Vote Yes and Yes

With all the distractions, the elections next Tuesday have nearly caught us all by surprise.

There do not seem to be any contests on either the school board or the City Council. Luckily, the persons who have offered themselves as candidates all seem to be good choices.

The real questions to be answered will be how much we value the young persons in the community. Do we want to improve the school facilities? Do we want to provide summer recreation in the form of baseball fields and a swimming pool?

My answer is a resounding YES to all the above. 

I know the Park Board anguished over the decision to open the pool. They are going to try it and hope to avoid virus problems and the possibility the old pool will not hold water. Many towns are not even going to try.

The park tax would mean you would pay one dime for every $20 you spend. Sounds pretty cheap for what we would be getting.

They need your “YES” vote on Tuesday.

Let me tell you about my son. Jeff Briggs was elected president of the National Earthquake Management Program Managers Group. He began his one-year term during the National Earthquake Conference, held in March in San Diego.  

The group represents 33 states and territories with seismic risks. They lead national preparedness and outreach efforts to improve earthquake readiness.

Jeff is program manager for the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and, with more than 1,000 volunteer engineers, architects and building managers trained to quickly assess buildings after an earthquake or tornado.

SEMA works to increase earthquake preparedness and safety because of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is centered in the southeast Missouri and produces more than 200 small earthquakes each year. 

Briggs has been SEMA’s earthquake program manager since 2015 and has worked in state government for almost 30 years, handling communications, training, and project management for SEMA as well as the Missouri Department of Transportation.

In some quarters, he is a man of mystery: It concerns Brad Pitt.

• Both of them were born in Missouri

• Both are 56 years old

• Both went to the University of Missouri

• Both attended Journalism School

… and nobody has ever seen them at the same time. 

Just say’in