93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
Interim Columbia city manager John Glascock delivered his first state of the city address on Wednesday.
He said at city hall a recent survey shows most residents are happy to live here and like the quality of services, but they want improvements in public safety and roads.
“Working together, we can address the concerns of our residents and make our community better.”
Glascock has served as interim city manager since Mike Matthes resigned in November 2018. Like the guy before him, Glascock says Columbia’s growth is rising more than the revenues coming in, leading to a budget crunch. Glascock says he will discuss the budget more in-depth with the city council at a June 10 meeting.
“Our main issue is that the growth of our community is outpacing the revenue we are bringing in.”
Interim Columbia police chief Geoff Jones got his chance to lead the department thanks to Glascock, after Ken Burton was placed on administrative leave and eventually stepped down. Glascock says Jones is bringing a new era of transparency to CPD.
“We’ve talked a lot about community-oriented policing over the past several years, and interim chief Jones and I agree that community policing is just good policing.”
The city council is still in the process of looking for the next permanent city manager. The next permanent city manager will hire the next permanent police chief.
