Councilwoman Laura Nauser is very familiar with the Columbia City Council and the fifth ward seat she just won in a special election Tuesday.
Nauser previously served on the City Council for six years ending in 2011 until she narrowly won a bid for the fifth ward seat Tuesday night. She says she ran in this special election because there were council votes she disagreed with while she was out of office. Nauser emphasized her desire to establish a more uniform approach to government decision making.
“At times the council was overstepping some of their boundaries and making decisions on the project rather than the policy,” Nauser said.
Councilman Gary Kespohl worked with Nauser when she previously held the fifth ward seat. He anticipates she will fit in well with the council.
"She’s a very intelligent person and looks at all sides of an issue before she decides how she’s going to vote. And I think she’s a great asset to the community,” Kespohl said.
Nauser says she will start with working to reduce violent youth crime in Columbia.
"It’s important that we address it before things get out of control, because we certainly, I don’t think our community could handle having any more children killed in our community, especially children killed by children,” Nauser said.
Nauser works as a program assistant for the Robert L. Perry Juvenile Justice Center and plans to bring this experience to her work on the City Council to address violent youth crime.
Nauser narrowly beat out Tootie Burns in Tuesday’s special election, for the seat that was vacated when Helen Anthony moved to the East Coast. Mark Jones also ran. Nauser will serve out the last year and two months of the term. She says she expects she will run for the fifth ward council seat again when her term ends.