Rotarians 'speed meet' with some Cole County candidates

Four local political candidates were guests at a Monday luncheon hosted by the Rotary Club of Jefferson City. Judge Pat Joyce, prosecuting attorney Mark Richardson and candidates Anji Gandhi and Susan Cook were at the lunch to visit with members, share their views with them and to answer questions.
Four local political candidates were guests at a Monday luncheon hosted by the Rotary Club of Jefferson City. Judge Pat Joyce, prosecuting attorney Mark Richardson and candidates Anji Gandhi and Susan Cook were at the lunch to visit with members, share their views with them and to answer questions.

One Jefferson City Rotary Club's members met four of the Cole County candidates on next week's ballot in an unusual way Monday.

It was like "speed dating" in the Miller Performing Arts Center's atrium, where each of the four candidates visited each of the four tables of Rotarians for five minutes at a time, briefly talking about themselves and answering a few questions.

The four candidates were Democrat Susan Cook, running for county clerk; incumbent Circuit Judge Pat Joyce, a Democrat; and both prosecuting attorney candidates, incumbent Republican Mark Richardson and challenger Anji Gandhi, an Independent.

• Joyce was joined by Courts Administrator Larry Henry, and they talked about the launch of the new Veterans Court, an alternative court program to help veterans charged with crimes find ways to straighten out their lives rather than going to prison.

Joyce said her concern was driven partly by a grim statistic: "About every 52 minutes, a veteran commits suicide" somewhere in the country.

She said the new Cole County Veterans Court is the nation's first to launch with an alliance with the National Guard.

• Cook talked about her background as an office and operations manager for local firms, including a real estate company.

If elected, she said she'd look into making some polling places more convenient for voters, noting some have complained they "live across the street from a polling place but have to go somewhere else to vote."

• Richardson pointed to his long history as an assistant prosecutor, in private practice and as Jefferson City's municipal judge.

As prosecutor since 2003, he noted, "I've tried 21 jury trials, including five murders and one death penalty case."

But the area's biggest crime problem these days is drugs, with people committing crimes in order to have money to get more drugs, he said.

• Gandhi repeated her belief that the prosecutor's office should be independent and not beholden to any political party.

She noted that, since she first became an assistant prosecutor in 1996, she's been involved with trials for many different kinds of crimes.

"I have the experience and the know-how to lead the office," she said - promising again to improve the office's victims outreach program.

Circuit judge candidate Brian Stumpe and county clerk candidate Steve Korsmeyer, both Republicans, were not able to attend Monday's Rotary meeting.