Eight apply for open council seat

Eight people applied for Springfield City Council’s Zone 2 seat left vacant by the resignation of Justin Burnett.

The applicants who filed by the Sept. 16 deadline will be interviewed at a noon council meeting Sept. 20 at the Springfield-Greene County Public Safety Center, 330 W. Scott St. The appointee would serve until the April 4, 2017, election, when voters will select a candidate to fill the remainder of Burnett’s term through April 2019, according to a news release.

The applicants, in alphabetical order, are:
    •    Mike Brothers, director of media relations at Drury University;
    •    Jennifer Capler, emotional intelligence researcher and consultant for Reeves Business Consulting LLC;
    •    Jesse Coulter, an energy consultant specialist for Cenergistic;
    •    Michael Hines, a retired information technology professional;
    •    Kenneth Hopper, a retired Springfield Public Schools teacher and coach;
    •    Dr. Tom Prater, an ophthalmologist who helped found Mattax-Neu-Prater Eye Center Inc.;
    •    Robert Sweere, the owner of the Robert M. Sweere LLC law firm; and
    •    David Trippe, a retired Nixa High School teacher.

Zone 2 comprises much of northeast Springfield.