05/17/2026
Hello my fellow residents of Blackburn,
I wanted to thank you all for voting for me. I thought I should give the residents, a little history on me and where I stand on current Blackburn issues and what I see for our future.
I’m Jeremy McKeage, my wife Erin and I have lived in Blackburn since my retirement from the United States Coast Guard in 2021. I spent 21 years in service to this great nation. During that time, I lived all over the world, and that’s putting it mildly. If you want to hear any sea stories, feel free to ask. I have plenty, but would also love to hear your stories too. Prior to my service, I grew up in Sweet Springs. I have Blackburn roots, too, as my grandparents on my mom side graduated from Blackburn high school, the class of 55 Clifford Bell and class of 56 Glenda Russell. I love to hunt and fish (especially in Alaska). I love all things with a motor, never scared to jump into a project with anything that has an engine. I’m excited to be building my business a new shop in Blackburn. My house was built in 1870 and it comes with its charm and unique problems. I know somewhere in heaven the previous owner is scolding me for not having the knowledge to keep up with her beloved flower gardens. I hope one day to understand how to manage them all.
When it comes to town matters, I know I’m not infallible. That’s why I always express that I want input from others. I love policy and procedure. It is both good thing and a bad as it doesn’t always make people happy. Because sometimes it’s painful to do what policy says, even when you see where others are coming from. I will strive to bring order and discipline through holding policies and procedure to the letter. I know mistakes will be made, but we will adapt and overcome them.
I’m excited to help move the town of Blackburn past our rough last few years. I know it hasn’t been the experience we wanted, but it is the hand we were delt. We as a town have to be looking and working toward a better future. Looking forward, these are my thoughts on what I’d like to work on for Blackburn:
1. Working to bring order and organization to the town hall. We are accomplishing this by:
a. Making things uniform. We are working on making check lists for all of our town business. This will make looking for information, conducting town business, and finding ordinances less time consuming. I believe the system should flow easily regardless of who is filling any position.
b. We are archiving the old records to preserve them not only for records keeping requirements by the state and federal government. But we want to preserve the history of this town so our next generations can look back on the memories as we did. Also, so we can make the town office more presentable.
c. Working on making a calendar that helps keep the city clerk and officials informed of the projects and due dates. This will keep the officials and residents informed to perpetrate a smooth operating system. I also hope to be more on the ball with announcements on our page for holidays, festivals, and other events that need to be shared.
d. Continue working with the city alderman/alderwomen, along with Blackburn citizens to get a better picture of their expectations. We have always enjoyed when our fellow citizens come to the meetings. It gives us a chance to hear your thoughts and move forward in a united front. I hope everyone remembers that your voices are always appreciated and needed. Without you, we are steering the ship blind. Our hope is to facilitate a great working relationship with all our citizens by having open dialect.
e. We are thinking about the 150-year celebration of the town of Blackburn. I understand it will be in 2029. You know, as I look at the pictures hanging in the city hall, I’m reminded of a rich past involving our townspeople and its outlying residents, the festivals, parades, beer gardens, active businesses, and so much more. We would like to hear from all of you regarding what you want for the celebration. This gives us a three-year window to plan, fund raise, and organize our entertainment. I look forward to hearing from everyone about your ideas how you think we should celebrate.
2. Budget and funding. We are working toward maintaining a balanced budget for the town. I know we have limited funds from taxes and revenue streams. We are currently dealing with the last few grants we put in for and received. Paperwork wasn’t done properly, so it has been taxing to fix a program that was not properly kept up with. I don’t blame the city Clerks for this. We had two years where funds were logged and then no entries were made. We had a revolving door of clerks and a mayor that didn’t give them the proper tools to manage the system to provide a seamless transition. Once it wasn’t passed down, the clerks after had no idea. The emails sent out weren’t very helpful, and the system isn’t user friendly. This too, we will adapt and overcome.
