There will be only one contested race for the five open Jefferson City Council seats when the municipal election comes in April.
The Ward 2 seat, which will be vacant as current Ward 2 Councilman Rick Mihalevich terms out, has three contenders - Aaron Mealy, Mike Lester and Gregory Butler.
Gregory Bulter was the last to file, doing so Tuesday.
Butler is a small business owner in Jefferson City who runs a digital marketing agency, helping businesses in the area with social media management and website development.
Although he would be new to holding an elected office, Butler has experience helping others run for seats by helping with management for their campaigns. He has also done outreach work and helped develop an orphanage in Zambia.
Helping the community is what led Butler to seek the Ward 2 Council position.
"I was looking to see what I could do to better the community because there's a lot of voices there that haven't been heard, and I feel like I've been around a lot of different establishments and environments to where I have heard the concerns of the citizens, and I basically just want to represent them and see what I could do to help," Butler said.
Butler said he would hope to build on the past accomplishments of the city and see what he could do to continue making the city better, as well as promote a feeling of inclusion in the city.
"The goal is to listen to the community and understand what they need and what they're coming from," he said.
Butler feels his previous experience would be an asset should he be elected.
"I've been in a lot of places and I've heard a lot of voices, and I've always been inspired to help others and to give back whenever I can," Butler said.
A native of Chicago, Butler has lived in Jefferson City since 2009.
The News Tribune previously covered the candidacy announcements of Mealy and Lester.
Ward 1 is the only other seat without an incumbent since current Councilman Rick Prather will term out. Hank Vogt is running for the open seat.
Ward 3 Councilwoman Erin Wiseman, Ward 4 Councilman Ron Fitzwater and Ward 5 Councilman Jon Hensley will run unopposed for their current seats.
Wiseman hopes to be elected to her third term, while Fitzwater and Hensley are running for their second full terms. Terms are two years, and council members are limited to a total of eight years. Because he started in the middle of a term, Fitzwater will have served three years in April.
Candidates for each ward will be listed on the ballot in the order they file. For Ward 2, Mealy will be listed first, followed by Lester then Butler. The filing period ended at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Charter changes
Also on the April ballot will be a slate of changes to the Jefferson City Charter. On Tuesday, the Jefferson City Council approved three possible charter changes, which will head to the ballot for a vote, along with one other previously approved change.
One charter amendment approved by the council would add language clarifying rules about prohibitions and incompatible offices.
The proposed change would state no former council member or mayor can hold a compensated, appointive city office or employment until two years after the expiration of the term for which they were elected.
The amendment would also prohibit council members or mayors from being a publicly elected member of the governing body or any political subdivision of the state, a member of the General Assembly of Missouri or any other statewide office.
These rules would also apply to the city administrator, city clerk, department directors and members of the parks commission.
The council also approved a charter amendment to the residency requirements of the city clerk, city administrator and city counselor, modifying the requirement to allow a six-month grace period for a person to move into the city after appointment to their position.
The grace period could also be extended for another six months, by a vote from the council, if needed.
The final approved change relates to legislative procedures of the council itself.
Changes would include giving the primary bill sponsor the sole ability to place a bill on the informal calendar. The bill sponsor or a majority vote from the council would be able to pull a bill off the informal calendar.
The amendment would also add to the code the current council practices that any member of the council can call for a full reading of a bill and any council member can request suspension of the rule requiring 96 hours between first reading and final passage of a bill.
The council previously approved a set of proposed changes which include adding incapacity as a reason for removal of the mayor and council members and specifying the mayor can't hold any other city office or city employment, among other items.
These charter changes will be placed on the April ballot for public vote, which will determine if they are made.
Jan. 21 marked the final day possible charter changes could be approved ahead of the April election, leaving some previously discussed changes off the ballot.
In January 2018, the council created the Jefferson City Charter Review Advisory Committee, which reviewed the charter for several months and made recommendations for changes. Some of those recommendations were not sent to voters by the council last year, including several that will be on this year's ballot.
One recommended change from the advisory committee did not make it's way before the council this year either.
The proposed amendment involved the Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Commission. The charter committee recommended several changes, including language that clarifies commission members' qualifications, the commission's powers, purchasing of property that is dedicated for parks purposes, and the Parks Commission's control of the parks fund, among other items.
The charter currently states the Parks Commission has "exclusive control" of the parks fund. The recommended change would've replaced that with language stating the commission "shall administer all money appropriated from the park fund by the City Council," City Counselor Ryan Moehlman stated in a letter to the Council Committee on Administration in August 2019.