Tracey Perry, who was appointed in May 2023 to fill Jefferson County’s vacant public administrator office, has announced she will run for the Republican Party’s nomination for a full four-year term in the office.
Jefferson County Executive Dennis Gannon appointed Perry to replace Steve Farmer, who retired in the middle of his third term.
“I’ve never felt like a job was so much made for me,” said Perry, 56, of De Soto. “I feel like all of my experiences – the military, my work, the (Jefferson R-7) school board, the County Council – all have led up to this.”
Before she was appointed, Perry was a social worker for the Festus Manor nursing home and previously worked as a social worker and case manager with Jefferson Memorial Hospital (now Mercy Hospital Jefferson) in Crystal City. She served in the Army for 22 years, retiring as a major in 2007.
Perry served on the Jefferson R-7 Board of Education from 2017 to 2020 and represented District 5 on the Jefferson County Council from 2019 to 2022.
Perry has a bachelor’s degree in social work from St. Leo (Fla.) University and a master’s degree in human resources management from Keller Graduate School of Management (in Illinois).
The Public Administrator’s Office serves as the guardian or conservator for those who are unable to handle their own affairs and have no family and friends to help them. The office also steps in when someone dies without a will or family.
Perry said the job suits her perfectly.
“I’ve always wanted the opportunity to help people,” she said. “In this job, we get to impact so much. It’s great being able to help get services for people who desperately need them.”
The Public Administrator’s Office has a staff of six full-time employees and a part-timer.
Perry said she was surprised to learn that only about 45 percent of the office’s 275 wards currently live in Jefferson County.
“They are assigned to the office from the Jefferson County court system, so they originally lived here,” she said. “But the county doesn’t have the amount of services it requires for everyone. Some of our clients have been placed in facilities in Moberly or Kansas City. That’s one of my goals, is to bring them closer to Jefferson County. There’s simply no place to put some of them here. Some of them need assisted living, some need to be in a nursing home and a few whose behavior warrants need to be in specialized facilities.”
Perry said her work on the County Council trying to line up funding from the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act of 2020 for nursing facilities helped her forge contacts that she’s employing now.
Other contacts, she said, were made while she worked at Festus Manor.
“Everything in my life seems like it’s been pointing to this one job,” she said.
If elected, Perry said, she also would work to get the word out about what the office does.
“I believe this is definitely the most important county office, but nobody knows about it until they need it,” she said. “I am trying to raise awareness.”
To that end, Perry said, she has been speaking at community groups to let people know about the office and its functions.
She said another point of emphasis is to try to work with families to ensure they don’t become part of the Public Administrator’s system.
“We need to work with people, let them know the resources they have available and what they need to do,” she said. “A lot of times, family members are stretched to the limit dealing with their loved ones. They don’t know what to do or where to turn. We need to help them take care of them before they become part of the system.”
Perry and her husband, Kevin, have two adult children.
The public administrator is paid a $97,097 annual salary.
Filing for the August 2024 primary election runs from Feb. 27 through March 26. The winner in each political party will face off in the November general election for the office.