In the race for the second district commission seat, incumbent Joe Vanover is facing Melissa Moran in the Republican primary.
JOE VANOVER
Vanover, 51, is from Platte City and married to Julie Vanover. The couple has two adult children. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from University of Missouri in Columbia and also received his law degree from M.U. He has worked as a private practicing attorney as well as an assistant prosecuting attorney from 2003-2017.
“For 14 years I faced down violent criminals in the courtroom,” Vanover said. “I fought side-by-side with law enforcement officers to keep our community safe. I know public safety is the top priority of local government. In 2021-22 I was part of the leadership team that evaluated the county sales taxes to see if the burden on consumers could be lowered. With the help of detailed analysis and overwhelming voter approval, taxes on Platte County consumers were slashed by $3 million every year. I am driven to get the job done.”
Vanover said conservative leaders are needed in all levels of government and he is guided by common sense to make the right decisions.
“The attempts from the left to steer our country in the wrong direction reach even down to county government,” Vanover said. “We can’t risk letting an elected position go to someone that will believe in the destructive fantasies of the far left.”
An immediate problem facing the county is overcrowding at the county jail, which commissioners, including Vanover, are trying to address with two ballot questions on the August ballot.
“The detention center has been dangerously full for a couple of years,” Vanover said. “It was designed to hold 151 inmates, but the jail population is peaking above 200 every month. We have started treatment courts and funded house arrest to deal with this problem. But we have reached the point where we need to expand.
“The forces on the left and their willing accomplices want to stop Platte County from putting criminals behind bars. Liberals want to see a revolving door at the jail and are willing to go to extreme measures to stop the jail from being expanded. As a prosecutor, I took a stand against criminals intent on destroying life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As a commissioner, I stand against the forces trying to stop us from expanding the Platte County Jail.”
Vanover said if the jail plan is approved, he will work to bring the plan into reality.
“We will know on Aug. 6 if the people of Platte County want to keep our community safe or if they are willing to watch our county start the slide to the crime ridden life seen in Jackson County and other large, liberal cities in America,” Vanover said.
If the county keeps its conservative leadership, he said, there is an opportunity to pay off the debt sooner than anticipated and re-evaluate taxes in a few years as was done in 2022 when taxes were cut by $3 million a year.
MELISSA MORAN
Moran, 61, is originally from Agency, Mo. And has been married for 37 years with two adult children. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and computer science and has master’s degree hours in accounting.
Moran is the owner of Senior Helpers of Kansas City North, since 2006. In the past, she worked in bookkeeping, real estate sales, as a loan officer and wealth management advisor, in programming accounting systems, as a dementia educator and a daycare director.
She believes a county commissioner needs to be a visionary who can see the big picture.
“The role is to plan what our community will look like in the next 50 years and how we will get there with the community’s input,” Moran said.
Moran calls herself a practical frugal conservative who has demonstrated her willingness to serve others utilizing her natural talents to raise the bar in turning plans into action.
As current board president, she was an integral part of Parkville Area Chamber of Commerce, recently merging with the Parkville Economic Development to become PACE (Parkville Area Chamber and EDC).
“Positive leadership is needed to navigate our county’s next steps,” she said. “We can have conservative values and take care of our citizens’ needs at the same time.”
Moran said her “get it done with a positive attitude” skill set will bring the much needed change to the atmosphere of the county. She says is known for her collaboration and connecting others to the resources they need. A major function of the commission is to appoint the 14 boards that run the county. Connecting the right people to those boards is a critical piece of the process.
“Our community has many issues. Known and unknown. Pick any of them and the solution is the same – leadership,” Moran said of challenges the county faces now and in the future. “Citizens deserve a more transparent and complete understanding of the available information on issues. Voters are smart. They appreciate knowing why decisions are made instead of having to guess.”