Sid Sullivan announces his intention to run for Columbia mayor

Thursday, October 22, 2009 | 12:01 a.m. CDT; updated 9:31 a.m. CDT, Thursday, October 22, 2009 BY Andrea Nenow COLUMBIA Sid Sullivan, who most recently ran for the Boone County Commission in 2008, announced Wednesday that he would be joining the race for mayor. Sullivan is the third person to announce his intention to run. He joins Fourth Ward Councilman Jerry Wade and Eastside Tavern owner Sal Nuccio. Sullivan said one of his goals is to address the issues surrounding city development. He said one of the reasons he decided to run was because he had concerns about the way the city is growing and developing, both physically and economically. I see some real problems, Sullivan said. We need to keep the community vital. We need to attract other industries. He also wants to examine the stipulations in the city charter that govern participation in City Council. We need to take a strong look at the city charter, Sullivan said. The charter really limits who can be on council. Sullivan also expressed a need for greater financial support for Columbias Police and Fire departments. He said that adequate salaries are necessary in order to keep officials in their positions. Sullivan also said he has concerns about the Columbia Police Departments use of Tasers. We need to restrict the use of them, Sullivan said.

Sullivan, who is now retired, made unsuccessful bids for the 24th District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives in 2006 and for the Boone County Commission in 2008. Sullivan worked for former Sen. Jacob Javitz, R-N.Y., while studying for his masters degree in sociology. He was then employed as a caseworker in Chicago. The position required him to work with the courts and also with the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Cook County Sheriff s Office. He also worked closely with probation officers and state attorneys. After working as a caseworker, Sullivan took an administrative job with the corrections department. During his time there, Sullivan drew up plans to bring 60 prisons and jails up to standards. I know the criminal justice system, Sullivan said. And I come from a planning family, so we talk a lot about how Columbia is growing and how it should be growing. From the corrections department, Sullivan returned to the social services arena, again taking an administrative position. At the time he took the job, Chicago was increasing its social services to aid the entire county, going from serving one area to serving six. Sullivan assisted with the budget for the department and kept watch over the legislation surrounding the expansion. In the late 80s, Sullivan was recruited away from social service. He left the department and took a job in the drug testing division of the pharmaceutical company Roche Diagnostics in 1988. He retired in 2000, and Sullivan and his wife Joan moved to Columbia after spending 28 years in Oak Park, Ill., near Chicago. Once in Columbia, Sullivan became involved with the Downtown Optimist Club and the Boone County Smart Growth Coalition. In order to be placed on the ballot for mayor, candidates must collect between 100 and 150 signatures from registered Columbia voters, as outlined in the city charter. Filing for council candidates begins Oct. 23 and will end in late January.

League of Women Voters sparks renewable energy discussion

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 | 12:01 a.m. CST BY Andrea Nenow COLUMBIA Increasing renewable energy use in Columbia is possible. That is the message the Columbia-Boone County chapter of the League of Women Voters tried to send residents at its Green Power Forum on Tuesday night. The league worked to present people with relevant information about renewable energy sources. The Friends Room at Columbia Public Library was filled with people passionate about renewable and efficient energy. Before the start of the forum, casual discussions could be heard relating to electricity generators, heat and wind turbines. Four panelists were allotted 10 minutes each to speak about a different form of energy, addressing subjects including how each type has been used in Columbia and what it would take to increase their output. Hank Stelzer, an MU Extension forestry specialist, spoke first about the MU Power Plants use of biomass and also addressed what types of materials can be transformed into energy. Stelzer explained that biomass is made commonly from switch grass, hay crops, tree chips and urban waste, such as storm debris. He said by the end of the summer or early fall of 2012, the power plant will have a generator that burns biomass exclusively. Charles Pappas, of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, discussed the pros and cons of wind energy, saying it is free and clean but also variable it doesnt blow with the same strength every day or at the same times of day. Pappas said wind variability can be managed by increasing the number of wind turbines in an area but creating reliable wind energy is expensive. Pappas projected that a single wind turbine can cost between

