Council adopts timeline to fill vacant seat

Springfield City Council yesterday adopted a one-month timeline to fill the seat being vacated by Jeff Seifried.

Proposed by City Manager Greg Burris, the plan to fill the Zone 1 seat starts Feb. 23 when the qualification requirements will be posted, according to a news release.

Applications are due March 27, followed by council’s review of the applications and selection of finalists April 13-17. The governing body then is scheduled to conduct in-person interviews April 20-24, make a selection and immediately swear in the new councilperson.

Because Seifried’s term was set to expire in 2017, the seat will not be included in the April 7 general municipal election, city spokeswoman Cora Scott said via email. Five seats will be on the ballot: mayor, two zone seats and two general seats.
 
At the end of the Feb. 9 council meeting, Seifried announced his resignation from the body, citing his selection as CEO of the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau. Seifried is currently manager of regional development for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

His last day with the Queen City chamber is Feb. 27, and he starts work in Branson March 2.

Yesterday, Springfield chamber President and CEO Matt Morrow applauded the Branson CVB’s selection of Seifried and noted the positive regional impact the two organizations could create by collaborating.

“The bigger picture is the long-term gain for the region in this,” Morrow said during Springfield Business Journal’s monthly 12 People You Need to Know breakfast. “We have to compete with other communities, even other communities in the state of Missouri, for jobs or for growth or economic development opportunities, but also even for things like state funding on projects.

“If we do well as a region, we all do well.”