Megan Marshall, Vice President of the Lee’s Summit Board of Education, will officially launch her campaign for Jackson County Legislature, 3rd District At-Large, during a 10 a.m. press conference Monday morning at Martin Luther King Jr. Square Park in Kansas City, MO. 

Marshall seeks to unseat two-term incumbent Tony Miller in the Democratic primary election on August 2, 2022.  If elected, per Missouri statute, Marshall is allowed to serve on the school board and county legislature. 

Marshall released a brief transcript to the media of her prepared remarks for Monday’s press conference:

“There comes a time when continuing to wait for change rather than stepping forward to be that change becomes an act of cowardice. 

Violent crime in Jackson County continues to destroy far too many lives. Last year, 48 teenagers and young adults under 25 years old were murdered in the KC metro alone. Hundreds more were maimed and scarred from gun violence in our largest cities.

Domestic violence against women is increasing. Missouri is top five in the nation for the number of women killed by men. The majority of these crimes are committed with guns. 

The plague of substance abuse permeates every corner of our county. From urban enclaves and suburban cul-de-sacs to the rural backwoods. This is an issue devoid of stereotypes. 

Fentanyl overdoses are a nightly news story. Parents find children overdosed in their bedrooms. We must redouble our efforts to rescue our children from being the next victims. 

Our public schools have become the battlefield for statewide political warfare. Adults protest critical race theory and masks while our children fall further behind academically and deeper into the abyss of anxiety and despair. 

It’s time to refocus our attention on what matters. The obstacles we face are many, and all are too dire and too urgent to continue settling for leadership that is out of touch. 

We don’t need any more politicians content in Ivory Towers, dismissive and indifferent to the needs of working people. Those who refuse to put service before self. 

Our communities deserve engaged and responsive leaders. Not those who believe getting your vote is the end of their service. 

The public should have confidence their representatives are working hard to address their concerns, not dozing off on the taxpayer’s dime while property taxes rob working people of the little savings they have. 

The county legislature has promised a new detention center for over a decade, yet the current one continues to crumble.

I’m not too young to remember a time when it seemed like whenever I blinked a new jail appeared. When people who look like me were receiving mandatory life sentences for possessing the same marijuana that is legal today. 

The same communities that suffered for decades through mass incarceration in Jackson County can’t depend on their government to build one jail now to ensure violent criminals stay there. There’s something wrong with that. 

Violent criminals should not be allowed right back on the streets to murder more of our neighbors, friends, and family members because self-serving politicians are more concerned with re-election than public safety. This is the type of political hypocrisy that makes people cynical about their government.

Our houseless population in Jackson County is increasing. Encampments dot the landscape from Independence to Grandview. Too many of my fellow Veterans, after bravely serving our country, are forced to call the crevices underneath bridges home.

I can no longer sit on the sidelines and watch the demands of the vulnerable be ignored. While the powerful and well-connected reap the rewards of their suffering. 

As the daughter of a baptist minister, I was taught that the strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. This sense of duty was further instilled during my military service.

The people of Jackson County deserve more, much more. It’s time to elect public servants who will lead with humility, serve with integrity, and remain accountable to those who elected them.”