Patrica Norris-Beechner is a candidate for the fourth ward council position currently held by Jim Bush.
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Mrs. Norris was born in Trenton and is a lifelong Grundy County resident. She graduated from Trenton High School in 1975 and graduated with honors in 1995 from North Central Missouri College with an applied science degree in nursing. She also graduated with honors in 2006 from the University of Phoenix with a bachelor of science degree in nursing and is 15 hours short of receiving her master’s degree. Prior to attending nursing school, she was a stay-at-home mother with various part-time jobs. Since 1996 she has been employed at the Cameron Regional Medical Center Home Health Agency as a staff nurse, advancing to assistant director of nursing/intake coordinator in 2006. She has also been employed at Wright Memorial Hospital Home Health Agency as well as Eastview Manor and Sunnyview Nursing Home. She is on call one weekend a month for Comfort Care Hospice in Cameron as well as an occasional on call for home health. She is married to John Beechner, a former Jamesport City Councilman and they have one son, Bill Norris of Liberty and two daughters, Debbie Stimpson of Galt and Paula Dinwiddie of Chillicothe. They also have two grandchildren, Shelbi and Jonathan Stimpson of Galt. She has been a member of Phi Theta Kappa since 1995 and a is a member of First Christian Church in Trenton.
Why are you running for this position.
I am seeking the office of fourth ward city councilman for a variety of reasons.
• Everyone should be involved in the community that they reside. It is imperative that the representative for the council represent the whole city and not just in the ward they reside. After multiple issues with the city and contact with various current councilmen, I found that it was the councilmen for the other wards that went to bat for me related to the issues that I was having. With this said, I decided that by being on the city council I, too, could go to bat for those residents that were having issues with the city.
• I am very interested in economic development. If we are to keep our fair city afloat, we must bring in new business as well as keeping our young people local. It is our young people that will run our city in the years to come and it is that group of citizens that we need to rely on in the future.
What do you feel are the concerns facing the residents of Trenton that you would like to see addressed as related to the position for which you are a candidate and how would you deal with them if elected.
The concerns facing the city are multiple.
• The retirement of the fire chief is high on this list. It will be necessary to choose a replacement for this fine employee of the city. Making this choice is a big job because the replacement for this man will have big shoes to fill. We need to make sure that this hired employee is here for the long haul and plans to make a long-term commitment to our city. I would like to see the replacement of the fire chief be that of a young family man, willing to raise his children in Trenton and make his home here.
• Keeping our police department and fire department current with all of the up to date equipment is vital to our city. We hear of the fires that take lives and we want to make sure that our department has all of the most up-to-date equipment that is available. It is also important that the police department and fire department remain active in the community. It is our young people who are influenced by that involvement that will someday be our policemen and firemen.
• I would like to see something done with the farm ground north of the city other than the city being in the “rent a farm ground” business. Maybe it would be feasible if the city sold some of the real estate they have acquired over the years. I would like to see ownership of city-owned real estate in the hands of taxpaying citizens. Furthermore, I would be interested in knowing how much income has been made from the rental of farm ground that the city owns.
There has been a strong focus recently on economic development in the community, with a special emphasis on the DREAM Initiative and renovation of the downtown area. What are your feelings regarding the DREAM Initiative and do you feel the city is taking the right approach in regard to economic development efforts (why or why not)?
I can remember when the downtown area was a booming area, especially on Saturday night. When the local merchants decided that Saturday night was not the night to stay open late, the downtown area slowly died. I would appreciate the downtown area being overly populated with businesses and busy on a daily basis, but I cannot see that happening any time soon. When the business buildings in the downtown area are falling down, who has the funds to rebuild? The reason these buildings are falling down is because those owners do not have the funds for upkeep or the interest just isn’t there.
All communities have “DREAMS.” However, $350,000.00 on renovation of the TDIA building is just a little over our heads as a city. Just think of how many months’ rent could be paid to an already erected building/office space in the downtown area for this amount of money. With my current calculations, rent could be paid at $500/month for a little over 58 years. Sure it is rent, but the city would be recipients of tax monies from the property owner as well as the property owner being responsible for building insurance. This would also keep a building in the downtown area occupied instead of sitting empty. Instead, the TDIA wants to take business away from already established businesses in the form of overnight rental of rooms for those traveling through our city once this building is refurbished. If I was in the business of overnight room rental, I would be just as upset as the owners of the local motels. Why take business away from local merchants to finance TDIA when TDIA will probably be short-lived anyway? (the grant monies stop in just a little over a year)
It is my understanding that the TDIA has purchased the building close to the railroad tracks for a “railroad museum/ice cream parlor.” Do we not already have a museum? Why not support our current museum? And I have heard of talk of constructing a walking track to this “railroad museum/ice cream parlor.” Do we not already have a walking track? And if that walking track is constructed, where will the monies come from to acquire the property that will be needed? And an ice cream parlor…where is all of the activity in town on a hot summer evening? If our current established businesses that sell ice cream are kept busy, then they just might continue in business.
Other Comments.
I look forward to meeting the registered voters in the 4th ward in my quest to become the fourth ward city council representative.