Last Tuesday, voters went to the polls for a Municipal Election. At least a few voters did. 5,182 voters in Franklin County cast ballots out of 70,216 registered voters for an appalling turn-out rate of 7.38 percent.

In-town Gerald voters again elected Steve Grgurich as their Ward 1 alderman. Grgurich got 30 votes compared to his opponent, Bradley G. Landwehr’s 15. Two people cast votes for a write-in candidate. Grgurich has served two terms in that position but lost the seat last April to Angela Koepke. Incumbent Ruth Haase chose not to seek re-election.

Incumbent Ward 2 Alderman Ed Adams ran unopposed. He received 16 votes, with three write-in votes cast in that race.

By a nearly three to one margin, voters approved to continue a sales tax increase that was scheduled to expire at the end of the year. The money raised from the sales tax increase goes directly to the transportation fund and can only be used to repair or build streets. 46 voters were in favor of the proposition while 25 voted against it.

Voters were instructed to vote for three Gasconade R-2 School Board members. Seven precincts in Franklin County had at least some voters choosing R-2 board members. In addition to the three Gerald precincts, voters in Beaufort-Lyon, Detmold/Jaegers Shop, Leslie out-of-town, and Spring Bluff all had some voters with that issue on their ballots according to County Clerk Tim Brinker.

A total of all those voters showed Jason Crowe with 89 votes, Glen Ely 84, Nona Miller 82, Kara Meyer 56, Jean Baker 54 and Dennis Frahm 12. Those votes combined with others across the district elected Ely, Crowe and Baker to the board.

Baker, who in his role as county clerk is the election official for the county, says there were few problems reported with the municipal election. It was the first election in the history of Missouri to have ever been postponed for any reason.