Membership on the Jefferson City Council remains a desirable position, as evidenced by the early rush of candidates who visited City Clerk Phyllis Powell's office at City Hall Tuesday on the first day of filing for the April 4 municipal election.
Five candidates for City Council were queued at the clerk's door when she opened for business at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Two others arrived before close of business at 5 p.m.
There are six City Council seats up for election on the April 4 ballot, five of them regular two-year terms and a sixth one-year term opened by the unexpected resignation of council veteran Glen Costales a couple of weeks ago. Costales said his family obligations - tending to a brother in a hospice in Arkansas - took precedence over his current work on the City Council-although he did not exclude returning to the city's legislative body at some future date.
The candidates who filed for the two-year terms Tuesday:
1st Ward incumbent James Branch, 302 Hillview Drive;
2nd Ward incumbent Laura A. Ward, 115 W. Atchison St.;
3rd Ward incumbent Ken Hussey, 123 Forest Hill Ave.;
4th Ward incumbent Carlos Graham, 2304 Liberty Lane; and
5th Ward incumbent Mark S. Schreiber, 826 Holiday Drive.
The candidates who filed for the 4th Ward one-year term were Ron L. Fitzwater, 916 Nob Hill Road, and Leonard H. Steinman II, 2217 W. Edgewood Drive.
Ward, Hussey, Graham, Fitzwater and Schreiber were all waiting for the 8 a.m. start of the filing season. Branch filed his papers for re-election at 1:28 p.m. and Steinman filed at 11:05 a.m.
The April municipal election also will fill the city's municipal judge and city prosecutor offices, both for two-year terms.
Incumbent Judge Cotton Walker, 1909 Andrea Drive, was at the clerk's office at 8 a.m. to submit his re-election forms.
No candidate filed Tuesday for the prosecutor's position, which is currently held by Brian Stumpe.
Candidates for Jefferson City Council must be 21 years of age at the time of election, be a U.S. citizen, be a qualified voter of the city, live in the city for one year before the election and live in the ward they are seeking to represent for six months prior to the election. Under city regulations, members of the council can serve for a total of eight years, which do not have to run consecutively.
Powell's office will continue to accept candidacies until 5 p.m. Jan. 17.