Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer visited the California Area Chamber of Commerce on June 27.
"Well, Moniteau County is a new county in my district, and we're making an effort to get out to a lot of the new counties and meet some of my new constituents," Luetkemeyer told the Democrat. "And we do that through the Chamber of Commerce, the town boards, the city council, the county commissioners. The groups in town that are there that we can network with."
The Republican lawmaker said the goal is to meet as many people as possible. Due to the long legislative session in Washington D.C., he said his district work week had been limited this year. However, county residents were still able to voice their concerns with the representative.
Two individuals who had time to speak with Luetkemeyer were Moniteau County Presiding Commissioner Joe Lutz and Moniteau County Sheriff Tony Wheatley.
Luetkemeyer said he had a long conversation with Lutz regarding the condition of California Drive, which is in need of repair.
"I personally drove over it on the way home and called highway departments to see what we can do to speed up the process again and see if it can be fixed if we can at all," Luetkemeyer said. "So we'll try and make an effort and see if there's something we can get done there."
"We talked with Sheriff Wheatley and talked about some of the concerns he had with regards to all the extra burdens of things that his department's having to take on, such as individuals who have mental disabilities or mental problems that he's having to deal with," Luetkemeyer continued. "Normally, he wouldn't have to be the arbiter of those situations, and now he's in the middle of some of those."
Luetkemeyer said he's spoken with mental health entities during his time in D.C. He mentioned if the state is able to work with them, Wheatley and other sheriffs would be able to continue their work as law enforcement while individuals with mental health issues are taken care of.
"His staff, they're not mental health folks. They're there to take care of criminals, which is a different problem. So he's being asked to do a lot of things like that," said Luetkemeyer. A lot of it goes back to all these (mental health) facilities that don't have enough help. The governor actually provided more money in the mental health budget this year, but they still don't have enough money to be able to hire people because there are not enough who want to get in that profession and industry to be able to do the work."
Luetkemeyer said it's an ongoing concern that needs to be addressed and communities need experts and facilities who can take care of these individuals and other mental health issues.
The representative said he's excited about the opportunity to represent the district since he lives close by. He said, "It's nice to have some folks in central Missouri, more folks in central Missouri to represent."
"I think the redistricting has made the district more central Missouri-centric, which is a great deal for them and for me," Luetkemeyer said. "I'm looking forward to continuing to work with the folks in Moniteau County and Cooper County...and get to know all my new constituents."