Some April elections are shaping up for the region.
In Springfield, voters now know the city will revisit the question of increasing a city hotel/motel license tax to help pay for a new convention and event center. Springfield will have no school board elections this year as the two incumbents up for election face no challengers.
Republic will have one competitive city council race, in Ward III Justin Snider will face Brian Fields. Three other Republic Ward elections have only one candidate.
In Ozark this year’s trend of one-horse races continues. Elections in Wards one and two in Ozark will have one candidate for each. One race will have no candidates. No one filed for election to represent Ozark’s Ward three.
Ozark will also face a unique question in its election this April. The city will consider forming a charter form of government. Most mid-sized towns and small cities in Missouri have their own charter. Smaller towns are governed by prescriptive state laws.
Last week Ozark’s Board of Aldermen approved the slate of Charter Commissioners that will be on the ballot. If approved, the commissioners will be responsible for drafting a charter. Voters would get the chance to approve that charter in a later election. City Manager Eric Johnson introduced the charter election ordinance.
“It’s pretty straightforward,” Johnson explained. “If approved by the board tonight there will be a very detailed informational and educational campaign.” There were no details accompanying Johnson’s statement, but residents may expect to see more about the charter commission vote in months ahead.
The city has had information sessions and applications open for members of the public interested in serving on the commission. Last week they approved an 11-member panel, including: Ernest Plüs, M. Elise Crain, James Price, Franklin Lorenz, Mary Adams, Joanna Billingsley, Steven Krause, Jennifer Roland and Suzan Collins.