Multiconstruct

During my first campaign for Columbia City Council I was encouraged by my consultants to reach out to Ann Peters. She could be difficult but could be a real workhorse if you could work with her. I found Ann to be delightful. Straightforward and gruff with strong opinions but she was my most reliable campaign volunteer.

She would drive while I knocked on doors which would double my numbers. I won that race primarily on my door knocking. While we drove around we’d talk policy and life, and became good friends.

I remember going to this bombed out trailer which didn’t even have a complete roof. Ann saw a light on and insisted I go talk to him appealing to me as a social worker. It was this totally obscure conspiracy theorist who told me about his documentary on a pedophile ring in Iowa. He neither needed help nor could vote for me as he was relocating.

Ann and I went out to Waffle House after my watch party. She was a good friend and was active as a Columbia Planning and Zoning Commissioner. She fought developers and pushed for the tree protection ordinance, storm water reform, and other sustainability changes. She also rejected NIMBYism and has a keen appreciation for infill projects.

She also was big in the No Kill movement and did some proselytizing on me to address the issue. We had our first falling out over her lack of faith in Health and Human Services oversight over the Humane Society. She called me “dangerously naive” and hung up on me when I wouldn’t demand animal control records on a Friday afternoon, certain the Director would forge numbers over the weekend.

I didn’t get any help in my next two campaigns. I did help her on her County Commission race. I was skeptical but felt I owed her the help. As I saw her run I saw her largely rise to the occasion and I became convinced enough to choose her in the privacy of the ballot box.

I felt though Ann could be rash and difficult ahe would be a bulldog for progressive change. She was smart but had a reading disability. I would have liked to have seen Boone County staff rise to the challenge of having her in leadership. She came in a respectable third I believe and didn’t embarrass herself.

She endorsed the Republican after the winner of the Democratic primary had done some negative campaigning. I had endorsed him myself over a complicated matter of a County law suit over late Tax Increment Financing reports, so I might have encouraged this.

Ann left public affairs for a quiet life in a farm she owned with her sister Betsy. She gave me some heirloom tomatoes and peppers when we visited over the 4th of July. She had developed a quiet solidity isolated on the farm through COVID and beyond. She seemed at peace.

She loves the land and loved Columbia. She left a lasting legacy with her successful work in electing progressive City Council Members, including myself, important work on the spay and neuter clinic and her 5 years on Planning and Zoning.

We were sideways again when she died. I wish I would have been more supportive in the situation that led up to our last tiff.