Month: October 2025

Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Some Columbia City Council members are responding to University of Missouri System President Mun Choi’s push for the city to better address crime.

Councilwomen from wards 1, 2 and 3 sent a joint letter to Choi on Tuesday, outlining the current action plans the city has taken to address the issue of crime, as well as what the city hopes to achieve.

The letter follows a recent continued push from Choi for the city to utilize a joint crime-reduction strategy after Stephens College student Aiyanna Williams was shot and killed downtown last month. Since then, Choi has held a press conference, a downtown walk and sent a letter to several city leaders, including Mayor Barbara Buffaloe about the issue.

“President Choi has sent council members multiple emails over the last several days and the three of us who wrote that message back wanted to take some time and make sure we were responding to his most recent email and have a well-developed thought out response to that,” Ward 3 Councilwoman Jacque Sample said.

Valerie Carroll (Ward 1) and Vera Elwood (Ward 2) were the other two councilwomen listed on the letter.

The letter outlines efforts the city has taken toward addressing crime, including allocating 50% of the city’s general fund to public safety, chipping away at vacancies within the police department and utilizing Flock cameras.

The goal in sending the letter was also to ensure context of the data was being relayed to the public, according to Sample. The letter states that crimes against society– which includes crimes such as drug use, trespassing, weapons offenses without a victim and liquor law violations are up about 36%, making up the main driver for the city’s total crime rate.

However, the letter states that increase reflects the increased police presence in the downtown area that the Columbia Police Department has utilized.

“The data makes clear that while we’re reporting a crime increase, it is largely the product of officers being more active and total staffing improvements that have allowed for more enforcement,” the letter says.

The letter also places an emphasis on separating the issue of homelessness in the city and downtown area from crime, saying the two aren’t always related. In a September press conference, Choi urged city leaders to consider a loitering ordinance, and called on leaders to also address the issue of homelessness and clean up encampments.

“The crimes that are being talked about right now are issues of gun violence downtown,” Elwood said. “None of the main stories that are making the news right now have been perpetrated by our unhoused neighbors. We absolutely do have a housing crisis. We have a homeless crisis in Columbia that is separate from the gun violence issue.”

Carroll represents the downtown area. She said she’s heard varied responses from both business owners and people who live downtown. Some say they want to ensure the city isn’t criminalizing the homeless population, as well as from those who are not comfortable interacting with homeless people.

Carroll said she believes the city needs to engage in public health, social services and law enforcement to reduce both gun violence and homelessness, but believes those are different teams.

Carroll also wants to remind people that solutions to complex problems take time.

“We have put solutions in process for the past several years. Some of them are already having positive effects,” Carroll said. “We’ve decreased gun violence, reported shootings downtown by 50% over the last year, that’s a positive trend but those trends take time to build.”

Ward 5 Councilman Don Waterman also sent a separate letter to Choi on Tuesday.

According to Sample and Elwood, the three chose to send a letter separately due to conversations they had about the issue, and did not include a fourth person because four is considered a quorum.

Waterman said the purpose of his letter was to show his support for the police department, but continuing to increase the police presence is going to come at a cost. Waterman ended his letter asking Choi if he would support a tax increase in the city to help fund the police department.

“Chief Schlude has said, and it’s been out there before that she thinks we need 50 additional officers and there’s going to be a cost for that and we’e trying to recruit businesses and expand our sales tax base that way,” Waterman said.

Waterman said the council has had discussions about a possible increase but it has not come up for a formal discussion.

ABC 17 News reached out to Ward 4 Councilman Nick Foster and Ward 6 Councilwoman Betsy Peters. A spokesman from the University of Missouri declined to comment.

You can read the full letters below.

Mun Choi response 10_12_25 (1)Download

Letter to President Choi (Rev 1)- 10.14.25Download

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Public Schools is considering how to use a one-time $9 million payment it received from Boone County after a property-tax settlement with Ameren Missouri.

Boone County Commissioner Kip Kendrick said the county reached a resolution earlier this year in a long-running dispute before the Missouri State Tax Commission. The agreement resolved litigation over property taxes owed by Ameren from 2019-24, releasing impounded funds that were distributed to local taxing entities, including the school district.

