South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Competitive races for Sunset Hills mayor, Mehlville school board after first days of filing

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Candidate filing began Tuesday for the April 7 election for Crestwood and Sunset Hills mayor, along with municipal offices and school board positions across South County.

So far, the highlights of the April 2020 races will be a competitive race for Sunset Hills Mayor Pat Fribis and at least a five-way race for three seats on the Mehlville Board of Education.

Fribis has served two terms. Crestwood Mayor Grant Mabie is one year into his first term as mayor, after his victory in a special election in November 2018.

Aldermanic seats in Green Park and Sunset Hills and trustee seats in Grantwood Village will also be up for election, plus seats on the Lindbergh, Mehlville and Affton boards of education.

Filing began at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17, and continues through 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21. School districts were closed Tuesday due to snow, but some districts opened anyway Tuesday to accept board filing, while others did not.

Crestwood

First-term Mayor Mabie filed to run for re-election, and so far is the only candidate to file. He won office in a special election in November 2018 to fill out the rest of former Mayor Gregg Roby’s term after Roby stepped down for health reasons.

Roby’s term will be up in April, meaning Mabie has to run again if he wants to continue to hold the office.

The mayoral post is the only office up for election in Crestwood. The seat carries a three-year term.

Grantwood Village

Two trustee seats will be up for election in Grantwood Village. The treasurer’s seat held by Pat Williams and the clerk’s seat held by Phil Miceli are up for election.

The seats carry two-year terms.

Miceli and Williams both filed for re-election, and so far are the only candidates to file.

Green Park

So far, the only candidate to file in Green Park is resident Donald Lattray filing for Ward 2 alderman. Lattray ran last year in a Ward 2 race against Matthew Farwig, who won.

Aldermanic seats held by Scott Treece of Ward 1, James Jones of Ward 2 and board President Fred Baras of Ward 3 are up for election.

Treece was appointed in September to fill the remainder of the term of former Alderman Tony Pousosa, who moved out of the city and resigned from the board in July.

Jones was appointed in 2015 to fill a Ward 2 vacancy, and Baras has served on the board for many years.

The seats carry two-year terms.

Sunset Hills

In Sunset Hills, Fribis is seeking her third term as mayor after she was first elected in a four-way race in 2016 and re-elected unopposed in 2018. The mayoral term is two years. Before that, Fribis served as a Ward 4 alderman since 2008.

Fribis is being challenged by resident John Stephens, who led a group of neighbors in Tapawingo against a rugby field at the former Sunset Hills Golf Course, which is now owned by the city as Bander Park.

Aldermanic seats held by Ann McMunn of Ward 1, Casey Wong of Ward 2, Kurt Krueger of Ward 3 and Thompson Price of Ward 4 are up for election.

McMunn, Wong and Price filed for re-election. In Ward 3, Cathy Friedmann filed to run. Friedmann has been a recent critic of the city due to the city’s new zoning code and cluster homes.

McMunn and Wong are in their first terms and were elected in 2018. Krueger has served multiple terms. Price was first elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2018.

The seats carry two-year terms.

Lindbergh school board

Three Lindbergh Board of Education seats held by Treasurer Christy Watz and members Cathy Carlock Lorenz and Matt Alonzo are up for re-election. The seats carry three-year terms.

Watz, Lorenz and Alonzo all filed for re-election, and so far are the only candidates to file.

The trio of board members, who originally ran in 2017 as a slate dubbed “LAWS” with board Secretary Mike Shamia that defeated most of the sitting school board, announced together that they will be running for re-election.

Mehlville school board

Mehlville Board of Education seats held by Jean Pretto, Samantha Stormer and board Secretary Peggy Hassler will be up for re-election.

Five candidates have filed for the three open seats.

Stormer, who served multiple terms as board president, has previously said that she will not file to run again.

Pretto and Hassler filed for re-election.

Three newcomers filed to run: Stacey Kenner of Concord, Richard Vagen of Lemay and Jeff Wolman of Oakville.

The seats carry three-year terms.

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