Staff Report

After candidate filing for the April 2 election closed last week, there are only two competitive races in south county —  the Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors and Green Park Ward 2 alderman.

Filing opened in December for municipal and school board races.

But several political subdivisions will not hold elections this year, including the Mehlville School District and Lindbergh Schools. Sunset Hills and Crestwood will hold non-competitive elections for aldermanic seats.

The Green Park mayoral race seemed competitive when former Ward 2 Alderman Fred Hoehn filed at the last minute to challenge Ward 2 Alderman Tim Thuston, but Hoehn withdrew his name the next day.

Mehlville Fire Protection District

Green Park resident Fred Baumgarth, a former Mehlville firefighter, filed to oppose current MFPD Secretary Ed Ryan. Baumgarth was a firefighter engineer at MFPD and retired in 2015.

Ryan is seeking his third six-year term on the board, after first being elected in 2007.

He was first elected against Dennis Skelton and was re-elected in 2013 versus Mike Klund.

Crestwood

Five aldermanic seats will be up for election in Crestwood, a rare event spurred by Mayor Grant Mabie’s win in a special election Nov. 6, but none of the races will be competitive.

Seats held by Richard Breeding of Ward 1, Mary Stadter of Ward 2, Greg Hall of Ward 3, Jerry Miguel of Ward 3 and board President Tony Kennedy of Ward 4 are up for election.

The seats carry three-year terms, except Hall’s seat will have two years left on the unexpired portion of Mabie’s term.

Filing for three-year terms were Breeding in Ward 1, Stadter in Ward 2, Hall in Ward 3 and Kennedy in Ward 4. Filing for Hall’s current and Mabie’s former unexpired two-year term in Ward 3 was Scott Shipley.

Mabie appointed Hall Nov. 27 to take his Ward seat on the board, the same night Mabie was sworn in to office. The special Ward 3 election will be to serve out the remaining two years of Mabie’s term, which began this year. Stadter was first elected in 2013, as was Breeding to his current tenure on the board after serving previous terms. Miguel returned to the board in 2016 after previously being term-limited out, and Kennedy was first elected in 2016.

Green Park

The mayoral seat is up for election in Green Park, and for one night it was shaping up to be a competitive race between Thuston and Hoehn, a city founder.

Thuston filed for mayor, and Hoehn filed just before close but then withdrew the next morning.

Hoehn said something had come up that will take up his time over the next year and wouldn’t allow time to fully devote himself to the city.

“I wish them well,” Hoehn said.

Mayor Bob Reinagel did not file for re-election.

Aldermanic seats held by Michael Broughton of Ward 1, Thuston and Joe Monteleone of Ward 3 are up for election.

Broughton and Monteleone filed for re-election. In Ward 2, Donald Lattray and Matthew Farwig filed.

Sunset Hills

In Sunset Hills, Dee Baebler of Ward 1, Steve Bersche of Ward 2, Nathan Lipe of Ward 3 and Mark Colombo of Ward 4 all filed for re-election, with no opposition.

Lindbergh school board

Lindbergh Board of Education Vice President Jennifer Miller and Treasurer Mike Tsichlis filed for re-election.

Since no one filed in opposition, an election will not be held for the three-year seats.

Mehlville school board

Mehlville Board of Education seats held by Vice President Larry Felton and Kevin Schartner filed for re-election with no opposition, so no election will be held.

Felton will be serving his fifth term, equaling a record for longevity on the Mehlville board currently held by former board President Alex Lantos.

Schartner was first elected in 2016.