Interview was conducted at the Commission office.

Interview – Scott Sader for Eastern Commissioner, Republican

Scott Sader is the current Eastern Commissioner and is seeking reelection. A life-long resident of Johnson County, he attended Knob Noster schools and State Fair Community College. In addition to his Commissioner duties, he owns and operates a cattle and grain farm northeast of Warrensburg. Sader believes that his experience as Commissioner for the past 4 years plus his 5 years as a member of the Sheriff's Department make him well-qualified for the office. Among his responsibilities are overseeing roads and bridges in the eastern district, participating in the county budgeting process and representing the county on the District 6 Solid Waste Disposal board.

Sader believes the three most important issues to face the county over the next four years are the jail, managing growth, and dealing with public nuisances. He notes that the county spends a lot of money maintaining the current jail, handling medical care for prisoners, and placing inmates in other facilities when the jail cannot accept them. One of the big savings of the proposed jail would be the ability to handle minor medical problems without having to take the prisoners to the emergency room.

Sader says that he thinks the county's growth will make some sort of zoning necessary, but any move toward zoning will require a petition be initiated by the citizenry. He said, "Before I took office I would have said no, but now I'm afraid Johnson County is going to have to do something." He does believe that zoning is not the proper route to handle problems such as sewage law violations and he would not support state mandated zoning. Sader says that he thinks the county should have some sort of building standards to protect people, but not detailed building codes that require extensive inspections as are done in the cities.

Economic development issues are important to Sader. He does not think that the County can participate with one of the cities in creating an industrial park unless it is a county park, not a city one. He believes the County would be interested in acquiring land for a park if the right land could be found in a good location. He would not have a blanket tax incentive program, but would favor tax incentives negotiated on a case-by-case basis. In general, he opposes use of eminent domain to acquire land for development purposes, preferring a large tract and a willing seller, but he might support condemning a small tract that blocked a major development.

On road issues, Sader believes the county must do a good job maintaining both the gravel and the paved roads. He supports the current paving priority program based on high traffic counts and connecting existing paved roads. He believes that the state needs to use road money for roads, and supports lobbying the legislature to get that accomplished. He notes that the Regional Planning Commission is required by the state Department of Transportation in order to get the state to address our transportation priorities

ON financial issues, Sader believes that the property tax is maxed out and that sales tax will be if the jail issue passes. He believes that the county needs to implement a salary schedule so employees can plan and are not dependent on the commissioners for raises; a schedule would take a lot of the fighting out of the budget process as offices compete to get more money for their staffs. He notes that Johnson County pays less than other nearby counties. He voted for hiring a human relations staff person for the county, noting that the complexity of employment law and the size of the county workforce make it risky to not have expert advice. He does note an imbalance in the allocation of the law enforcement sales tax funds, since the allocation was based on population at the time the tax was passed and the rural areas have grown faster than the cities.

Sader states that his political philosophy is relatively conservative, stating, “"ust because the county has money doesn't mean you have to spend it. The commissioners are accountable for all the money; they must know what they have, make it work and hold enough for emergencies." He believes one key role of a district commissioner is to make sure his district is treated fairly and gets it fair share of county effort.

Sader states, "I feel that I’ve done a good job for Johnson County and the residents of my district. I’d appreciate their support in the August 3rd primary and in the general election."