In July, Carl Bearden started two Springfield-based grassroots organizations: United for Missouri and United for Missouri’s Future. Bearden, who spent 16 years in public office as a St. Charles County councilman and state representative, most recently worked as Missouri’s representative for Arlington, Va.-based Americans for Prosperity.
Q: What is the difference between your two organizations?A: We opened a (headquarters) office on Battlefield Road, and the office will be manned a couple of days a week, but most of our effort is traveling around the state. … What we do is travel to communities all across the state. We do training, as far as how do you even talk to an elected official, how do you find a group of like believers or like-minded people, those sorts of things, and try to equip people. That’s more of an educational thing, and that’s more United for Missouri’s Future. United for Missouri is actually more activation.
Q: How will you accomplish the organizations’ goals?A: What you have to do is be able to provide people useful information in a way that they understand and get it and then give them a clear plan on how to use that information. … We primarily try to do that electronically (via)
www.unitedformissouri.org. … You’ll see our petition process, news links … you’ll also have the opportunity to contribute online, to get involved and to sign up for the organization.
Q: A key objective is an accessible and up-to-date tracking system of Springfield Public Schools’ expenditures. Why?A: We think it’s important that local governments and entities such as cities and school districts and so forth make that same type of information available. We’re offering to work with those local entities – in this case the Springfield school district – to use the data that they have. We will usually create an interface for them to put up on their Web site, free of charge, so patrons of the district do a real-time search.
Q: Why did you choose the school district versus another public entity?A: We looked at the area, what was happening (and) noticed there were enough people who signed a petition for a state audit of the school district. That seems to be an issue there in the minds of those patrons about things going on in the district. This transparency tool, that we would make available to them ... is not intended at all to slam the district, but to help the district rebuild some of that trust that appears to have been lost.
Q: How much of lack of public input is accessibility versus a lack of interest?A: I think the last 18–24 months has solved the lack of interest problem. I think people now understand better that they can no longer have a fire-and-forget mentality. People are now more engaged and interested. Now, people want to know how and where they can get information, and once they have it, what to do with it.[[In-content Ad]]
