Mokane is no stranger to change. Most of the city's current leaders have been appointed to their positions, with only one official elected by ballot remaining after the resignations of two mayors and several aldermen in the past year.
Now, residents have the opportunity to pick their leaders again, as the ballot for the April 3 municipal election includes races for mayor and three aldermen seats.
Only one position, an empty alderman spot, is not up for grabs. The office-holder resigned in late December after information on running was already out, so the city decided to leave it empty until after the election.
Mayor
Danny Lamons ran for mayor of Mokane during the 2017 municipal election, losing to incumbent Thomas Shackelford, who later resigned due to health reasons. Lamons also was part of the group that led a citizens' meeting to voice frustrations with city leadership earlier this year.
Lamons did not respond to multiple requests by phone for an interview with the News Tribune.
Jo Belmont, who also will appear on Tuesday's ballot, said Monday that she no longer wants the position of mayor, but missed the deadline to take her name off the ballot. If elected, she said, she plans to resign and would suggest Peggy Nalls to the aldermen as her replacement.
Belmont currently is in the alderman seat she was elected to two years ago and served as mayor pro-tem for more than a month around the beginning of 2018, when the city was between mayors.
Nalls, who filed as a write-in candidate for mayor, currently serves as mayor of Mokane after being reappointed to the office by the city's aldermen in February. Nalls was previously appointed to the position when the elected mayor resigned and served for most of 2017 before resigning herself, citing frustration with a lack of support from the board.
She originally did not plan to run for mayor, but changed her mind after several residents encouraged her. Nalls decision came too late for her name to be put on the ballot.
Nalls moved to Mokane from St. Louis 15 years ago while working for the Missouri Credit Union Association in Jefferson City and has since retired.
She has worked to find funding to deal with the city's water and sewer infrastructure problems and wants to encourage residents to help Mokane more.
"We really need the involvement of the community going forward because we have a lot of work to do," Nalls said. "It's going to take everybody pitching in to make Mokane a better place."
Board of Aldermen (two open seats, two-year terms)
Becky Fitzgerald Davis is working as an alderman of Mokane now after being appointed to an empty seat by Belmont, then mayor pro-tem, at the end of last year.
Davis was born and raised in Mokane before leaving in 1983. After 26 years away, she returned and saw the town needed work to be as healthy as she remembered. Davis said this motivated her to take her current position and run in this election.
"I actually care about this town," Davis said.
She wants to focus on cleaning up Mokane, she added, especially the aging water and sewer infrastructure which she believes is Mokane's biggest challenge.
Davis said she thinks the city has struggled in the past couple of decades but now is heading in the right direction.
Allen Jennings was appointed to an alderman seat at the end of last year by Belmont, then mayor pro-tem.
He did not respond to multiple requests by phone for an interview with the News Tribune.
Laurie Lamons previously served on the Board of Aldermen before resigning in December last year.
Lamons did not respond to multiple requests by phone for an interview with the News Tribune.
Board of Aldermen (one open seat,
one-year term)
Heather Lamons-Vaughn had been considered for an empty seat on the Mokane Board of Aldermen last year but was not appointed by the aldermen. Lamons-Vaughn also was part of the group that led a citizens' meeting to voice frustrations with city leadership earlier this year.
She has lived in Mokane all her life and her grandfather served as mayor for around 20 years. She works as an administrative coordinator at Aramark Uniform Services.
"I'm pretty familiar with the town," Lamons-Vaugh said. "I've interacted with almost every citizen that lives within the city limits of Mokane."
Lamons-Vaughn said she is frustrated with the amount of turnover in and work of city leadership during the past year, especially with actions Nalls has taken. She said she wants to improve how Mokane communicates with residents.
"We need to be more open with the citizens," she said. "There's nobody that shows up to town meetings now; we need to do something to change that."
Lori Weakland, who filed as a write-in candidate, is the only new face on the ballot, never having run for or served as an alderman or mayor.
Moving to Mokane in 2011, she had worked as postmaster for the city since 2005 and retired four years ago.
She has attended multiple Board of Aldermen meetings in the past several years and decided to run because she thinks the current city leadership is taking Mokane in the right direction and she wants to help. Her decision came too late for her name to be listed on the ballot, so she's registered as a write-in.
Weakland said she has been frustrated by Mokane's leadership in the past, particularly under former mayor Shackelford. She said she wants Nalls and the current administration to be re-elected, but she would try to work with whomever was elected unless she felt nothing was being accomplished.
Although she believes the water and sewer infrastructure holds the biggest problems the city faces, Weakland would like to use her position to help identify areas and obtain grants to clean up the town.