Rescheduled Municipal Election results certified, new R-2 board members sworn in Monday

Protective equipment at polling precincts, cleaning services funded by CARES grant

By Dave Marner, Managing Editor
Posted 6/10/20

Gasconade County Clerk Lesa Lietzow said costs of protective equipment for the rescheduled Municipal Election on June 2 will be applied to a special federal CARES grant.

Lietzow providing …

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Rescheduled Municipal Election results certified, new R-2 board members sworn in Monday

Protective equipment at polling precincts, cleaning services funded by CARES grant

Posted

Gasconade County Clerk Lesa Lietzow said costs of protective equipment for the rescheduled Municipal Election on June 2 will be applied to a special federal CARES grant.

Lietzow providing Gasconade County Commission members an overview of the recent election when they met Thursday at Owensville Hall.

“The election bills will be compiled,” she told commissioners. “I will collect them all and will be compiling them together.”

A line item in Treasurer Mike Feagan’s budget report noted $3,604 had been spent on protective plexiglass shields used at each of the 14 voting precincts last week.

Lietzow, the county’s election authority, told the group these shields included storage boxes obtained from a supplier in New Haven which can be left on site at the polling stations.

She said she expects them to be used again in both the August Primary and the November General Election.

This CARES grant is specifically for elections throughout 2020, she said. The county received $35,955.06 for use on election supplies and services related to protecting county staff, election judges, and the voters during the election. Funding was received on “pass-through” basis from the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office through the federal government.

Lietzow said hiring a professional cleaning service to wipe down all surfaces in the polling locations was included in the qualifying list of reimbursable expenses. She plans to hire the service again for the upcoming elections.

Face masks and gloves for election workers are also reimbursable expenses as are cleaning supplies such as disinfecting wipes, cleaning sprays, and hand sanitizer the county provides each polling station.

The Third Creek precinct voting at Woollam United Methodist Church was selected randomly for the county’s hand recount of ballots, said Lietzow. Final certification of all ballots was filed at 4 p.m. on Friday, she said on Monday.

Third Creek, which posted a 25.02-percent turnout, was where Peaceful Valley Lake residents cast 90 votes for a $5.5 million sewer revenue bond issue for upgrades through the Public Water Supply District No. 1.

Lietzow told commissioners there were four absentee ballots cast among the 90 votes supporting the PWSD question and none against.  Lietzow noted all absentee ballots had been counted by 7 p.m. on election night.

She told commissioners that all precinct judges and the general public had “adhered to the rules while delivering the ballots” and through the process of “checking the results.”

Larry Miskel, the county’s presiding commissioner from Hermann, recalled turning around while helping post numbers in the lobby and seeing “five faces stuck to the door” as they peered through the glass to view the board.

“They couldn’t see anything due to all the (COVID-19 warning) signs,” said Miskel.

Lietzow laughed in agreement.

“It was just plastered in so many signs,” she added.

She said they removed the signs for the evening so members of the public could see into the lobby and view the tally board. The signs were replaced after the election.

Races in Hermann attract voters

Many of those coming by the courthouse were Hermann area residents interested in the city election which saw voters approve 2-percent increase (from 3 to 5 percent) on a “tourism promotion tax” assessed to sleeping rooms. The increase was approved on a 396 to 223 vote.

Bruce Cox defeated Brian Chorley for mayor, 386 to 236.

Susan Lenger defeated Scott McGarrah 192 to 123 for a first ward seat on the Hermann Board of Aldermen. David Faerber was uncontested for a Ward 2 seat.

Hermann voters posted the highest turnout in the county with 41.06 percent of their Ward 1 voters casting ballots and having a 32.44 percent turnout in Ward 2.

Rosebud had a 24.58-percent turnout with one contested race for Ward 2 alderman. Incumbent Kelly Kuhrts defeated challenger Tonya Zelch-Wagner 43 to 14.

Mayor Shanon Grus and Ward 1 Aldermen Justin Haase were both unopposed. Grus finished with 68 votes and Haase received 16 votes. City voters cast 75 total ballots.

Both of Owensville’s incumbent Board of Aldermen candidates were unopposed. Cathy Lahmeyer received 103 votes out of 118 ballots cast in Ward 1. Denise Bohl received 83 votes out of 89 ballots cast in Ward 2. Mayor John Kamler received 173 votes out of 207 ballots cast in his uncontested election for another two-year term.

Turnout in the city’s two wards was 11.78 percent in Ward 1 and 12.77 in Ward 2.

Incumbent president, two new directors selected by R-2 voters

Voters in the Gasconade County R-2 School District re-elected the incumbent Board of Education president, Glenn Ely, with 606 votes including 522 in Gasconade and 84 in Franklin counties.

Jason Crowe, Gerald, was the second-highest vote recipient with 530 including 440 in Gasconade and 89 in Franklin. He and Jean Baker, who received 464 votes, each received one vote in Crawford County. No votes for R-2 candidates were recorded in Osage County.

Baker had 409 votes in Gasconade County and 54 in Franklin.

Nona Miller, who was seeking re-election tallied 316 votes including 234 in Gasconade and 82 in Franklin where she resides near Gerald. Kara Meyer finished with 271 votes (215 in Gasconade; 56 in Franklin). Dennis Frahm, who announced in late May he did not wish to be considered as a candidate, received 130 votes (118 in Gasconade and 12 in Franklin). His decision came too late to be removed from the ballot which was printed for the election originally scheduled in early April.

In Gasconade city, 19.3 percent of the voters cast ballots, all for unopposed candidates. Deborah Green was unopposed for anther term as mayor and received 21 votes of the 22 total cast.

Marjorie I. Kuhn was unopposed for collector and received 22 votes.

Billy R. Wolf and John H. Steiner received 19 and 22 votes respectively for the two seats as aldermen at-large. All four positions carry two-year terms.

In Morrison, nine ballots were cast, but, as Lietzow noted happily, candidates did sign up to run for office this election.

Melissa Strope was elected mayor with nine votes. Stephanie Birk was selected as collector with eight votes. Jason Koenigsfeld and Steven Nolte will serve a aldermen at large with eight and seven votes respectively. Turnout was 6.72 percent.

Voter turnout overall was 17.76 percent as 1,412 of the 7,951eligible voters  cast ballots. Turnout in other precincts included Bland Canaan (7.79 percent), Boulware (8.39), Drake (10.78), Redbird (7.32), Rural Canaan (9.94), and Tayloe (8.94).