GCDCC News

138th District House seat hopefuls’ economic ideas differ

Amos Bridges • News-Leader • October 9, 2010

The three candidates in the 138th District House race agree creating jobs and jump-starting the local economy are top priorities, but they offer different strategies for doing so.

Political newcomer John Sellars, the Republican candidate, says the legislature needs to focus on “jobs, jobs, jobs,” reduce regulations and cut taxes to boost small business owners’ confidence.

Independent Steven Reed, a former City Council candidate who has backed a bevy of political causes and government audits, wants to create “technology parks” throughout Missouri and establish elected economic development directors in each of the state’s nine congressional districts.

Democrat Sara Lampe, who is seeking a fourth and final term representing the 138th, points to education and worker retraining as vital components of an economic recovery and says her position as the ranking minority member on the House budget committee will allow her to support local interests.

Sara Lampe

Lampe, first elected by 138th District voters in 2004, said she has been honored to serve and wants to continue her advocacy for Springfield residents during a final term.

“To me this one is about saying, ‘I’ll go,’” said Lampe, 61. “It’s going to be a challenge … but it’s what makes this system work.”

With more than four decades of experience as an educator, Lampe embraces her reputation as a champion of public schools while refuting her opponents’ accusations that she has ignored economic concerns.

As evidence she points to her support for tax breaks meant to keep open a Ford Motor Co. plant in Claycomo and sponsorship of a bill streamlining small business reporting to the secretary of state, as well as an 86 percent voting scorecard from the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

She also argues education “links arm-in-arm” to economic development. “Part of that is about getting people re-educated for the job.”

Responding to comments about connecting with constituents, Lampe said her office responded to more than 400 e-mail requests in the past year, sent out a weekly electronic newsletter during the session and held six listening posts. “Can we always do better? Yeah. But the fact is we do reach out.”

As the ranking Democrat on the House budget committee, Lampe expects another tight budget year and said she hopes to use her position to minimize the inevitable cuts to public school and university funding. “I want to be there to make sure no one area of the budget suffers more than others.”

Lampe said she also worries Republicans will attempt “a sea change in public education” in the upcoming session, with measures aimed at introducing “vouchers, open enrollment, merit pay for teachers and charter schools, just to name a few.”

“The expertise of someone who can argue what pieces of those will be good or bad for schools will be critical,” she said.

John Sellars

A Springfield native, Sellars left the area in the 1990s while working in sales for Coca-Cola and Pepsi before returning in 2000. He retired in 2004, then took a job as executive director of the History Museum for Springfield-Greene County.

“I love what I do and want to give back some,” he said. “I’m not doing this for anything else but to go, serve the people of the 138th District and come home.”

Describing himself as a political outsider, Sellars, 61, believes the Republican majority has done a good job educating the public about the state budget shortfall but has been “just so darn contentious, so argumentative … it stifles the process.”

He said he’d like to do more to building consensus, “get things passed, get things solved and get people back to work.”

Job creation, he said, would be his No. 1 priority if elected.

“I think that what we’ve gotta do is get confidence back in our business owners that they’re not going to be bombarded with additional rules and regulations and taxes,” he said. State efforts need to be more than “throwing money at things, then those jobs go away after nine months …

“We’ve got to find ways to make sustainable work.”

Sellars generally avoided direct criticism of Lampe in interviews with the News-Leader but said he thinks she has not been focused enough on the economy.

Lampe has been “a tremendous champion of education,” he said. “I appreciate that, but times have changed … She has not shifted her approach, shifted her efforts as greatly as she should have.”

Sellars said he also would do more to establish “a two-way dialogue” with constituents than Lampe has.

“That two-way conversation is what it’s supposed to be about — them understanding where I’m coming from … and them making me understand what their thoughts and issues are,” he said.

Steven Reed

Reed, 50, has a lengthy history of political activity since coming to southwest Missouri to attend College of the Ozarks, where he graduated in 1994.

A veteran of door-to-door campaigns and petition drives, he previously has run for positions on the Ozarks Technical Community College board, Nixa Board of Alderman and Springfield City Council.

A longtime supporter of Democratic causes and candidates, Reed said he has become more conservative and skeptical of government. He frequently has rubbed elbows with Libertarians while promoting audits of city government and the school district and said he is running as a tea party candidate.

Reed said job creation and economic development are his highest priorities. He is critical of Lampe’s efforts in that area — “I don’t know what she’s done” — and has distributed a radio ad in which he impersonates the incumbent and says she is “clueless” about the economy.

“As far as I’m concerned we ought to declare an economic emergency,” said Reed.

A central component of Reed’s economic plan is the creation of technology parks, an idea he has lobbied for for more than a decade.

Modeled after technology centers in Indiana, they would be similar to Springfield’s existing industrial parks but place an emphasis on high-tech research and business development rather than traditional manufacturing.

In order to “revamp economic development,” Reed also suggests reviewing the work of agencies involved in small business development “to make sure they have open-door policies for small business owners.”

Economic development directors elected in each congressional district could consolidate some of that work, he said.

Cracking down on illegal immigration to safeguard jobs for local workers is another priority, said Reed, who suggests a tax or tariff on goods made out of state by local companies.