This is your second year applying, after Ron Carrier won the open seat last year. What is the process to getting appointed to the associate circuit court? Greene County passed a Nonpartisan Court Plan a number of years ago and as a result of that, a commission was set up, (comprising) a couple of lay members, a couple of attorneys selected by the bar and the presiding judge of the court of appeals. There were interviews in front of the commission, which selected three people to go up to Gov. Nixon for interviews, and he made the final selection.
Why make the change now, and what are the responsibilities in it? I’ve got quite a bit of experience on the other side of the bench in multiple courts across the state. It’s going to be a different experience. What my docket will be and where I’ll be physically, I don’t know if that’s been decided yet. It could be a wide variety of cases. It’s civil [cases under $25,000], misdemeanor criminal and felony criminal through preliminary hearing and cases as assigned by the presiding judge.
In accepting the position, you’re leaving private practice and vacating your vice president seat on the Springfield Board of Education to avoid conflicts of interest. What are the burning issues for the board to continue to address? They’re the issues that probably were there when I first got there in 2006: How do you recruit and retain your most important resources, which are high-quality teachers. We have a very good set of teachers. I don’t think we pay them enough.
There are tremendous issues around poverty in the district, and that brings a whole host of interconnected problems. And just the size of our district – 25,000 students – that’s complex.
Financial sustainability is part of Superintendent John Jungmann’s eight-point plan. Does that mean it’s not stable now? I think his point was when you build schools or add programs, those are continuing costs. When you have revenue that is flat or decreasing, and expenditures are going up, you have to make tough choices. You don’t want to have this either-or situation where your only response to financial issues is to either freeze or cut salaries. We have made cuts and not given increases in lean years. He makes a really good point that if you want to continue to have the best teachers, that’s not very sustainable.
The district is budgeting for a $43 million operating deficit this school year, largely due to a decrease in bond proceeds. Where will it make up that ground? We have a fund balance, and that has fluctuated over the years. The board has had some discussions about what is an appropriate fund balance to have in reserves. I’ve taken the position that we’re not really doing a service to kids to have a large fund balance. That’s money that could be spent on our kids. But at the same time, you have to have enough of a reserve to smooth things out when revenues are tight.
Given those conditions, what is that fund balance reserve at? I think we’re about 14 percent [of operating expenditures]. Online, we have a monthly treasurer’s report that shows that.
SPS is near the bottom of teacher salaries compared to nine comparable districts in Missouri. I know the administration is not comfortable with that. Yet, we also know 80 percent of the school district’s budget already goes toward payroll. How do you improve one and not handcuff the other? I think we’ve got to realize the most important part of Springfield Public Schools are classroom teachers. I’ve always said when somebody graduates from education school, Springfield needs to be their first choice. They should only go to Nixa, Ozark, Republic, Rogersville, if they can’t get into Springfield. That’s taking nothing away from those other districts.
Compared to those districts, SPS’ average teacher pay of $45,788 is only behind Nixa. What’s the goal? Part of the financial piece is not solely financial. You need to have enough to make it enticing, but also working conditions play a big part. The support they get from site leadership, from administration, from the community and how much ownership take and get in shaping their work as teachers all play a big part in whether or not they stay or choose Springfield. We need to continue to work so that we are the No. 1 destination for all the best teachers.
Looking back on your private practice, are there memorable cases that stand out to you? Or one that got away? There always is. As assistant attorney general, I would lose cases that I thought I should have won, and I would win cases I thought I should have lost. It’s the same in private practice.
It’s the little things. I remember, and I told this to the commission, I had a murder case when I was at the attorney general’s office and we charged a fella with killing his wife in Douglas County. We got really close with the victim’s family, especially her mother. I had a young child at the time, and she had quilted me a blanket after the trial and the guy was convicted and went to prison. That was a powerful message of thanks.
Any changes at the firm with your exit? The Hosmer name will stay on with my brother, Craig. I’m sure I’ll be replaced and they’ll move on and do fine.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
