Scott County Voters approve marijuana taxes, bond issue

BENTON, Mo. -- Voters in Scott County approved two separate taxes put before them during Tuesday's municipal election.

Nearly 70% of voters favored renewing the countywide sales tax of 0.5% with a vote of 1,999 to 868.

Voters also approved the countywide sales tax on recreational marijuana. In a vote of 1,849 to 1,007, voters accepted the 3% tax on sales of adult-use marijuana in the county.

Also on Tuesday, voters in the Scott County Central School District approved the no-tax increase bond issue, Proposition KIDS, for $1 million to fund districtwide heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) work.

There are three spots on Scott Central's school board, but there were only two declared candidates, Tracy Foster and Matt Deane. Foster received 115 votes and Deane 101 votes. There were 18 write-in candidates, and Paul Johnson received the most votes with 16.

Voters in the Scott County R-4 "Kelly" School District opted for new members to fill the three spots on the school board. John-Erik Jenkins, 423 votes; Robby Lemonds, 388 votes; and declared write-in candidate Dustin Schwartz, 346 votes, ousted incumbents Todd Hall, 278 votes; and David Brashear, 216 votes, in their bids for re-election. Also receiving votes was Sandy Ruff, 92 votes. A portion of Mississippi County voters reside in the Kelly School District, and a total of 4 votes were cast for this race. Lemonds received 2 votes, and Jenkins and Hall each received 1 vote.

The three incumbents will return to serve three more years on Oran R-3's school board. Clara L. Urhahn, who netted 129 votes; Stephen Peterson, 111 votes; and Vance Todt, 110, were challenged by Tiffany Schaefer, who received 102 votes.

In New Hamburg's Kelso C-7 School District, there were three positions available and four candidates. Incumbent Elizabeth Glastetter, 154 votes, will serve three more years on the board as will board newcomers, Major Burger, 137 votes, and Roy Buell, 126 votes. Matthew Hayes garnered 95 votes in his bid to serve on the board.

Voters in the Chaffee R-2 School District, chose Lori Whistler, 179 votes; Steve Seyer, 148 votes; and Jason Berry, 141 votes, over Sam Howard, 103 votes, to serve the three, three-year positions available on the Board of Education. Running unopposed in his bid for a one-year term on Chaffee's school board was Dale Tenkhoff, who received 194 votes.

Winning the three spots on the Scott City R-1 School Board were Matt Underwood, 283 votes; Nathan Littlepage, 229 votes; and Heraleen Bowers, 207 votes. They defeated Ashley Jackson, 185 votes, and Kenneth Ingvalson, 158 votes.

Missouri allows school boards to forego an election if there are the same number of candidates seeking the office as openings. Sikeston R-6 did not have an election as there were three openings and three candidates: Katie Merideth, Ben Alcorn and Chris Hodgkiss.

There were no candidates for the single position on both the NBC Fire Protection District Board of Directors and Scott County Rural Fire Protection District Board of Directors. Write-in candidates were accepted.

There were 16 write-in candidates for the NBC Fire position, and Taylor McLaughlin received the most votes with 54.

For the Scott County RFPD, there were 35 write-in candidates with Danny Spain receiving the most votes with 36.

Incumbent Jim Simmons was successful in his bid for re-election as the mayor of the City of Benton. He defeated his challenger, Michael Ponder, with a vote of 172-26.

Running unopposed in Benton were: Beverly Riley, collector, 180 votes; Howard Bollinger, Ward 1 alderman, 69 votes; David Mack, Ward 2 alderman, 3 votes.

In a vote of 162-32, Benton residents also approved a $10 million bond issue for waterworks and sewerage improvements.

Running unopposed in Blodgett were Markel Fitchpatrick for Ward 1 alderman, 16 votes; and Deani Hurst, Ward 2 alderman, 9 votes.

Races in the City of Chaffee were also unopposed. Receiving votes were Steve Loucks, mayor, 143 votes; Ryan M. Pobst, Ward 1 councilperson, 28 votes; Mark Perkins, Ward 2 councilperson, two-year term, 35 votes; Andy Sadler, Ward 2 councilperson, one-year term, 40 votes; Danny Finley, Ward 3 councilperson, 39 votes; and Eric Seyer, Ward 4 councilperson, 39 votes.

The City of Miner also had unopposed races: Doris Smith, collector, 27 votes; Brian Bell, Ward 1 alderperson, 12 votes; and Peggy Holman, Ward 2 alderperson, 12 votes.

In the City of Morley, there were two spots and three candidates for the alderman at-large. Gennell Casey, 50 votes, and Brooke Juden, 35 votes, defeated Margaret Belcher, 19 votes.

In the City of Oran, voters opted for Michael Bramlett, 22 votes, over Jarrett Whitmore, 18 votes, in their bids for the Ward 2 alderman seat. Running unopposed in Oran were: Tim Daniels, Ward 1 alderman, 8 votes; Richard Randolph, Ward 3 alderman, 22 votes; and Karen LeGrand, Ward 4 alderman, 14 votes.

Scott City voters also approved the recreational marijuana sales tax in a vote of 246 to 88.

The following Scott City Council candidates were also unopposed: Kenny Page, Ward 1 councilman, 102 votes; Victor Phillips, Ward 2 councilman, 59 votes; Rick Brashear, Ward 3 councilman, 55 votes; and Randy Morse, Ward 4 councilman, 59 votes.

The village of Haywood City had two trustee positions and two candidates, Linda Williams, 23 votes, and Robert Walls, 16 votes.

Running unopposed in the village of Kelso for the three Board of Trustees positions were: Andrew Beussink, 45 votes; Jerry Bledsoe, 45 votes; and John Carman, 46 votes.

There were four candidates and three board of trustees positions available in the village of Vanduser. Halie Belt, 26 votes; Chris Belt, 22 votes; and Michael Hargrove, 21 votes, defeated Clay Graviett, 19 votes.

Nearly 12%, or 2,919 of Scott County's 24,618 registered voters cast ballots during Tuesday's election.

These results, which were provided by Scott County Clerk Allen M. Seabaugh, are unofficial.