In just under two months from today, on Tuesday, August 2, Joplin residents will decide whether to approve a ballot measure that would significantly increase the salaries of police and fire personnel.

On Monday, the Joplin city council approved the creation of the Citizens Committee to assist with Proposition Public Safety. The 16-member committee includes former Joplin Mayors Ryan Stanley and Mike Siebert and council member Anthony Monteleone.

Resident June Blakely shared her thoughts about the upcoming ballot measure on Monday.

“And we voted to give them money for their raises; they didn’t get it. We trusted that they would, that those monies would be spent for those purposes, and those alone that’s what we designated it for. I don’t think it was unclear.”

Proposition B was a half-cent sales tax increase that paid to fully fund the police and fire departments’ retirements. The measure passed in November of 2019 with 77 percent of the vote.

If Proposition Public Safety passes this August, it would raise the starting salary of Joplin police and fire personnel by about $10,000 annually.