3. Fundraising and activities: I have heard several people say they miss activities that use to happen like the Softball tournament, fish fries, pancake breakfast, beer gardens, etc. I believe that these events would be a big hit again. I know I would like to see fundraising for the park to update new equipment and fix the shelter house. I would like to see if we have any talented artists in town. I have wanted to paint the bathrooms at the park, ball field, and the old fire house with murals that represent Blackburn. I fall short in not knowing who possesses these skills because I don’t. I also don’t know who has fish friers for cooking enough fish in a timely manner for a fish fry. I remember Mr. Foose use to be one of the gentlemen who would cook, but I’m sorry to say I can’t remember who else would be out there. I also don’t eat pancakes; I do love a good waffle though. I haven’t eaten a pancake since 2000, bootcamp ruined that for me. I’m up for helping, but just need the help to get the ball rolling. In order for these events to make a comeback, we need the following to make this stuff happen
a. Solid planning and date for events
b. Plenty of notice to get funding (via town, BCB, Thrivent card)
c. Volunteers for the event
d. a dedicated goal and where the funds will be used. (Park, basketball court, ball field, etc.)
with all of this we can move forward to make some of the events happen yearly by making a check list to help make it more clockwork. I understand Covid did shut a lot of this down, but I feel like it’s time to get some of our good times back. I don’t have all the answers, that is where I turn to you for help.
4. Helping others is a big priority to us. We all have our own struggles that we don’t share with everyone. That is why we should as community be willing to help each other out. I know the trash/brush, abandoned/unlicensed vehicles, old appliances and scrap metal laying around have been brought up.
a. Vehicles-I know the emotional attachment to a vehicle and belongings. It’s sometime hard to realize that a project is better off being moved on from or the unknown way to address a problem. We are looking into the VA car disposal program. They will pick up the car and take care of it. The proceeds go to the VA. Car Donation Helping US Veterans .
b. Trash Clean Up- In the next few months, we are trying to get a city wide clean up date set. This will involve a few roll-off dumpsters being placed in town to allow a one-time clean-up of trash piled around town. We are also trying to get someone to pick up scrap metal, old appliances, and anything that is no longer needed to haul off the scrap yards. There is also a paint and house hold chemicals disposal process that was placed on the bullet board at city hall and the bank in town.
c. Yard Waste-We are also working out how to let people take their downed limbs to a designated spot for disposal and allowing the city to burn it once a year. But the obvious problem is how do we keep the few bad apples from throwing their items that would leave screws, nails, bolts, small pieces of metal left after the fire. I believe 99 percent of us would follow the rules, but how to keep that 1 percent from ruining it all for us.
d. The town is looking into a grant to help remove old houses that maybe the owners just can’t get them taken down. This grant is due by 31JUL26. We are looking into it. If you would be interested to have help with this service, please let us know ASAP so we can have an accurate number of buildings to be applied for.
5. Businesses are a big part of our town. I know in our past we have had quite a few businesses in town. The sad truth is that in the near future if we don’t start thinking about ways to bring new business in town, we will have none left. I know my shop is in the process of being built. I know owning a business is a lot of work and not for everyone. I’m open to ideas how we get new business to open here. I know that if we don’t address this issue in the near future, the bank will be gone, the post office will be gone, all our small businesses will be gone and with those gone, the revenue will be gone. With that, our town and our property value will go down. I just don’t want to say we didn’t try to fix the issue before it was too late.
6. Blackburn lake, I feel it needs to be said. We DO NOT currently have permission to use the lake for fishing or recreational purposes. The rail road did say we could make an offer to lease it per year, but we had to pay a rental fee, put insurance on the lake and conduct a water test annually. If you fish or use the lake, know it is at your own risk. If in the future you want to move forward to leasing the lake for the towns use, let us know and we will get an idea of the cost and what permits would have to be paid to help offset the cost.
In the future I will try to put out a letter to address the current climate and our progress. I know that the board of alderman/alderwomen would like to have more involvement from the town. We would love to see more faces at our meetings. I know we can’t do everything everyone wants us too, but with more input, we are more likely to get a better consensus.
I look forward to the next two years of challenges and progress for us as the mayor. I really hope to inspire change and growth in our community, I know the board does too. The board and I can’t do it alone; this is a WE project. I will do my best to help each one of us to achieve our goals. I, like all of us have a job, have family involved in several sports, home projects that need addressed, and everyday life. I know this is a tricky balancing act. But I believe as a town, we can overcome the obstacles in our way. Thank you for taking the time to get an idea of who I am and what my thoughts are on the towns current status and where I want us to go.
Respectfully,
Jeremy McKeage
Mayor of Blackburn MO
