ABC 17 News is interviewing candidates heading into the Aug. 4 election. On the ballot for Columbia's Ward 4 seat is Ryan King, Dave Sorrell and Sharon Jones.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

OLIVIA HAYES: We're sitting down right now with Columbia Ward 4 candidate Dave Sorrell. Thank you for joining us today.

DAVE SORRELL: Thank you for having me.

HAYES: Yeah, so I'll just start with, tell me about your history with Columbia, whatever you wanna talk about.

SORRELL: Well, I've lived here for 39 years, and my wife Dee and I have raised three children here; they're all grown. Two of them are still in town, they're attending the university. I served this community, I have the privilege of serving the community as a city employee for 24 years. I started out as an engineer in public works, had several different positions, and retired last year as director of utilities. So I'm very familiar with how the city operates. I know all the processes, and I had a lot of good opportunities to work on a lot of good projects during that time.

HAYES: So you've lived in Ward 4 then your entire time here?

SORRELL: Not my entire time, but for the last 28 years, 29 years.

HAYES: And what made you decide to run for this seat when it opened up?

SORRELL: Well, like I said, I retired last year, but my commitment to public service didn't end when I retired, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to continue to provide service. I think I could help the city get its focus back on the basic functions, which would include strong public safety, infrastructure, planning for growth, wise use of our financial resources and accountability to the ratepayers and taxpayers.

HAYES: And what do you think is the biggest problem facing Ward 4 right now? Or problems if you had multiple?

SORRELL: Well, I think it's really, I think we need to get our focus, like I said, back to the basics, the fundamentals, and focus on those as our highest priorities, and that's public safety, infrastructure, planning for growth, financial management.

HAYES: When we spoke with Nick Foster after his resignation announcement, one thing he expressed to us is he hopes whoever takes over the role has the same ideals as he had. Is there anything from the work that Nick Foster did that you keep, you plan to keep the ball rolling on if you were to be elected?

SORRELL: Not necessarily. Like I said, I'm, I wanna focus on the fundamentals and get back to good government that doesn't have politics involved in decisions.

HAYES: And after your candidacy was announced, you faced some criticism from one of Columbia's former mayors over your time with the Columbia Utilities department, specifically, unfinished projects was one of the things he touched on. I know you responded at that time to Mayor Treece, but for any Ward 4 voters still a bit unsure about who they're casting their ballot for, what do you have to say about this?

SORRELL: I think if you go back and look at the history of the projects that were mentioned, most of those were not approved by previous elected officials. Uh, the staff doesn't hold the purse strings. We can't appropriate funds, and we can't approve projects; we can only request. So it was not for lack of effort.

HAYES: Is there anything else that you want the voters of Ward 4 to know about you?

SORRELL: I don't think so.

HAYES: Well, thank you so much for joining us.

SORRELL: All right, thank you.