By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph city elections next year come with a twist.
While mayoral candidates and at-large city council candidates will run for four-year terms, the district candidates are running for two-year terms. District candidates will revert to four-year terms after this next election as the St. Joseph City Council implements staggered terms.
Four candidates are running for St. Joseph mayor. Eight candidates are running for four at-large seats on the St. Joseph City Council and there will be two contested races for district seats.
District Three Councilmember, Andy Trout, says the city council decided that it needs to staggered the terms of councilmembers to maintain some continuity.
“We decided there wasn’t enough institutional memory. So, we decided to stagger the terms to make sure that we had a few people on when new people did come on,” Troute tells KFEQmmunity. “It just makes sense.”
Trout has decided to run for re-election. He is being challenged by Dana Stickley.
St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale is running for re-election. He is being challenged by Jonathan McClain, Larry Miller, and Kenneth Reeder.
At-Large city councilmembers Randy Schultz, Marty Novak, Kenton Randolph, and Jeff Schomburg are all running for re-election. Four other candidates have also filed for at-large seats. They are Frederick Martin, Gary Wilkinson, Collin Clibon, and Dakota Allen.
District Four Councilmember, Michael Grimm, is running for re-election. Russell Moore is challenging him.
District One Councilmember, Madison Davis, is running unopposed for re-election. District Two Councilmember, Jason Eslinger, is running unopposed for re-election.
Trout supports running for a two-year term this year to implement staggered terms, so the council can function effectively.
“New people come in at a distinct disadvantage, not knowing how the city works, not knowing all the people, not knowing where everything is, not knowing how the budget works,” Trout says. “So, I think in the long run it will work out to be a really, really positive thing.”
Trout says the current council has learned how to function effectively, hashing out issues during frequent work sessions prior to official meetings.
“So, when we go to vote on something we know the topic, we know what is going into it, we know the ramifications, we know each other’s feelings, and we’ve hashed it all out before we vote on it,” according to Trout. “So, we tend to vote very quickly and very unanimously; a lot of unanimous votes because we’ve talk about it for weeks and months.”
St. Joseph voters will decide the races early next year. The city primary will be held February 3rd with a general municipal election on April 7th.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