Councils, school board will have new faces
By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times
Several local city councils, as well as the MFL MarMac School Board, will have some new faces in the coming year, based on unofficial results from the Nov. 5 city/school election.
Retired teacher Roberta Hass will take one of three open seats on the school board, after receiving a combined 406 votes from district residents in Clayton and Allamakee counties. Incumbents Tonya Meyer and Collin Stubbs earned 360 and 347 votes, respectively, to take the two other seats. Sharon Greener, who was also an incumbent, picked up 335 votes. Hass, Meyer and Stubbs will all serve four-year terms on the board.
In Marquette, incumbent Eleanor Soulli also lost her seat on the city council, after receiving 38 votes compared to David Schneider’s 53 and Elizabeth Gilman’s 47. This will be Gilman’s first stint on the council, but Schneider has been serving since September, when he was appointed to fill the remainder of Pam Brodie-Fitzgerald’s term, which expires at the end of 2019. Schneider’s and Gilman’s terms will run for four years.
Marquette’s mayor, Stephen Weipert, was re-elected to a two-year term, with 72 votes.
In McGregor, incumbent Jason Echard picked up 98 votes to secure the first of two available seats on the city council. Deborah Scott edged out fellow newcomer Sally Kay Schneider by nine votes, 89 to 80, to grab the second four-year term.
Like in Marquette, McGregor’s mayor also ran unopposed. Lyle Troester received 127 votes and will serve a two-year term.
In Monona, things remained a little more up in the air heading into the election after no candidates filed to run for mayor and just two were on the ballot for three council seats.
Despite declaring his intent not to run again, mayor Lynn “Marty” Martinson garnered 52 write-in votes for the two-year position. Eric Koenig received 27 write-in votes, while Del Glover got 15.
If Martinson accepts the position, he will be declared elected as if his name was printed on the ballot, according to Clayton County Auditor Jennifer Garms. However, if Martinson doesn’t want the job, he may submit a letter of resignation to the city clerk by 5 p.m. on the 10th day after the final canvas of votes by the county supervisors on Nov. 12. The city clerk can then notify the person who received the next-highest number of votes: Koenig. If he accepts, Garms said he is considered the duly elected officer.
For Monona’s city council, incumbents Andrew Meyer and Heather Lange earned 184 and 169 votes, respectively, to fill two of three open seats. The next highest vote-getter was John Elledge, who received 38 write-in votes. The former councilman, who served from 2014 through 2017, said he would be willing to accept the seat for a four-year term. Eleven write-in votes also went to Dan Havlicek, who is stepping down from the council after this year.
Timothy Wright, who was appointed to the Monona Council earlier this year, was running unopposed to fill a vacancy and received 178 votes.
In Luana, mayor Jerry Schroeder was elected to another two-year term, after getting 24 votes.
Incumbents Lonnie Baade (20 votes), Jackie Radloff Schneider (20 votes) and Todd Olson (18 votes) were also re-elected to four-year terms on the council.
Incumbent Glenn Radloff will again serve as Farmersburg’s mayor after receiving 26 votes. The term is for two years.
For the Farmersburg Council, incumbents Beau Fischer and Herbert Morley picked up 26 and 25 votes, respectively, for two of three available four-year seats. There were 16 scattering/write-in votes.
2019 marked the first time Iowa’s city and school elections were combined. Traditionally, school elections took place in September and city elections in November.
“Overall, I’m pleased with how the first city/school elections went across the state,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said. “As Iowa’s voter registration totals continue to soar, I believe turnout in these important local elections will follow that trend and Tuesday was a step in the right direction.”
More than 359,000 Iowans cast ballots Nov. 5, an increase that was also felt locally. Nearly 600 people cast ballots in the school board race, and every community but Marquette saw a jump in the number of voters for their city elections. McGregor had the highest turnout percentage, at 31 percent, meaning 155 of 502 registered voters cast a ballot. Marquette had 26 percent turnout, followed by Monona at 21 percent, Farmersburg at 16 percent and Luana at 14 percent.
