Resolution of at least two vacancies in elected Rosebud city offices could be alleviated with Board of Aldermen appointments.

In the long run, however, Rosebud officials will likely need to adopt a state statute which three other county governments have used to create aldermen at-large positions for future elections.

Rosebud currently has vacancies for its elected collector position and a Ward 1 alderman seat. Both are currently unexpired terms and both end in April 2023, according to Shannon M. Grus, the town’s mayor.

“My understanding of the statute is we would have to adopt the state statute in Rosebud to allow at large alderman and that has not been proposed by the board to this point,” Grus wrote in a email response.

Gasconade County Clerk Lesa Lietzow noted a state statute adopted in August 2006 which allows municipalities with a population of under 1,000 residents the opportunity to approve by ordinance making their aldermen positions elected “at-large” rather than by ward boundaries.

Or, Lietzow agreed, aldermen and other elected officials may be appointed. “Sure,” she said.

Residents in the city of Gasconade went to an at large selection process in 2008, according to Lietzow. The city of Morrison adopted the measure in 2009 and the city of Bland went to this selection method in 2015.

Grus, too, appears ready to have elected positions filled.

“We have had them on the agenda off and on for months and we have been actively searching,” said Grus. “I met with a potential person but the person then declined to be appointed. I believe we will have an appointment for the collector position next month. I have to confirm that, but that is my understanding at this point.”

But, she acknowledges there may be concerns about un-equal representations across ward boundaries if a city happened to end up with a majority of its board from one part of town.

“The only issue is once you go at large it could sway all the representation to one side of the town,” said Grus. “I know that sounds like not a big deal, but people could complain.”

Rosebud voters in the April 5 Municipal Election did select two aldermen.

Caleb Zelch signed up as a declared write-in candidate to challenge Justin Haase for the city’s Ward 2 alderman seat for a two-year term. Zelch received two votes and Haase collected 28 votes to retain the seat.

In the city’s second ward, Kelly Kuhrts won re-election by a 32-16 margin over challenger Tonya Zelch-Wagner.

Doug Bauer is the other Ward 2 alderman and Jennifer Griffith was a Ward 1 alderman before moving into the city clerk’s position. Griffith’s departure leaves an unexpired term through April 2023. Kacey Zelch had been the city’s collector whose term also continues through April 2023.

Lietzow said Rosebud voters should have had the opportunity to select someone to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. “They should have been voting for someone to fill the unexpired term but they didn’t,” said Lietzow. “They were obligated to put it on the ballot but they didn’t. It should have been advertised as an open position.”

The county clerk’s office does not track mid-term resignations in the county’s various municipal governments, Lietzow said.