Race for the next Greene County Commissioner for District 2

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — With the November 5 election four weeks away, local candidates are making one final push to try and sway voters.

The North Springfield Betterment Association held a candidate forum Tuesday night for voters to connect with the candidates running. That forum includes both candidates aiming to become the next Greene County Commissioner for District 2: Incumbent John Russell and challenger Tim McGrady.

John Russell is the current Greene County Commissioner for District 2 and he says these last four years have allowed him to be in a position where he can work with 1,300 other county workers to help serve the community.

“I really look forward to continuing to work with our community and help prioritize where the county resources are spent,” said Russell.

Since 2019, Russell says one of the topics he keeps hearing from constituents is trust and transparency in government.

“Soon after coming into office, we put into place a Greene County transparency portal so Greene County citizens can get on this evening and see what checks were written using their taxpayer dollars, where those dollars were going in near real-time,” said Russell.

Running against Russell is longtime Springfieldian Tim McGrady. While this is his first time running for an elected position, McGrady credits his background in finance and sales in helping him prepare for the role of commissioner.

“I’ve been a realtor in Springfield now for 29 years, and I also do sales and marketing at the auto auction at 166, which has deep roots in Springfield and Greene County,” said McGrady.

McGrady says communication between commissioners and Greene County residents is high on his list of priorities when it comes to letting future constituents know what is going on around the county.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re ready now because public safety is number one with the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Preparedness,” McGrady said. “We’ve got to make sure that everybody in Greene County is very safe. You got to be safe before you can be happy. And everybody deserves to be happy.”

Both candidates, however, agree that making sure the county’s budget is spent wisely is key to future success.

“I really look forward to continuing to work with our community and help prioritize where the county resources are spent,” said Russell. “That’s one of the most important aspects of a Greene County Commissioner is to help prioritize the budget.”

“Even this year, I mean, the budget’s a little bit over $248 million for Green County. That’s a lot of money,” McGrady said. “So you got to make sure that money is being spent well, is it being spent with people that are good stewards of our money? You know, do we ever need to call somebody up on the carpet and say, ‘Hey, we’ve done this, but we need a little back here.'”

Polls open on November 5 and both candidates agree they are looking forward to the election.

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