McClure preps for end of term

The last eight years as Springfield mayor have capped off a public service career spanning five decades for Ken McClure.

Elected mayor in 2017 and reelected in 2019, 2021 and 2023, McClure is scheduled to work his last day in the city leadership role on April 21. The 74-year-old said he’s planning to retire, marking the conclusion of his career that has included jobs in former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration, City Utilities of Springfield and Missouri State University. McClure said his first job was serving as a budget analyst and staff director for the first Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee, and his career progressed to include time as member and chair of the Missouri Public Service Commission, deputy director of administration of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, vice president for administrative and information services at MSU and associate general manager of administration for CU. Prior to leading the city as mayor, McClure was a Springfield City Council member starting in 2015, and he served as mayor pro tem before succeeding Bob Stephens as mayor.

Speaking April 1 from his office in the Busch Municipal Building, McClure said he’s eyeing retirement following the conclusion of his mayoral tenure, but he wouldn’t rule out potential future gigs if the right opportunity arises.

“I’m tired, physically and mentally. It takes a toll on you,” he said. “If something comes up ... I’ll take a look at it.”

McClure said he’s working on four books – his memoirs, a history of the Blunt administration, his family’s history during the Civil War and a guide to gubernatorial transitions – and he has 50 years’ worth of boxes full of historical documents to catalog.

A new mayor is slated to be elected April 8 between candidates Mary Collette and Jeff Schrag, and the winner is scheduled to be sworn in at the April 21 council meeting.

McClure’s advice for the next mayor? Learn the lay of the land and dive in with both feet.

“You’ve got to familiarize yourself with the city’s budget. We’re heavily funded by sales tax, and that makes us unique,” he said. “You have to learn where to go to get things done.”

That said, McClure noted the mayor is one of nine members of council.

“Council will rally behind the new mayor,” he said.

The city’s budget is currently set at $507 million, and the municipality employs roughly 2,450 people.

Looking back
Reflecting on his time as mayor, McClure pointed to a series of accomplishments by the municipality.

With McClure at the helm, the city received voter approval in 2017 for the renewal of the level property tax of 27 cents for $100 of assessed value for public safety purposes; the 2019 renewal of the eighth-cent transportation tax for transportation system improvements; the 2019 renewal of the quarter-cent capital improvement sales tax for capital improvement and transportation improvement projects; and the 2024 approval of a three-quarter-cent sales tax which continues to fund the Police and Fire Pension Fund and provides money for initiatives in Forward SGF, the city’s 20-year comprehensive plan adopted by council in 2022.

McClure said successes like Springfield has seen in voter-approved tax measures are rare among peer cities.

“I attribute it to trust in city government,” McClure said. “We haven’t lost anything since I’ve been mayor. There aren’t many communities of our size that can say that.”

McClure also noted the city’s 2023 purchase of Hammons Field that effectively kept the Springfield Cardinals in the Queen City, as well as the municipality’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. McClure appeared in myriad news conferences during that time, when the city temporarily instituted stay-at-home orders and declared civil emergencies.

“The pandemic was a watershed moment, and the city stepped up as well as any,” he said. “I was so pleased with the way council hung together.”

Former Missouri State University President Clif Smart said McClure and his team at the city stayed the course for the benefit of public health during the pandemic despite “an enormous amount of pushback and harassment.” During that time, MSU temporarily canceled in-person classes and transitioned to remote learning.

“He was the right man for the right time,” Smart said. “The work he did and we did together with a bunch of other people during the pandemic was as good as anywhere in the country to buy some time, close down briefly and then reopen.”

Looking forward
McClure said the city’s collaborative nature will be key moving forward as stakeholders face housing issues and crime, though he noted a 30% reduction in overall crime since 2020.

“Housing is a big, big challenge, but I think we’ve got the right entities working to try to make a dent in that,” McClure said. “We have got to make it easier for people to buy a home. That will help us keep the folks that we want to keep.”

He also called on continued support for business, education, faith communities and the arts, areas he said are strong and will continue to improve.

“We are on the cusp of being so good at so many things,” McClure said.

The next mayor of Springfield is likely to be involved, as well, in the hiring of the next city manager.

In his final State of the City address last summer, McClure talked about the need to leverage state and federal funding for transformative projects outlined in Forward SGF, including the Renew Jordan Creek project, Springfield Art Museum expansion and Lake Springfield master plan.

He called his time serving the residents of Springfield an “extraordinary journey.”

“The honor of my lifetime, though, has been the trust and confidence placed in me by the voters of Springfield,” he said. “I have been on the ballot five times – once for council and four times as mayor, since 2015. I would not trade the experiences, both good and bad, for anything. I have done my best and am so grateful for the opportunity.”