CHAFFEE: THREE-WAY RACE EXISTS FOR COUNCIL DESPITE MOVE

CHAFFEE -- Chaffee still has a three-way city council race in Ward 1 for next week's election, even though one candidate is taking up residence in another ward.

Challenger E.N. "Cotton" Sadler was in the process of moving out of Ward 1, his son, Ed, said earlier this week. Sadler and John Nordin Sr. are challenging incumbent Jerry D. Wolsey in the April 7 election.

Also up for election are council seats held by Irmgard Chronister, Ward 2; Ron Eskew, Ward 3; and Brad Bader, Ward 4. The only other race is against Chronister, who is facing first-time candidate Marlene Anne Creech.

Sadler, who filed while living at 126 Cook, could not be reached for comment. City Clerk Diane Eftink said Sadler was moving to Ward 3.

Although Sadler's son said Sadler had withdrawn as a candidate in the race, Scott County Clerk Bob Kielhofner said Sadler's name would still remain on the election ballots which are already printed and the votes for him counted. Kielhofner said he had discussed the matter with the chief election officer at the Missouri Secretary of State's office and there was no provision for Sadler's name to be removed from the ballots.

"I'm not going to instruct the (election) judges otherwise. They're going to have to count his votes," Kielhofner said. Plus, he said, since Sadler had moved after the March 18 voter registration deadline, he's still entitled to vote in Ward 1.

If Sadler would happen to win the election and still remain living in the other ward, Kielhofner said, a vacancy would be declared. The mayor would appoint someone to fill the position, with ratification by the council, he said. That person would serve until the next municipal election.

Incumbent Wolsey would enter his second two-year term if re-elected.

"I have really enjoyed my first two years on the council," said Wolsey, 40, owner and operator of Wolsey Investigative Service Inc., based in Chaffee. "I'm not a `yes' man. I speak my opinion and I want to continue to be a strong voice for the citizens of Ward 1 and the entire city of Chaffee."

A police chief in Chaffee from 1981-1983, Wolsey said he wanted to continue the city's five-year street improvement project, now in its third year, and keep working to correct drainage problems in Ward 1. Another project he would like to work toward is correcting nighttime illumination deficiencies in the city.

"We have streets that are completely dark in a two- or three-block area. I would like to work on that and consult with Union Electric on properly getting these streets lit up at night."

Wolsey stressed his attendance record while he has served on the council. Over the course of 48 regular meetings and probably 10 to 15 special sessions in the past two years, he said, he has missed only three meetings.

"You can't beat that for an attendance record," Wolsey said, "and I stand by my record."

As well as serving as the city's police chief, Wolsey has worked as a Scott County deputy sheriff.

Nordin, 32, of 429 Helen, is a bus driver and maintenance worker for Chaffee Public Schools who says he would just mainly like to get the residents in Ward 1 to work together. This is Nordin's first council bid.

"The thing I think that would make me qualified to run is I've lived around the Chaffee people here a long time, and being an ordinary working man and raising a family here, I have the same concerns as most of them," he said. Those concerns include cost of living increases in town, Nordin said.

"I'm one of the types of people who is ready to roll up his sleeves when we have a job to do and jump in and do it."

He said he wasn't knocking any past representation in Ward 1, but that he felt the council needed a different opinion and outlook. Nordin said he knows what it takes to work with people because he served as a union steward at the Florsheim factory in Cape Girardeau. Furthermore, he said, he's had management experience with different civic organizations.

Incumbent Chronister, 61, would also enter her second two-year term if voters return her to the council.

"In the two years I've been on the city council I've learned a lot. And I also learned you can't please everybody," she said. "I have a mind of my own and I speak up.

But added Chronister: "I did contribute something to the city some improvements and I will do so in the next two years if elected. There are so many little things I've done..., you can't really put a finger on it. People know I will do what's best for the town."

Chronister said she would like to see new sidewalks put in downtown, "if that's possible to do." The installation of some flower pots downtown is another improvement she would also like to see made to the city.

The flower pots would make people "feel good" when they come into the city," she said. "It would make the city so much nicer."

Both Chronister, a former beautician who also worked in real estate, and her husband, Jim, are retired. He is treasurer on the Board of Education for Chaffee Public Schools, she said.

Contender Marlene Creech, 412 West Yoakum, said she isn't running for the city council for her own self-interest.

"I will represent all the people of Ward 2 and the city of Chaffee," she said. "I feel that the council person must also work with the rest of the city council. One councilman should not act without the knowledge and consent of the rest of the city council."

Creech declined to elaborate, saying only "We know that this has been done in the past and this shouldn't happen."

Her reference was to action taken by Chronister in 1990. In September of that year, Creech and her husband, Omer Creech Jr., were among several people who expressed offense over Chronister having city crews trim some Chaffee residents' trees and bushes. Some trees and bushes owned by the couple were among those trimmed.

In taking the action, Chronister, who said she had the trimming done for safety reasons, acted without the council's formal approval. She later apologized for the action.

Informed this week of Creech's statements, Chronister said everyone was entitled to make one mistake. "This was one of my mistakes that I made," she said.

Creech, 45, is retired along with her husband, a former elementary principal at Chaffee. She said she taught band and vocal music at Chaffee High School from 1981 to 1985, then taught the same subjects in the Woodland R-4 School District at Marble Hill from 1985 to 1990. The couple now teach private music lessons in their own home, she said.

As for her special interest, Creeh said, it would have to be the environment.

"I've had several people approach me about recycling. It's going to come. We're going to have to do it. We might as well get started on it."

Creech said she also is for city beautification.