Filing deadline for school board, city council positions set for Tuesday

Incumbent members of the Jackson Board of Aldermen will have little campaigning to do if the current field of candidates for the jobs doesn't change by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

That's the deadline for people who want to take positions on city councils, school boards and other local offices to file their candidacy. In most cases, offices that accept the filings will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, leaving only one business day for completing paperwork.

In Jackson, Mayor Barbara Lohr will be seeking her second two-year term and so far she has no opposition, city clerk Mary Lowry said. The same is true for Ward 1 Alderman Phil Penzel, Ward 2 Alderman David Hitt, Ward 3 Alderman Mark Dambach and Ward 4 Alderman Dale Rauh.

Lohr won the job in 2007 by defeating Ward 2 Alderman David Reiminger and write-in candidate John Graham. Dambach is seeking his second term after defeating longtime incumbent Val Tuschoff.

In the region's most populous school districts, Jackson and Cape Girardeau, voters will have a choice. Incumbents Kyle McDonald and Charles Bertrand have filed for new terms on the Cape Girardeau School Board, board secretary Laverne Smith said, as have Luther Bonds and Betty Mosley.

The Cape Girardeau School Board offices will be closed today but will reopen Tuesday. Staff will be on hand until 5 p.m. to take candidate filings, Smith said.

In Jackson, Brent Wills and Cathy Goodman have both filed for new terms on the seven-member Jackson School Board, said Bonnie Stahlman, board secretary. Robert Aubuchon has also filed for the position.

While Jackson Public Schools are closed today, the administrative offices will be open, Stahlman said.

Candidates for municipal offices and school boards won't be the only thing on the April ballot. Two Cape Girardeau County fire districts that have endured turmoil in the past year will be asking voters in their areas to expand their governing boards from three to five members.

In the East County Fire Protection District, disagreements among board members led to resignations and a slander lawsuit between a current and former board member. In August, Circuit Judge William Syler appointed two members to the district's board after the resignation of longtime chairman Gary Fornkahl resigned in June, leaving a single board member, Pamela Allen. In the slander lawsuit, Fornkahl accused Allen of defaming him in a complaint to the Missouri Ethics Commission.

In the Millersville Rural Fire District, voters will be asked to expand the board after a November episode in which 12 members of the 22-person firefighting squad resigned, then were reinstated two days later. The resignations came after a disagreement over the rate of spending on equipment by a maintenance officer.

If voters in both districts approve the board expansions, the three current board members in each fire district will have the power to appoint people to fill the vacancies. The seats would be up for election in April 2010.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

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