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CommentsWhat's Your Favorite?
A favorite-things conversation with Greene County Presiding Commissioner Dave Coonrod.
Presiding Greene County Commissioner Dave Coonrod has an Ultimate Frisbee field on his property. It is not an open field that he uses for playing the game. His field is one that, when he bought the property, he leveled for the purposes of playing Ultimate Frisbee. “That’s one reason I got the property,” Coonrod says. “I thought, ‘This is perfect.’ It’s regulation, and it’s ready to rock.” Coonrod is equal parts fun-loving 417-lander and determined public servant.
Wearing cowboy boots and a bolo tie, the lifelong resident of Greene County recalls, “When I was in third grade, my folks decided to move out into the country on South Campbell,” Coonrod says. “Of course, it’s not country anymore. I used to ride my Schwinn 10-speed all over there without any worries, and I wouldn’t dream of doing that now.”
Population growth is precisely one of the issues Coonrod, who was elected in 1988, deals with as one of the three Greene County commissioners.
Explaining his job, Coonrod says: “The simplest way to put this is the three of us are managers of the county, kind of the CEOs.” These CEOs have quite the task, dealing with everything from working with a multi-million-dollar annual budget to maintaining relationships with the growing cities that reside within the county to issues like water resource management.
Coonrod has genuine affection for his job, and he’s currently under consideration to be a candidate for the director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. He says quality of life is what makes Springfield and Greene County an appealing place to live. He explains it this way: “You’re right in Park Central, and you want to get out of town. You go 20 minutes any direction, and you’re in the middle of the country, or you’re at a lake or a river. To me that’s just too cool.” For Coonrod, he’s never even that far from a regulation Ultimate Frisbee field.
What’s Your Favorite…
Thing about working for the government?
“It’s sounds trite, but it’s helping people. Serving the community. It’s true. It’s the most rewarding part of the job, to help someone work through the maze of government.”
Work to commission your daughter to do?
“She got real mouthy with my wife about six months ago. What I assigned my daughter to do for mouthing off to her mom was to write an essay, and that essay was to capture my wife’s history—what she’d been through, where she’d come from—and bring that to a point where the thesis would be to compare and contrast their personalities. That was a pretty successful assignment, and it was pretty entertaining because she’s a pretty good
writer.”
Crayola crayon color?
“Green, of course.”
Issue facing the county?
“This is going to really sound peculiar. I am excited about a construction of a new morgue. Everybody will think, ‘This guy’s morbid,’ but we have a responsibility to provide for a medical examiner. So we have now worked out a contract with MU.”
Thing to whisper?
“Wehrenberg.”
Diamond in the rough in Greene County?
“The Fellows Lake area. I think it will become a diamond in the rough for the park system. The parks system wants to go out there and really take it to the next level.”
Favorite spring?
“It’s not even named. It’s not on my property, but it’s just across the street. It’s a little unnamed spring off the Sac River.”
Thing about Ash Grove?
“I’m really fond of their mayor, Brenda Ellsworth. The reason is that Brenda is really trying to bring Ash Grove back to its former glory. It’s got a really nice main street. It’s really got that family-values feel to it. People are friendly, everybody’s real close-knit up there. It’s a pretty cool little town.”
Ultimate Frisbee term?
“Huck it.* That’s what I was known for because I used to like to go long all the time.
Superhero?
“I’d have to say Batman because he’s so dark. Plus he’s got cool toys, equipment. And I’m all about equipment. My wife said, ‘What would you get if we won the lottery?’ I said, ‘A backhoe. It’s the ultimate power tool.’”
Math equation?
“I was horrible at math in school. P equals Q, therefore T. Somebody will correct it. I probably said it wrong.”
Two-legged animal?
“I’m real fond of cardinals, and I feed them all the time.”
*A huck is a long pass.
Mystery Meets
Jeff Houghton will interview Dave Coonrod Friday, March 14 on The Mystery Hour, Jeff’s monthly talk show presented by The Skinny Improv, 301 Park Central East. Visit theskinnyimprov.com or call 417-831-5233 for info and tickets.
