Vicky Hartzler, the newly elected U.S. Representative in Missouri’s 4th District, has e-mailed constituents and asked them to send photos of notable sights in her district so she can display them when she takes office next month.
The Pulaski County Daily tells the rest of the story:
At Thursday morning’s meeting of the Pulaski County Commission, Eastern District Commissioner Bill Farnham said he’ll take Hartzler up on her offer.
“I think I’m going to send a few pictures of the Devil’s Elbow Bridge to our new congresswoman to see if we can get some federal money. She’s asking for pictures of things in the district,” Farnham said.
“That’s called sucking up,” said Presiding Commissioner Don McCulloch.
“Why not? We need money and that might work,” Farnham said. […]
Due to deterioration, weight limits on the Devil’s Elbow Bridge have already dropped to the point that tour buses can no longer cross the bridge, which means many tourists never see the bridge.
McCulloch may call it “sucking up,” but I’d call it “smart lobbying” if Farnham lands federal dollars to repair that Route 66 bridge and reopen the rest of Devil’s Elbow to tourists.
If the deteriorating bridge is closed, many Devil’s Elbow residents will be forced to add miles to their trips, and Route 66 travelers will lose a contiguous route through that village. Farnham’s quest to repair the bridge could be called many things, but frivolous is not one of them.