Candidate filing for the April 2 municipal election closed Tuesday, and there are only a few competitive races in south county, including one for the Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors.
Filing closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, after opening in December.
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 only competitive races on the ballot are for the MFPD Board of Directors held by current Secretary Ed Ryan, along with Green Park Ward 2 alderman.
The Green Park mayoral race seemed like it would be competitive when former Ward 2 Alderman Fred Hoehn filed at the last minute Tuesday, but he withdrew his name Wednesday morning.
Mehlville Fire Protection District
One seat on the three-member Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors is up for election.
Ryan is up for election for a third term and filed for re-election.
Green Park resident Fred Baumgarth, a former Mehlville firefighter, filed to oppose Ryan. Baumgarth was a firefighter engineer at MFPD and retired in 2015.
Ryan was first elected in 2007 against Dennis Skelton and was re-elected in 2013 versus Mike Klund.
Terms on the fire board are for six years.
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. Aldermanic 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.
Grantwood Village
Three seats on the Board of Trustees are up for election, for the seats currently held by Mark Kienstra, Rick Wagner and Kevin Kelso.
Kienstra, Wagner and Kelso all filed for re-election, with no opposition.
The seats carry two-year terms.
Green Park
The mayoral seat is up for election in Green Park, and Ward 2 Alderman Tim Thuston is the only candidate on the ballot after Hoehn filed late Tuesday but then changed his mind by Wednesday, when he withdrew his name from consideration.
Mayor Bob Reinagel has served three terms and did not file for re-election. He was appointed to the post after the resignation of Mayor Tony Konopka in 2012 and then elected to two-year terms in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Aldermanic seats held by Michael Broughton of Ward 1, Thuston and Joe Monteleone of Ward 3 are up for election.
Broughton filed for re-election in Ward 1.
In Ward 2, two candidates filed to replace Thuston, Donald Lattray and Matthew Farwig.
The seats carry two-year terms.
Broughton has served on the board since 2015. Thuston has served on the board since 2007. Monteleone was appointed to the board in 2010 and won election to the seat in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Sunset Hills
In Sunset Hills, aldermanic seats held by Dee Baebler of Ward 1, Steve Bersche of Ward 2, Nathan Lipe of Ward 3 and Mark Colombo of Ward 4 are up for election.
Baebler, Bersche, Lipe and Colombo all filed for re-election, with no opposition.
Unlike the school districts, an election will still be held under state law.
Bersche first won election in 2015 and was re-elected in 2017.
Lipe first won election in 2017.
Baebler was appointed to the board in 2010 and won election in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Colombo was appointed to the Ward 4 seat in 2016, replacing Mayor Pat Fribis in the seat she held for eight years before she was elected mayor.
The seats carry two-year terms.
Lindbergh school board
Lindbergh Board of Education seats held by Vice President Jennifer Miller and Treasurer Mike Tsichlis are up for election.
The two incumbents filed for re-election and attracted no opposition, so an election will not be held.
The seats carry three-year terms.
They were both first elected to the board in 2016. Tsichlis previously served on the Crestwood Board of Aldermen.
Mehlville school board
Mehlville Board of Education seats held by Vice President Larry Felton and Kevin Schartner are up for election.
Felton and Schartner filed for re-election with no opposition, so an election will not be held.
The seats carry three-year terms.
Schartner was elected for the first time in 2016.
Felton was first elected in 2007 and would be serving his fifth term, equaling a record for longevity on the Mehlville board currently held by former board President Alex Lantos.
