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Four Missouri journalists were part of this year’s Golden Dozen, 12 of the best editorials submitted in the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editor’s Golden Quill contest. Missouri Press News is republishing all of Missouri’s 2026 Golden Dozen winners in the August and September editions of the magazine, as well as on the Association's website, mopress.com.
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By Hannah Spaar
News Editor, The Odessan
Monday, Odessa’s elected officials held a lengthy workshop, labeled as a retreat, at the Odessa branch of Trails Regional Library to set priorities for the upcoming five-year strategic plan. Unlike the board’s regular meetings, it was not filmed for online viewing. While the level of candor was similar to past meetings, some alderman’s remarks were startling.
The starkest moment was when one of the two consultants leading the meeting tried to articulate a message around the city’s desire to rebuild trust with the community, and began her statement by saying all city aldermen were approaching their work out of love for the community. Collin Carrigan, alderman ward three, said he did not. Prompted with other options, such as loving his home, he continued to decline the sentiment. Earlier in the meeting, he had said he was unable to give a reason why he is in public service.
While a diversity of opinion and willingness to be critical are valuable traits in elected officials, Odessa deserves aldermen who want to serve the community and work from a place of positivity.
At another point in the meeting, several aldermen scoffed when told the focus groups held on the strategic plan emphasized Odessa’s community involvement. It took outside interjection to them to bring up Odessa’s robust community of volunteer organizations and clubs, and those were quickly forgotten when remarks were made such as Carrigan’s later in the meeting that “the community is not making any plans.”
Partners for Odessa Parks and Recreation is planning a large new park for the city with a building providing several new amenities. Odessa Chamber of Commerce has planned signs to help residents navigate the community for more than a decade. Downtown Odessa has changed names, but has partnered with the city to add new speakers downtown. Odessa Rotary has planned and executed two new hiking trails at the city reservoir in two years. Puddle Jumper Days committee plans one of the county’s largest events each year, and receives more buy-in from local groups to hold free events during the fair than any other community in our two-newspaper coverage area.
Yes, there is room for criticism and frustration in the community’s low voter turnout and low participation in public meetings. However, those factors are not unique to Odessa and are instead common across the state and nation. While we are the first to call for more positivity online, we also assert that local social media is not reflective of the Odessa community at large.
Out in the real world, Odessa is brimming with community involvement, plans and volunteers. If city officials want to fix the trust gap, they need to ask themselves why the city is the only area of public life where these volunteers do not get involved. A leading way to fix this would be through introspection about how the city and individual aldermen treat its volunteer boards and their members. Alumni of one of those boards expressed their frustration with their work being tossed aside by the Board of Aldermen during one of the focus group sessions. Yet when those comments were brought up for the board to consider, they were disregarded. Mickey Starr, alderman ward one, expressed she was uninterested in hearing those opinions.
What many Odessans want to see from the Board of Aldermen is respect for their opinions and their work.
This editorial was published in the June 5, 2025 edition of The Odessan. Spaar is a past recipient of Missouri Press Foundation’s William E. James Outstanding Young Journalist Award.
