Two in running for Republican nod in presiding commissioner race

Jul. 29—The only contested local primary in Buchanan County on Aug. 2 is for presiding commissioner, and it pits a political veteran against a rookie.

Al Purcell, one of the candidates, has been in this race before — back in 2014 when he lost to Harry Roberts. The 81-year-old said he has learned more about the county and is ready to make a difference.

"We've lost 6,000 people in the last 11 years, and we have to turn that trajectory around," he said. "They are our best and brightest that we're losing. We have to take a look at what we're doing in terms of our homeless, what we're doing with our whole educational system. I'm running to make a difference about that."

Purcell worked his way up from a Xerox technician to an executive. He moved to St. Joseph nearly 30 years ago and has been involved with Missouri Western State University and Mosaic Life Care.

"My top priority is to build alliances," he said. "Build alliances with the city, build alliances with our educational system, our health-care system, and build alliances with businesses so I can understand, from their perspective, from their viewpoint, what are the critical issues."

One alliance that is of particular interest to Purcell is with the city of St. Joseph. During his campaign, he mentioned the idea of a joint government.

"What's the right kind of the way we spend our money, the way that we legislate, the way we govern? We need to really be candid about that and look at all aspects of that," he said.

His opponent, Scott Nelson, is new to the political environment. But he said he saw a need in the county and wanted to do his part. The 61-year-old was a dentist for 33 years. He said this experience helped him learn how to serve.

"They come in with a problem and you have to decide how you're going to deal with that," he said of his clients. "But you're still serving a need, a health-care need. As commissioner, what are you doing? You're serving the county and its taxpayers and its citizens."

His top priority is to ensure taxpayer money is spent wisely.

"You have to be very prudent in deciding where taxpayer dollars are going because taxpayers have a right, citizens have a right to know where that money's going and it needs to benefit them," he said.

Nelson would like to give the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office the necessary funds as it addresses what he identifies as the county's biggest concern — public safety.

"The biggest concern is probably public safety," he said. "We all know that St. Joe and the community is not as safe as it was 30 years ago. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that.

"These guys are on the road covering wide swaths of ground, so we need to support the sheriff's department," Nelson said. "Sure, they get designated money, they probably need additional money, but those guys are out there every day protecting our citizens."

Nelson also realizes the need to increase the county's population. He said it starts by growing out from the city.

"Good city makes for a good county," he said. "It just does — more products, more manufacturing, more industry. 'Build from within' would be my motto."

But both presiding commissioner candidates understand the county is more than just St. Joseph. Purcell said rural residents should vote for him because he shares similar values, while Nelson said he understands the fine line between economic development and not infringing on agricultural land.

Another point of emphasis is Buchanan County's budget, given rising oil and material prices. Purcell said his financial process would be based on zero-based budgeting.

"Instead of just using what we spent last year and that's going to be the budget for this year with inflation or whatever, I believe we should start with zero," Purcell said. "Start with zero and build it from the ground up."

Nelson said he would set the budget at 95%.

"Say you're going to bring in $100 and base your budget on $100, instead just base it off $95," Nelson said. "If you get more, great. If you get less than that hundred, you're kind of covered."

The winner of the Republican primary will go on to face Democrat Andrew Gibson in the November general election.

While this race is the only local primary for Buchanan County, there will be plenty of other state races on the ballot Tuesday. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

Quinn Ritzdorf can be reached at quinn.ritzdorf@newspressnow.com