William (Bill) Scearce, at left, a Joplin entrepreneur, has formalized his bid to seek election to the Joplin City Council and was certified by the Joplin City Clerk on December 27, 2007. Scearce, who currently serves on the Joplin’s Capital Improvements Sales Tax Oversight Committee, has also worked in a number of active community and civic organizations since moving to Joplin in 1968. He intends to focus his campaign on moving the Joplin community forward in a positive direction.
“I believe that Joplin should be a place where everyone who desires a job has one, making a living wage,” Scearce said. “People need to feel safe in their homes, workplaces and on the streets of our community, and there needs to be a climate where open and honest discussions of the issues facing our community can be heard and considered.”
Joplin's economic development is something Scearce has played a prominent role in for a number of years. An eight year veteran of the city council, from 1982-1990, two years of which he also served as mayor pro-tem, Scearce helped develop the Economic Development Program, which between 1982 and 1987 created more jobs for the Joplin area than were created in any other metropolitan area in the state.
“I would like to jump start that program again, and I have some definite job creation ideas,” Scearce said. “When the municipal government is proactive in expanding local industry and finding new industry, that creates a climate where businesses can invest their dollars here, in Joplin, and get a return on those dollars, and that's vitally important.”
Most of all, Scearce wants to use his experiences not only as a businessman, but also as a community and civic leader to be a voice for the residents of Joplin. “I feel like having been a member of the executive and legislative branches of the municipal government as well as a consumer, I know what the people of the Joplin community want and expect out of their local government.” Go Back |
