Springfield City Councilwoman Kristi Fulnecky, who has been embroiled in political infighting in recent months, on Wednesday announced she would run for mayor in 2017.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been in the media frequently. I’m not a rubber stamp, and I feel it’s my duty to question expenditures and fight for priorities that I feel are important to the constituents,” she said during a noon news conference at University Plaza Hotel, accompanied by family and members of the Springfield Police Officers Association. “Springfield is in desperate need of one thing: leadership.”
Fulnecky, an attorney who owns construction management firm Fulnecky Enterprises LLC, was
elected in April 2015 to General Council Seat C. With 65 percent of the vote, she defeated retired real estate broker Len Eagleburger. Fulnecky’s campaign raised roughly $82,000, making her the top fundraiser in last year’s council race, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives.
Fulnecky laid out 10 initiatives she said would go before council within four months after the April 2017 election. She pledged to:
• support police officers and decrease crime;
• focus on public safety by supporting firefighters;
• work to bring and retain jobs, which she said would lower poverty;
• maintain city streets;
• make the local municipality transparent;
• keep taxes low;
• work with the county to stop litigation and arguments over jail issues;
• fully fund the police and fire pension fund;
• display “In God We Trust” in council chambers; and
• uphold stricter indecent exposure laws in Springfield.
“I will be recruiting candidates who will make these promises to you as well,” she said.
Fulnecky, who’s endorsed by the Springfield Police Officers Association, said her top priority is public safety.
Late last year, five city council members, including Mayor Bob Stephens, called into question Fulnecky’s eligibility to serve on the governing body, saying at the time of her election, Fulnecky Enterprises was roughly seven years behind on its city business license fees. Fulnecky in October submitted a license application and payment of three years of fees – as much as she could pay back under city charter.
The council members requested a special investigator to examine the issue, and Fulnecky retained Springfield defense attorney Dee Wampler to represent her after being
excluded from a closed meeting regarding the issue. Wampler was in attendance at the Wednesday news conference.
Fulnecky, who said she had not yet revealed to other council members her plans for mayor, said she would work to win over other members of the governing body.
“I definitely want to work with them. I just want to make sure we have a majority that will support public safety,” she said.