$1.5 million and $2.5 million. Due to the struggling economy, however, the price of turbines has averaged most recently at $1.6 million. Additional costs of wind energy include its transmission. Wind energy tends to be where no one is living, Pappas said. So, you have to transport it where the people are. Jay Hasheider, energy services supervisor at Columbia Water and Light, told Tuesdays crowd that the citys solar work began in 2007 with a small-scale demonstration at the Columbia Area Career Center. He also addressed what Water and Light is doing to encourage solar energy use, including $400 or $800 rebates to individuals for installing solar water heating in their homes and $500 rebates for each kilowatt of power up to 10 kilowatts for installing solar electric systems. Hasheider also discussed Columbias Solar One program, which challenges the city to get 1 percent of its power from the sun by 2023. The program started in June 2008. Customers who are interested in promoting solar energy can pay an additional $4 a month, which the city uses to pay for solar panels placed around the community. It is the hope that with this program, local businesses will become solar producers by constructing buildings with solar panels and selling their energy to the utility company in 10-year contracts. The price of solar is coming down and all the predictions say that will continue in the future, Hasheider said. Dick Parker, a member of the leagues energy matters committee and a retired biologist, discussed his plan for Columbia, which would greatly increase the citys use of renewable energy and allow for 80 percent carbon-free electricity by 2020. His strategy calls for 51.9 percent of Columbias energy to come from biomass, 20.1 percent from wind and 3.4 percent from solar power. According a renewable energy ordinance put in place on Nov. 2, 2004, and approved by 77 percent of voters, Columbia must generate 5 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2012. Furthermore, the city must generate another 5 percent of its electricity from renewable energy every five years until the year 2022. We can do it, Parker said. We can move to renewable energy; it is basically an issue of citizens will.

Blues festival nets more than $14,000 for Columbia

Monday, November 2, 2009 | 1:51 p.m. CST; updated 5:36 p.m. CST, Monday, November 2, 2009 BY Andrea Nenow COLUMBIA Thumper Entertainment will present the Columbia City Council with a check for more than $14,000 on Monday night, representing part of the proceeds from this years Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival ticket sales. The third annual festival was held Sept. 25 to 26, following much deliberation between the city and Thumper Entertainment. A festival agreement called for Thumper to give the city $1 for each single-day pass and $1.65 for every weekend pass sold. According to statistics provided by Thumper to the city, the number of paid entries into the festival totaled 11,523. Altogether, ticket sales netted $14,144.90 for the city. The city was also reimbursed by Thumper for security and cleanup costs about a week after the festival ended, said Richard King, owner of The Blue Note and a partner in Thumper. There were 2,243 complimentary tickets given out, which brought the total number of tickets for the event to 13,766. The total gross amount for ticket sales was $168,170. A single-day pass bought at the door made up the greatest number of tickets at 4,460, followed by

weekend passes bought in advance at 3,143. So far, all of our projections were met, King said. We came away very happy with the results. King roughly estimated that, throughout the course of the weekend, somewhere around 50,000 people participated in the event. One of the three stages provided free entertainment. King expressed interest in putting on the event next year, given the success of this year's festival. He said Thumper hopes to discuss potential dates for next years festival with the council on Monday. King said that all parts of the festival went well this year, although he admits some tweaking probably will need to be done before next year. Our plan is to make it as user-friendly as possible and to continue to bring the best music available, King said. We would take all the help we can get when it comes to the weather. The Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau made a $15,000 contribution from its Tourism Development Fund to the festivals barbecue contest. The advisory board has always been in favor of this event because it brings positive national press coverage to Columbia, said Lorah Steiner, executive director of the bureau. It draws a lot of people into our community. Steiner projected that, at a minimum, 1,100 people were staying overnight in Columbia for the festival. She estimated there were roughly 1,500 to 2,000 room nights booked in local hotels during that weekend, and she expects that number to rise every year.

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