Friday, Jan. 25, 2013
Candidates file for local elections
Several communities to hold mayoral races
By Bethany Bashioum
bbashioum@demo-mo.com
Print
E-Mail
AIM
ReprintAfter nearly seven years under the same leadership, the community of Belton will soon have a newly-elected mayor.
The candidate filing deadline for multiple municipal and school board elections was Jan. 15.
In Belton, Ward 4 Councilman Gary Lathrop has been serving as mayor pro tem since former Mayor Jimmy Odom resigned from office last month to serve on the Cass County Commission, representing the northern half of the county.
Belton residents Bobby Davidson, Jeff Davis and Ricky Patel both filed for election for a full four-year term to the office on Tuesday, April 2.
Lathrop also filed, but has since withdrawn his application.
Along with several other communities around Cass County, Raymore will also hold a mayoral race during the spring election.
Mayor Peter Kerckhoff will once again rival Ward 3 Councilman Jeffrey Adams for a three-year term.
The duo paired off last year during the April election for a special one-year term mayor’s seat to succeed former Mayor Juan Alonzo, who resigned from his public office in December 2011 because of a failure to pay a state tax.
Kerckhoff won the 2012 spring election with 70 percent of the vote, compared with 30 percent for Adams, who had been acting mayor following Alonzo’s departure.
In other city elections, the following candidates have filed:
Archie: Les Whiteside, mayor; Matt Janssen, West Ward alderman.
Belton: James Person, chief of police; Jeff Fletcher and Steve Bennett, Ward 1 councilman; Chet Trutzel and C. DeWitt Donovan, Ward 2 councilman; Al Hoag and Connie Hubbard, Ward 3 councilman; Tim Savage, Ward 4 councilman.
Cleveland: Gary Campbell, North Ward alderman; Albert Muller, 3rd Ward alderman, Jeff Denton and Tom Reintjes, South Ward alderman.
Drexel: Terry Mayfield, mayor; Kenny Reece, West Ward alderman; Darryl Gilbert and Raymond Fink, East Ward alderman.
Freeman: Timothy Lee, East Ward ; Rick Hager, West Ward; Brad Hess, West Ward.
Garden City: Judy Williams, Robert Strotheide, Dewey Henry, mayor; Debra Butcher, Ronald Holdgrafer, Roger Berg, East Ward alderman; Scott Smith and Marsha French, West Ward alderman.
Lake Winnebago: Elizabeth Norwat and Daryl Granzella, Ward 1 alderman; Jerry Haefele, Ward 2 alderman.
Peculiar: Veronica Wray, Ward 1 alderman; Holly Stark and Kimberly Mallison, Ward 2 alderman; Bob Fines, Ward 3 alderman.
Pleasant Hill: C.J. Hicks, Precinct 20 councilman; Paul Beason, Precinct 21 councilman.
Raymore: Dale Jacobson and Kevin Kellogg, Ward 1 councilman; Ryan Wescoat, Nick Harter and Ryan P. Johnson, Ward 2 councilman; Derek Moorhead and Thomas R. Circo, Ward 2 councilman; Jason Boehner, Ward 3 councilman; Jonathan Seeley and Charlene H. Hubach; Ward 4 councilman.
Many area school districts will also be holding board elections. The candidates who have filed include:
Archie: Two seats. Aaron Cantrell and Jonas Jones. (No election will be held since both seats are uncontested).
Belton: Two seats. Mark Dickson and Jerry Miller. (No election).
Drexel: Two seats. Jill Collins, Tim Eastwood and Sheryl Gilbert.
East Lynne: Two seats. Craig JeuDevine and Michael J. Davis. (No election).
Harrisonville: Two seats. Chris Bell, Marv Cochran and Marie Vallee.
Midway: Two seats. Jerry Burchett, Richard Funk and Debbie Smith.
Pleasant Hill: Two seats. David Burge, John C. Edenburn, Matt Gustin and Donald Swofford.
Raymore-Peculiar: Two seats. Leo Anderson, Joe Anthuis, Louise Large-Gurin and Tonya Long.
Sherwood: Two seats. Mike Diggs, Ben Jones, Crystal Mainard, Dan Matson and Joe White.
Strasburg: Two seats. Cindi Wingard and Brian Flint. (No election).
