Voters in only two Jefferson City wards will see a contested race on the April ballot.
Ward 1 has candidates Jack Deeken and Jacob R. Robinette while Ward 3 has incumbent Erin L. Wiseman and Bob Scrivner.
Incumbents are running unopposed in Ward 2 with Mike Lester, Ward 4 with Ron Fitzwater and Ward 5 with Jon Hensley. Current Ward 1 candidate Hank Vogt decided not to run for re-election; Wiseman is running for her fourth and final term.
The candidates are listed in the order they will appear on the ballot. The election is scheduled for April 5.
Jack Deeken
Jack Deeken grew up in Jefferson City, only leaving briefly for college.
It was about four years ago, he said, when he started noticing the roads deteriorate.
"I just assumed they were behind the times or something was up, but nothing was getting done," he said. "Then I started noticing when you look in the cracks in the street and there's a weed growing in there."
Deeken said it felt like one example of leadership not giving city staff direction, which prompted his interest in running for City Council.
He's spent about 16 years on the Jefferson City Planning and Zoning Board, which makes recommendations to City Council about zoning changes, special exception permits and changes to the zoning code.
Deeken said that experience, along with following city government for years, helps give him an understanding of how things work.
"It's not broken, it's just a symptom of loss of direction," he said. "I did not want to be on City Council ... but a number of people around town often just listening in all feel the same way I am. No one is stepping up to do it. I don't see any young people at all."
Deeken said his top priority for the city is to fix the city's infrastructure.
One obvious funding source, he said, is the current increase in federal funding between COVID-19 relief funding and infrastructure bill.
"Federal money concentrated on fixing our roads, the bridges that have started to come under disrepair, a serious look at how to fix the stormwater problems -- and not just talk about it -- and then open the discussion on where we're going to start to fix the sewers," he said. "Some of that stuff is over 100 years old."
Jacob R. Robinett
For Jacob R. Robinett, running for City Council felt like the next step in getting involved in making a difference in the community.
"I'm involved in the chamber and the public school foundation here in town," he said. "What's the next step? How else can I make a difference in the community? Because, a lot of those organizations, I've kind of gone through the succession and progressed through different leadership. So, it's really trying to find new different ways to make a difference in the community."
Through his work with organizations like the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, Robinett said, he's learned about how to make educated decisions -- especially when they impact other people.
"From how things are going to be funded or where we're going to spend our money to how are we going to operate as an organization, what are we going to put our focus toward?" he asked. "A lot of those difficult decisions, and you have to go through and prioritize what you want to focus on."
Robinett said the main priority over the next two years needs to be repairing and maintaining the city's infrastructure; mainly the stormwater and sewer systems, and roads. One thing that will help with that is the sewer bond issue also on the April ballot for the city to take out $44 million in bonds for repairs to the sewer system.
"If that were to pass, that will help alleviate one of those big problems that we are facing," he said. "Another one is just being a good steward with the taxpayers' money. We've got stuff starting to come in with the public safety tax and being a good steward with that, making sure that the money is going to the correct places."
Erin L. Wiseman
Erin Wiseman joined City Council in 2016 and said this election feels like a juncture because its the last time she can run before hitting her term limit.
She said she owes it to the community to continue using what she's learned over the last four years about how the city works, what the City Council has going on and the programs the city has.
"This isn't an easy job," she said. "This isn't something that you just get to step into and just frill around. The entire time has been service and it's been fun the entire time, but I would categorize the last two years as more service than the first two because ... I do have all that knowledge, the background information about all the things moving forward."
Wiseman has worked as an attorney for 15 years in the community, which she said helps when it comes to some of the more technical aspects of council such as reading contracts and following explanations from the city attorney on an issue.
"I think I take some of my training and background for granted because I do pick up on that," she said. "I think it makes it easy for me to digest information quickly and to be able to understand it and determine whether or not I'm going to vote on it yes or no and we're asking the appropriate questions to get where we need to go."
The next big issue the city needs to address, she said, is the salary compression issue. Salary compression is when there's little difference in pay between employees. It's been a point of conversation for the council over recent years, in particular within the police and fire departments, but also looking at the ways the city pays employees in all departments.
She said federal COVID-19 funding like ARPA will also be a big issue in the coming months.
"I would guess that's going to be early spring or immediately after the election," she said. "That's probably going to be the number one thing that happens, priority or not."
Bob Scrivner
Ethan Weston/News Tribune Bob Scrivner stands for a portrait on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 in Jefferson City, Mo. Scrivner is running for city council and is a former councilman for the third ward.
If elected, this would not be Bob Scrivner's first time on the Jefferson City Council. He served 2008-16 and wasn't planning to run again. But people approached him about running, and he's had some concern about the city's direction, he said.
Prior to his time on council, he spent 20 years with Missouri Farm Bureau and owned his own service station in town.
"I actually had a responsibility to prepare five budgets," he said. "When a staff member comes and makes a presentation on one of those subjects, I know what they're talking about. I understand and dealt with it at some level myself. ... I dealt with boards. I was on the Chamber of Commerce."
Scrivner said the number one goal needs to be growth and development in the community. The city isn't growing, he said, and the City Council needs to be asking and finding out why people are choosing to live outside of the city."
"We need to be talking to developers and contractors and ask them, 'Why are you building outside the city?'" he said. "I know there's some constraints on development, lots. I understand that. But, why isn't there a plan to annex some more land that the city has to grow. If it doesn't grow, then it dies."
The city is becoming landlocked, he said, as other communities grow toward it. There is still some land to the southwest, he said, but the city needs to grow because it means more job opportunities among other things.
"It means security for people that are working for the city," he said. "It means security for people that are getting services from the city. If we don't have more people pulling the wire again, then the burden becomes heavier for those that are left to pull it."