“The distribution was of impounded property taxes dating from 2019-2024, and was a one-time special distribution made in August,” Kendrick told ABC 17 News in an email. “There is an agreed-upon methodology where these funds will not be impounded in future years.”

The settlement funds were distributed in the same manner as regular property tax payments. Columbia Public Schools officials said it is still in the early stages of deciding how to spend the money.

During a Finance Committee meeting on Oct. 7, district administrators presented preliminary ideas for the one-time funds, focusing on facility improvements, safety and instructional support. 

During the meeting, officials emphasized that the money will be used for one-time needs rather than ongoing expenses, given its unique nature.

“These are only preliminary options provided by district administrators and have not been synthesized or prioritized to date,” Heather McArthur, Chief Financial Officer for CPS, told ABC 17 News in an email. “We plan to have additional discussions at finance committee in the upcoming months and any final decisions would be made during the budget process next spring.” 

Among the potential projects discussed were:

Upgrading walkie-talkies and radio systems;

Repair water fountains and high school bathrooms;

Replacing turf fields and scoreboards;

Upgrading classroom furniture; and

Addressing deferred maintenance projects.

District officials are now working on gathering estimates to determine the next steps. 

The finance committee also discussed looking into the district’s behavior support programs. 

“We hear so much about how behaviors are affecting classroom learning. They’re affecting teacher retention. And honestly, they’re affecting, in my opinion, how we are perceived by the community when behaviors go awry,” Columbia Board of Education Member Suzette Water said during the Oct. 7 meeting.  “I feel like that’s something that needs our attention. My question about that is, it’s not a new problem.  And by investing more money in the same types of mitigation strategies or resolutions we’ve attempted in the past, are we going to be fixing anything? Or do we need to invest in a little bit more of like systemic once-and-for-all approach that’s going to be district-wide?” 

Waters also pointed out the district’s current instructional mentors are spread thin between multiple buildings. However, the district wants to look into possible solutions further before throwing more money at the problem.

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia and CBB Transportation Solutions conducted a walk-through safety audit on Tuesday afternoon to survey the Business Loop 70 corridor between the roundabout near Creasy Springs Road and Stadium Boulevard.

The audit focused on identifying safety improvements aimed at eliminating traffic-related deaths and serious injuries. The project prioritizes safer conditions for pedestrians, cyclists, seniors, motorcyclists and school-aged children.

“The purpose of these two days is to try to be on the ground, observing from a number of different perspectives and try to categorize all those things,” CBB Engineering Project Lead Shawn Leight said.

From 2019-25, Leight says, there were four deadly crashes all involving motorcyclists, making safety improvements a significant need. One occurred on May 16.

The findings from the audit highlighted specific areas along the corridor where targeted safety improvements are needed, including adjusting the signal timing at Business Loop 70 and Stadium Boulevard on Saturdays during sporting events at Cosmo Park.

“Look at the signal timing at the north out road and stadium so thats one” Leight said. “The signal isn’t timed for that traffic to flush out of the park,”

The audit also found adding crosswalks to parts of the corridor for pedestrians but also students who attend Hickman High School.

“There’s pockets of residential in here that are within a two mile radius, so one of things we’re going to go back and look at where are their residential areas,” Leight said. “What is the path that those kids take to walk to school, I think that’s important to know.”

“If I am walking the corridor, we’re safe, we’re fine. If I have to cross where do I cross safely?” Leight said. “Part of it is infrastructure, part of it’s behavior , if we’ve got somebody drive 70 miles per hour, that’s not safe,”

Filling in gaps in the sidewalk along the south side of the corridor was also identified as a necessary improvement. The north side has a full stretch of sidewalk.

According to Allison Anderson with the City of Columbia, the project is estimated to cost more than $2 million and will be funded through a Safe Streets grant. Federal funding for the project was canceled twice before finally being approved.

Additional walk-throughs along other parts of Business Loop 70 are scheduled for Wednesday. After that, a full report will outline the recommended safety improvements.

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