city cleaned up," Jaco said. "With that, there are a lot of other things that need to be addressed as well." Jaco said once the city is cleaned up, he would like to see it expand, bringing in more businesses, which will produce more jobs and revenue for the city. "Getting new businesses established is crucial for a small community such as this," Jaco said. "Our future and our children's future starts here and now with us."

Wiseman was not available for comment.

Incumbent Bud Brooks runs unopposed for his seat as North Ward alderman.

Another important factor voters will decide on in the April 2008 election at Senath, will be whether or not the residents of the city would rather the city council and mayor appoint a city marshall or if they would rather leave it up to the voters to decide each election by checking yeah or nay on the designated ballot box.

The April 2008 election will also give voters the opportunity to determine who will be serving their school district by running for a spot on the local board of education.

Schools and contenders for serving their board of education are:

* Southland -- There are three seats available on the Southland Board of Education. There were four people to file for those seats. They are incumbent Derrick Higgins, incumbent Kathy Zolman, incumbent Jeff Wilson. Steve Eastburn has also filed for one of the three seats as well.

* Kennett -- The Kennett Board of Education will have a race since five people are running with only three seats vacant. Candidates who have filed include Randy Haman, Daren Todd, Chris Wake, Bob Green and Eules Hively.

Hively, a veteran school board member has served the Kennett public school system for nearly a quarter of a century. After putting in more than 21 years on the school board, Hively said he felt it was time to try it again. "When I decided to run again, there were only about three candidates that had filed," Hively said, "so I felt that I should go for it since there didn't seem to be enough interest."

Hively's family roots are deep in the Kennett community. My wife and I have lived here for more than 44 years now," Hively said. "We raised our children and brought them up in the Kennett school system. They grew up and now they are back and also reside in Kennett, which is where they chose to raise their children as well."

Hively said serving on the school board is a way for him to give something back to a community that gave him so much. "There's no pay for serving on the school board. The gratuity is in the satisfaction of knowing that you helped children get through school and made it convenient as possible for everyone involved.

"I feel that the one thing I would like to see change is the teacher's salary. We have some of the lowest paid teachers in the state," Hively said. "That has got to change. If we ever plan on hiring teachers to replace those that will someday retire or move away for better pay, then we need to figure out a way to fix this."

Randy Haman, another Kennett school board candidate, said this is the first time he has decided to run for school board. "I decide to run for no reason other than the fact that I want to offer my services to a school and community that has been so good to me and my family," he said.

Haman said that most who know him know that he is a very well rounded businessman. "I am a very fair person," Haman said. "I always try and see two sides, or all sides of a story. By being an insurance adjuster for more than 35 years, Haman said he has had to put himself in other's shoes more than once. "I have had a lot of experience learning what effects a decision a have on a person's home, property and livelihood," he said. "So I am very conscious of the decisions I make day in and day out."

Haman said one thing he is 100 percent behind is the Project for Kids. "I am a strong proponent for the Project for Kids," Haman said. "I feel it is something worth fighting for, for our children. I feel that Mr. Noble and Mr. Wilson are doing a fine job and I hope we keep it heading in the right direction."

Chris Wake is another one who decided to make this his first election ever. "My reason for running is simple," Wake said. "I want to give back to a community and school that so graciously gave to me and my family."

Wake said that he feels that two of the community's most vital professions aren't compensated for the job they produce. "Our law enforcement and our teachers are two of the lowest paid in the state," Wake said. "Those are two of the most important roles we have in our community. We've got to find a way to start protecting these positions, therefore, we know we are able to attract the most qualified applicants to fill those positions when they come available."

Wake said he love the opportunity to get to serve the school system in that capacity.

Daren Todd, a current school board member said his motivation for seeking re-election to be able to continue the work he is involved in and to see things progress even more.

"When I first started serving on the school board I only had one daughter in the school system. Now I have two more children, so the future of this school is very important to me," Todd said. "The decisions that are made are based on what will be best for the children and in their best interest."

Todd said if he gets re-elected he wants to work toward getting teachers' salaries bumped up, but not to a point to where the school is looking at another budget deficit. "Things can be done, but in moderation," he said. "Our priority should be to do what we can to ensure that every child has a chance to excel at something, whether it be football, drama, music, etc." Todd said, "Therefore, we know we are giving them the best chance at being as well rounded as they can possibly be."

Bob Green, another three-year veteran, said he is seeking to return, like Todd, to finish what was started. "We had some good things happen over the past couple of years," Green said. "We've gotten the discipline under control at the middle school and we need to make sure that that remains stable."

Green said the only thing he would like to see change is the parents' involvement. "I would like to see a stronger relationship between the school and the kids' parents," Green said. "That would improve the overall quality of life for everyone involved."

* Senath-Hornersville -- There will be no race for seats on the Senath-Hornersville Board of Education since three candidates filed and the board had three empty seats. They include, incumbent Dana Autry, incumbent Gary Newman, Jr., and Wayland Tom.