A Republican who serves on the Hancock Place Board of Education is challenging Rep. Bob Burns, D-south county, for the District 93 Missouri House seat in Tuesday’s election.

Garrett Mees of Lemay, who has served on the Hancock Place school board since 2010, hopes to unseat Burns, who first was elected two years ago.

Asked to identify the most important issue in the race, Mees said, “Not being a politically correct person, I feel it is very important to properly identify the problem and call it what it is, because it is the only way that it can be fixed. So the most important issue that faces us, is socialism — socialism that is being implemented by none other than the United Nations, right in our back yards.

“Now I know that some will say, ‘That could never happen.’ Yet, the organization ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) has boots on the ground in our area, actively doing just that.”

Burns did not respond to a Call questionnaire.

Burns, 66, 9057 Southview Lane, 63123, is retired. He and his wife, Dianne, have two adult children.

Burns served as an alderman from 1982 to 1984 for the city of St. George, which since has disincorporated, and on the Affton Board of Education from 1984 to 1996.

Mees, 43, 3715 Risch Ave., 63125, is communications technician and member of Local 1 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. He and his wife, Maria, have six children ranging in age from 19 to 41.

Mees, who also serves as chairman of the Special School District’s Governing Council, said he is seeking election “to protect the people’s rights. The job of publicly elected officials is simply to protect the people’s rights, not promise free things to buy votes. Our job is keeping government creep at bay, not promoting it. Our society is being inundated by political correctness and globalized socialism.

“Our freedoms and liberties are being snatched away from us little by little. and it is happening at an alarming rate at the local and state level. Serving on a school board and watching politicians kidnaping our children’s and grandchildren’s educational future every year, holding them for ransom like a terrorist, while special interests are trying to destroy education all together, playing both parties against the middle. Something that was taught to me as a child is: All it takes for evil to prevail, is for good men to do nothing.”

Mees gave the following responses to a Call questionnaire:

Mees said, “With every choice, there comes consequence. As a father that has adopted children from both foster care and internationally, I do know there are some people that for any number of reasons should not be a parent, yet I cannot comprehend how anyone could, under any circumstance terminate a child, unless there was a physical, life-threatening condition, like a family member of mine had. However, I can tell you. It was one of the hardest choices she ever had to make.”

Mees said, “This is a topic that has many facets and cannot be summed up with an up (or) down vote. We have problems that start with the investigators falsifying reports, police officers legally lying in court, prosecutors not allowing evidence that would exonerate people and corrupt judges, that in some cases are family of either the prosecutor, public defender, or both.

“So, my answer to, do I support the death penalty? The answer is yes. However, if you ask me if all the people on death row deserve to die? The answer is no.”

Mees said, “My experience on the Hancock Place school board gives me an insight that transcends this issue. The constituents elect people to represent them. So by allowing a select few to control the outcome is why our federal, state and local government is no longer ‘Of the people, by the people and for the people.’ My short answer is no.”

Mees said, “Changes, yes. As a school board member, I see just how much the fluctuating funds affect the budget of school districts. For Hancock Place, every 1 percent equals approximately $70,000. Now, I agree that just throwing money at a problem will not fix the problem, yet when we spend more money on prisons than we do education, it shows we have our priorities backwards.”

Mees said, “Infrastructure is and always will be an ongoing expense. However, when you continually patch asphalt with concrete and concrete with asphalt, two different substances that expand and contract at different rates, this is simply poor management and a waste of taxpayers money — ironically, many other departments of our government run in the same manner.

“We need to implement a standard that not only provides a long lasting roadbed but plan ahead with local utilities and fix and update underlying infrastructure as well, so a week after a new surface is laid, that a trench is not dug across it and then poorly patched to become yet again, a poorly maintained roadway. I believe that streamlining many other areas of bureaucracy within MODOT (Missouri Department of Transportation) and other government agencies would offset any costs.”

Mees said, “I am opposed to the merger because the city has squandered its resources, has a high crime rate and a small tax base. Its leaders are corrupt and want to merge so they can continue to bleed the taxpayers to death, while they pay off their friends and families, getting rich in the process.”

Mees said, “Most people do not understand just how much a teacher does in the course of their career, or even a day for that matter. Many think that teachers are getting a completely taxpayer-paid pension and are upset. I, too, believed this before I became a school board member.

“However, much like a 401(k), teachers also contribute to their PEERS fund, so I do not believe this needs to be an item of debate.”

Mees said, “No, I do not support this. The rules of a closed meeting are very clear as to the scope and breadth of topics discussed within them and the reason for candor, as are the rules of an open meeting.”

Mees said, “Starting with the deception used by Rex Sinquefield to get the petition signed in the first place, to the misconception of the people that believe that you cannot fire a tenured teacher. This ballot measure will force a certified teacher, working as a librarian to be evaluated by the educational progress of students that they do not teach. This goes for secretaries, gym teachers, coaches, and even all administration in most cases.

“However, this law does not take into account the districts that have growing populations of people that move into the district not even speaking english, or reading anywhere near grade level.”