Hospital trustee seat most popular among area candidate filings

The most sought-after job in the April 6 elections in Southeast Missouri appears to be an open seat on the Perry County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees.

Five candidates filed for a seat on the board now held by William Wingerter Sr. Wingerter did not seek re-election. The five candidates are Jennifer L. Janet, Duane Blessing, Susan Phillips, Michael W. Ochs and Keith J. Moeckel, all of Perryville, Mo. The winner will serve a five year term.

In many other locations, only a single candidate filed for an office, effectively ending the contest. Under state law, political subdivisions do not need to put elections on the ballot where the number of candidates seeking the office equals the number of seats available.

Examples of districts where no election will be held include the Cape Special Road District, where longtime board member Rock Wilferth is seeking another term on the board, and the Illmo Special Road District in Scott County, where the only candidate to file was Dale Schlosser.

And in a few places no candidate at all filed, meaning the office could be filled by a handful of write-in votes.

Contested races in the area's smaller cities include:

* Ward 3 in Perryville, Mo., where incumbent Paul R. "Butch" Flentge is being challenged by Prince E. Hudson and Donald R. LaRose.

* Perryville city collector, where incumbent Lori (Schnurbusch) Carroll is being challenged by Deborah (Phillips) Moll.

* Ward 1 in Scott City, where incumbent Bill Schwartz is being challenged by Gerald Hillman.

* Ward 4 in Chaffee, Mo., where Jesse (Jack) Nordin, an incumbent, is seeking a two-year term against Ronnie Eichhorn.

In many cases across the area, incumbents were the only candidates seeking an office. Other locations with openings where a single candidate filed include:

* Perryville, where Mayor Debbie Gahan, Ward 1 Alderman Al Oliver, Ward 2 Alderman Curt Buerck, Municipal Judge Robert Hershey and City Marshal Keith Tarrillion all will have new terms.

* Scott County, where Lori Arnzen and Marvin Raines will win seats on the North County Ambulance District board and Larry Brazel and Dennis Meier will have seats on the Public Water Supply District No. 4 board.

* Scott City, where Ward 3 Alderman Kirk Lewis and Ward 4 Alderman Norman Brant will have new terms. No one filed for Ward 2, so the seat will be filled by write-in votes.

* Chaffee, where Ron Davis will win a two-year term in Ward 1, Douglas Sutterfield will win a full two-year term in Ward 2 and Steve Loucks will hold the Ward 3 seat for another two years. No one filed for a one-year term in Ward 2 to fill out the remainder of a term.

* Marble Hill, Mo., where Mayor Russell Masterson was unopposed, and Roger Burr in Ward 1 and Tim Meek in Ward 2 will replace incumbents Clint Lacy and Joel Southwick, who did not seek re-election.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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