April election/Courthouse renovation tax gets nod from voters

Sue Sleeper adds just-arrived election results from a Saline County precinct Tuesday evening, April 8. The turnout for the election was low, according to County Clerk Ken Bryant, due in part to steady rain throughout most of the morning. (Eric Crump/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

The 1/4-cent sales tax to finance a major renovation of the Saline County Courthouse won handily in the local election Tuesday, April 8.

The unofficial count was 1,608 voting in favor of the tax and 927 voting against.

"I'm tickled," said Lucy Fletcher, chairman of the Courthouse Preservation Committee when the votes from the last precinct had been written on the whiteboard in the courthouse rotunda Tuesday night.

"We didn't put a lot of money into the campaign," she said. "The committee decided to bring something good to the voters and let them decide."

She thanked the committee members and county commissioners who helped with planning and promoting the tax proposal.

Early on, she said, the committee considered hiring a PR firm to develop a campaign, but the cost would have been $27,000. Instead, the group spent about $650.

"We saved money to put into the building," she said.

Saline County Commissioners Becky Plattner, Norvelle "Brownie" Brown and Dick Hassler, in conjunction with members of the Saline County Preservation Board, issued a statement Wednesday, April 9, thanking the county for supporting the restoration of the 126-year-old "county jewel, built for all the people of … the county."

In other races, one challenger will join the Marshall Board of Education while current President Jay Barton will not.

Mark Gooden was the top vote-getter with 887. Challenger Sherrie Stouffer received 659 votes and incumbent Anita Wright followed close behind with 642 votes.

Barton came in fourth with 574 votes, followed by challengers Roger Blakely with 555 and Thomas Bell with 410.

The 9-1-1 Commission will continue to have John Fletcher in the four-year at-large seat. Fletcher received 1,467 votes to challenger Gene Griffith's 946.

In the 9-1-1 Commission's Southern District, Jesse Coslet received the most votes, 1,067, and will therefore serve a four-year term.

Coming in second and third were Jack Lenz Jr., with 971 votes, and Corbin Allred with 929. Both will serve two-year terms. Carl W. Webb received 722 votes.

In the commission's Northern District, incumbent Cindy Schroeder received the most votes, 731, and will serve a four-year term.

Winning two-year terms were Cathie Jeffries, with 689 votes and John Rieves with 682. James E. Bird received 473 votes.

For Marshall City Council, three unopposed council members -- Sheila Cook, Ward 1; Vince Lutterbie, Ward 2; and Ron Duvall, Ward 4 -- were re-elected.

Dan Brandt fended off a challenge from John Walden, getting 154 votes in Ward 3 to Walden's 54.

In Arrow Rock's Board of Trustees election, Diana Dickey received 32 votes to Karen Murray's 25.

In Blackburn, Karen Sims, running unopposed for mayor, received 40 votes. Charles E. Dollens of Ward 1 received 31 votes and Florence Wilson of Ward 2 received 14; both were running unopposed for their positions.

In Emma, James P. Parks received 11 votes and Kathy Tebbenkamp received 5.

In Gilliam, Joe Trapp received 16 votes, followed by Gayle Dobbins, with 9 and Greta Hagenah with 7.

In Grand Pass, two-year terms for Board of Alderman positions went to Joyce Dambacher with 9 votes, Beverly Richtermeyer with 8 votes and Herbert Richtermeyer with 7 votes.

In Malta Bend, M. Scott Moore, running unopposed for mayor, received a total of 30 votes. Allen Clemons received 20 votes in Ward 2 and Jack Rash received 12 votes in Ward 1. Clemons and Rash were running unopposed for alderman.

In the Miami race for three open positions on the school board, Jennifer Land led the vote count with 86, followed by Mark Petzoldt with 79 and Mendell Elson with 78. Walter Malan received 52 votes, Jamie Tighe, 48, Margaret Hirt, 47 and Dwight Mikels, 37.

In Miami's city race, John R. Bakert received 48 votes. Christopher Hedrick followed with 41, Denise R. Ward received 39, David Arends received 36, Christina Taylor received 35 and Tom Driskell received 22.

In Mt. Leonard, Elaine C. Wagner received 15 votes and Merle R.Trelow received 13.

In Nelson, Gale Cornine received 26 votes, Richard Clause received 14, Elwood Waller received 7 and Ruth Younger received 0.

In Slater, Rex Cantlin held off challenger Frank Dolezal, getting 75 votes to Dolezal's 6. The rest of Slater council's incumbents -- Harry Lightfoot, Matt Campbell, Ruby Romine and Cathie Jeffries -- were unopposed.

In Sweet Springs, Jim Lindemann received 87 votes. Also on the ballot for the seat on the Board of Aldermen was the late Derl Bernard, who received 28 votes.

Raymond Kinney will be Sweet Springs mayor. He ran unopposed for the position. Billie Clevenger was also unopposed in her bid to remain on the board.

Incumbent City Collector Janice Bybee received 139 votes and will retain the office. Challenger Amanda Schlatweiler received 79 votes.

In the Sweet Springs Board of Education race, the top three vote-getters were Robert Fuehring, 262; Troy Schroeder, 226; and Brian Vogelsmeier, 221.

Jack Thomas received 183 votes and Tom Tyler received 150.

In Malta Bend, Scott Moore will take a one-year term on the school board. Moore defeated Clyde Haley Sr. by a vote of 87 to 24.

In the Hardeman school district, Mark W. Borgman received 97 votes, Becky Van Vactor received 95 and Lee Vogl received 94. Dennis Gessling received 49 votes.

Slater School Board incumbents Mike Venable, Jodi Fuemmeler and Rob Newman held off challenger Julie Smith.

Three--year terms on the Lafayette/Saline R-10 School District Board will go to Mike Knipmeyer, John Zitelman and Russell Limback.

Three-year terms on the Blackwater R-11 School District Board will be taken by Tracy L. Massa, Kathleen Miller and Randy R. Widel.

In the Malta Bend Road District commissioners race, Jack Toliver defeated Walden W. Chevalier Sr. by a vote of 45 to 39.

Results were not available for Pettis County R-V School District, where three seats on the school board are open.