PRINTMeet the candidates
Kelly Corrigan
April 3, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Vox finds out more about the personalities behind the First Ward candidates running in the April 8 election.
Karen Baxter
Vox: What is your favorite memory of Columbia?
KB: As a teenager, I sat in the balcony of the Missouri Theatre. I went to the theater of the Sky High Drive-In. I spent a lot of time going to the movies when I was younger.
Vox: What is your favorite book and why?
KB: I’ve got a book that I bought at a garage sale called Give. It’s about a lifestyle of giving it all in all areas at all levels.
Vox: What is one thing you’d like to see change in Columbia in the next two years?
KB: I’d like to see the perception of the First Ward change. I think people have a negative perception about some of the areas of Ward One as far as (it being) a good place to live in Columbia.
John Clark
Vox: What is your favorite music album and why?
JC: It’s John Coltrane’s My Favorite Things. I bought this album when I was 14, 15, 16. People told me, “There’s something there.” And I’m not a music person. I kept listening to this, and it finally began to make sense.
Vox: What do you like to do in your spare time?
JC: I do have a regular exercise program, which is a Tai Chi class that I go to.
Vox: What is one thing you’d like to see change in Columbia in the next two years?
JC: I would like to see our council/mayor form of government work better because there are active neighborhood city associations all over the city that could be supported by the city.
Almeta Crayton
Vox: What is your favorite movie and why?
AC: The life story of Malcolm X. It shows that even through all the hard times, you can also come out strong and be a stronger individual.
Vox: What is your favorite Columbia restaurant? Why?
AC: My favorite restaurant is Lucy’s. I go with my friend, and we just go sit down there and eat and have a
good time.
Vox: What is one thing you’d like to see change in Columbia in the next two years?
AC: I would like to see people’s attitudes change, number one, and start working together instead of all this division.
Paul Sturtz
Vox: What is your favorite book and why?
PS: The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s voice in the book is incomparable. The book says a lot about the U.S. and a lot about ambition and disillusion.
Vox: What is your favorite music album and why?
PS: The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society. It’s a very personal statement about what Ray Davies valued about his childhood and the place where he lived. It’s one of those records you can connect with on a personal level.
Vox: What is one thing you’d like to see change in Columbia in the next two years?
PS: I’d like to continue to bridge the racial and economic divide that’s plaguing Columbia.
