Cape wards not lacking for candidates on first filing day

Each Cape Girardeau ward on the April ballot will have at least one candidate hoping to be its next city council representative.

Tuesday was the first day of the candidate filing period, which continues through Nov. 17.

Candidates first must be nominated by a petition signed by at least 50 voters registered in the ward for which the candidate is seeking election. Candidates then may file with the city during the candidate filing period.

The general election will be April 5 and includes the seats for wards 3, 4 and 5.

Victor Gunn is running for re-election in Ward 3. He took over the position in August 2014 after a special election to fill the unexpired term of Trent Summers, who moved out of the ward. Gunn was the only Ward 3 candidate to file Tuesday.

Robbie Guard

In Ward 4, two candidates have filed. Robbie Guard and Patrick Koetting announced their intention to run before the opening of the filing period.

Guard is an assistant vice president in commercial lending for MRV Banks. He's served on the city's Golf Course Advisory Board since 2008 and was a member of the Transportation Trust Fund 5 public information committee, a volunteer citizen panel formed before the August election. He also has served in leadership roles on boards with the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, Cape Girardeau Jaycees and Noon Lions Club, among other organizations.

Koetting, a sales representative for Major Brands for Southeast Missouri, briefly served on the council last year as an interim representative of Ward 3. He held the position until Gunn took over, after the special election. He moved to Ward 4 soon after his temporary service in the city's third ward.

He also has served on the Girardeau Goes Green Advisory Board and is on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Koetting is among the organizers of the Cape Girardeau Friends of Public Safety.

The sitting Ward 4 representative, Councilwoman Loretta Schneider, is term-limited in April, leaving the seat vacant.

Patrick Koetting

Candidates in Ward 5 also will not face any opposition from a sitting candidate. Councilman Mark Lanzotti is term-limited in April as well.

Bob Fox was the only candidate who filed in the ward Tuesday, according to the city clerk's office. He opened Fox Family Dentistry in Cape Girardeau in 1975.

He spent nine years on the Cape Girardeau School Board until 2003, serving as president for four years. Fox also has served as president of the Missouri Dental Association.

Lindsay Baker expressed interest in September in running for the Ward 5 seat but has not yet filed. Baker is an associate producer at FOX 23 and My49, where she has worked for eight years.

If three or more candidates file for a ward spot, a primary election will be held Feb. 2.

Bob Fox

srinehart@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

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Ward candidates so far

Candidates who have filed to run for Cape Girardeau city council so far:

Ward 3: Victor Gunn

Ward 4: Robbie Guard, Patrick Koetting

Ward 5: Bob Fox