Dismal Turnout In Grundy County For April 5 Election

There will be new faces on two local governing boards following Tuesday’s election, which saw a dismal voter turnout in Grundy County.
Just 18 percent of the county’s voters turned out to cast ballots for the several contested races. Of 5,707 registered voters, only 1,052 actually had their voices heard at the polls, where a new member was elected to the Trenton R-9 School Board, two new members were elected to the Grundy County Health Department and one former Trenton City Council member will re-join the council after winning back his old seat.
Trenton R-9
Board of Education
Newcomer Jeff Spencer earned the most votes among four candidates by nearly 100 votes. Spencer received 581 votes for one of the two four-year terms, while incumbent Dorothy Taul was re-elected to serve another four years with 489 votes. Joshua Shuler and Toby Havens were also on the ballot for the four-year term, with Shuler garnering 264 votes and Havens receiving 219. Incumbent Marcie Cutsinger chose not to seek re-election to another term.
Jason Hostetler, who was appointed last summer to fill a seat on the board until the April election, was running unopposed for the unexpired one-year term and received 734 votes.
Those elected will be sworn in at the Tuesday, April 12 board meeting.
Trenton City Council
Former First Ward Councilman Glen Briggs won back his seat on the council, besting incumbent Kevin Klinginsmith 90 to 41 in one of two contested races for the council. Incumbent Fourth Ward Councilman Duane Urich was able to fend off a challenge from Bob McIntyre by a margin of 128 to 100.
Incumbents Marvin Humphreys, representing the Second Ward, and David Mlika, representing the Third Ward, both ran unopposed, with Humphreys receiving 67 votes and Mlika receiving 143 votes.
The councilmen will be sworn into office at Monday’s regular city council meeting.
Grundy County
Health Department
In a race that had received far more public attention than in past years, two new members were elected to four-year terms on the Grundy County Health Department Board of Directors, while an appointed incumbent was elected to fill an unexpired two-year term.
Jewell Harris and Stacey McCullough received the most votes of four candidates, with Ms. Harris receiving a total of 709 votes and Mrs. McCullough receiving 577. Incumbent Cari Blackburn received 348 votes while Amy May garnered 291 votes.
Korynn Skipper, who had been appointed to fill an unexpired term until the election, will serve a two-year term after earning 582 votes to beat Kenneth Weaver, who received 443 votes.
Area Contests
Spickard R-2 Board of Education – Paula Fagan won re-election without opposition and six candidates each received one write-in vote. They include Roger Bonnett, Sara Wyatt, Alan Tharp, Jamie Tharp, Nancy Anderson and Anna Bass.
Spickard Board of Aldermen – Cindy Edwards was re-elected without opposition and Tanja Younger was elected after receiving two write-in votes. Three other write-in candidates received one vote, including Mike Yates, JR Roberts and Mike Jaycox.
Princeton R-5 School Board – Ron Parson received 226 votes and Nathan Evans received 200, with both of the candidates being elected to three-year terms on the board. Votes were also cast for Anthony Henke, 184, and Tracie Ellsworth, 128.
Mercer County Health Department – Amy McDaniel and Jennifer Meinke were elected with 398 and 300 votes respectively. Lauren Guilkey received 268 votes.
North Mercer Board of Education – Teri Noe and Kailer Stevenson were elected, receiving 99 and 73 votes respectively. Also on the ballot were Clint Stark, who received 59 votes, and Makella Hagan, who received 58 votes.
Princeton Board of Aldermen – Tony Johnson ran unopposed for the north ward position, picking up 80 votes and Karee Cunningham ran unopposed for the south ward position, getting 49 votes. There were 114 write-in votes for various candidates for Princeton mayor, with no announced candidates on the ballot.
Newtown-Harris School Board – Matthew Miller received 69 votes and Don Macgregor received 62, with those two candidates being elected to three-year terms. Also receiving votes were Angela Huffman, 29, and Robin Moschetti, 17. Justin Oaks ran unopposed for the unexpired term, receiving 84 votes.
Gallatin Board of Aldermen- Incumbent Dan McCann, who was running unopposed, received 17 votes to retain his seat from the East Ward, while incumbent Dan Lockridge beat out Charles Wortman for the West Ward seat, with Lockridge earning 33 votes and Wortman receiving five votes.
Jamesport Board of Aldermen – Rob Murphy, North Ward, and Brandon Robb, South Ward, were elected without opposition. Murphy received six votes and Robb received three votes.
The City of Jamesport passed Proposition 1 by a margin of 9 to 1. The proposition allows the city to forgo annual elections if the number of candidates who have filed for a particular office is equal to the number of positions in the office to be filled by the elections.
Non-Elections
Several area entities did not hold elections after the number of candidates equaled the number of openings. They include:
Grundy R-5 Board of Education (three-year terms) – Opie Peterson and Allen Berry.
Laredo R-7 Board of Education (three-year terms) – Kristi Urich and Angela Lowrey.
Pleasant View R-6 Board of Education (three-year terms) – Danny Westcott and Laurie Frisbie.
Gallatin R-5 Board of Education (three-year terms) - Anita Riley and Jesse Bird.
Tri-County R-7 Board of Education (three-year terms) – Jennifer Leigh Simons and Micha Dixon.
Sunnyview Nursing Home Board of Directors (three-year terms) – James Cox and James Bush.
City of Laredo – Carol Holloway, mayor (two-year term); Helen Golden and Bruce McFie, aldermen at large (two-year terms); and Amanda Tobias, alderman at large (one-year unexpired term).
City of Galt – Lewis Berry and Jay Blackburn, aldermen at large (two-year terms).
Galt Fire Protection District Board of Directors – Loren Baugher.
Laredo Fire Protection District Board of Directors – Kevin Eckert.
Spickard Fire Protection District – Lewis Griffin and Don Marrs.
North Central Missouri College Board of Trustees- Chris Hoffman and Diane Lowrey.
Public Water Supply District #1 – Sub-District #1 – Gary Whorton; Sub-District #5 – Lynn Dustman.
Linn-Livingston Water Supply District, Sub-District #4 – Jerry Norman.