Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick (D) is considered to be one of rising stars in the Missouri Democratic Party. Commissioner Kendrick joined host Fred Parry in-studio for the hour Saturday morning on 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable” program. Commissioner Kendrick grew up in northeast Missouri’s Monroe City, a small town of about 2,700 best known for its high school football team and for Holy Rosary church. Mr. Kendrick attended Holy Rosary and his brother and his parents still live in Monroe City. Commissioner Kendrick tells listeners that while he loves Monroe City, he loves Columbia and Boone County and never left Columbia after attending college. Kip Kendrick earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia College and his master’s at Mizzou in the Leadership, Policy and Analysis program. Commissioner Kendrick tells listeners his three terms in the Missouri House helped prepare him for this role. Kendrick praises incoming Boone County Joint Communications director Christie Davis, who begins her new job on Monday. Another topic that Fred and Commissioner Kendrick discussed was senior property tax relief. Boone County commissioners voted in late May to approve a senior real estate tax relief program. The relief is for Boone County residents who own their homes and are at least 62 years old. Commissioners voted to implement a program that would allow for a freeze on any annual increases. They excluded from the senior real estate tax relief program increases that would result from new voter-approved bond issues. Mr. Parry and Commissioner Kendrick also discussed roads in Boone County, including gravel roads. They also discussed Kraft-Heinz’s planned $92-million improvement at Columbia’s Oscar Mayer hot dog plant on Waco road, and the property tax abatement that Boone County commissioners approved for the project. Commissioner Kendrick says Boone County doesn’t want to lose the plant, which has 447 employees. Commissioner Kendrick tells listeners the average salary for those jobs is $48,000: