Day in the Life with Karen Best

For real estate agent and Branson Mayor Karen Best, 12-hour days aren’t uncommon.

It starts around 8 a.m., answering emails, returning phone calls and setting an agenda that will keep her busy well into the evening. Today, she is back in the office from the previous day’s trip to Kansas City with City Administrator Bill Malinen. The pair learned about downtown revitalization efforts from her counterpart in the City of Fountains, Sly James.

At 9:30 a.m., she and the other members of the Best Team, longtime co-worker Ann Bartell and newcomer Melony Zarick, finish discussion of four closings that will be on the books in a week’s time. The residential and commercial agents’ goal for 2015 is to sell 50 listings and $12 million worth of real estate. Given they broke $10 million last year, Best is confident they’ll hit their mark.

While licensed as a Realtor in Missouri, Arkansas and Arizona, Best will forego her winter trips to The Grand Canyon State while serving as mayor. Even in the midst of one day job, she’s never out of touch with the other.

“I call this the Bat-phone,” Best says, holding a second cellphone strictly relegated for city business. “If it rings and I’m in a real estate meeting, this supersedes everything.”

A former educator and member of several city councils and boards, including most recently as the city’s planning and zoning commissioner, Best also was the director of special events and international publicity for MGM Studios for four years. Good skills to have when you’re mayor of the Live Entertainment Capital of the World.

“Everything that I’ve done has been a piece of the puzzle that’s led to the role I currently have,” she says. “It makes you a well-rounded leader.”

Wherever she goes, she’s either greeting or being greeted by others. Such is the case as she enters Panera Bread for a 10:30 a.m. meeting with Les Brown Jr. regarding a future television project to feature Branson’s entertainers.

“This is what happens when you meet in a public place with her,” Brown says with a smile. “Even before she was mayor.”

The theme of economic development surrounding the conversation reflects Best’s motivation to run for mayor – to grow the business Branson has and be the welcoming committee for bringing new companies to town. She points to rapid growth of Google’s data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa – where the company has created 300 jobs since 2007 and plans to invest $2.5 billion by 2019 – as a reason she doesn’t think similar development in Branson is out of the question.

“One thing I’m trying to bring in is more technology,” she says of the need for diversified businesses. “That’s a segment that we don’t have I think we’re a good fit for.”

She acknowledges her 55 percent-vote victory over former Mayor Raeanne Presley as a sign there are separate views of how Branson’s residents want the city run.

“It wasn’t a landslide by any means,” Best says. “The challenge is how do we mesh those (viewpoints) together? That becomes my mission. We have to strike a delicate balance of embracing our past and trying to attract a future.”

By noon, Best is seated with nearly 100 members of the Branson-Hollister Rotary Club for a weekly meeting in the Golden Corral Showroom.

Last week, she gave a presentation to the organization on her first 30 days in office. This week she finds herself opening her wallet, paying “fines” for bringing guests, being mentioned in the paper and, admittedly, for not silencing her phone during the meeting – all of which will cost her $15 before Rotary adjourns. A fellow Rotarian jokes the club should keep her credit card on file.

Since her April 14 induction, Best is meeting with the city of Branson’s department heads for what she calls “mayor orientation.”

“They have my undivided attention,” Best says of city staff. “Whatever is important to them is what I want to hear.”

Today is no different. At 1:30 p.m., she and Malinen convene with Human Resources Director Jan Fischer at City Hall about new employment processes.

Presently, there is no electronic system for tracking the 30 to 40 full-time and 60 to 100 seasonal city job applicants. At an initial cost of $10,000, it’s one of a few changes Fischer wants to implement in order to streamline what he says has become a laborious process for staff and prospective employees to stay connected.

Best is curious if behavioral profiles are a part of the city’s interview process, referencing a Disc personality assessment her realty team recently completed. Fischer is receptive to the idea.

“What did you do with that?” Malinen asks.

“I ran for mayor,” is the sincere reply.

With city business handled for the day, Best and a few Rotary members meet for a weekly 4:30 p.m. tee time at Holiday Hills Resort, despite less than perfect conditions resulting from persistent morning rain. Although Best misses two birdie putts by less than an inch, she’s not discouraged by her team’s loss. By 8:30 p.m., she’s headed to her home just nine blocks off the Branson Landing. There’s another ball to hit and another house to sell tomorrow.

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