Pool grows for Springfield City Council’s Zone 4 seat 

Matthew Simpson is the incumbent in the Zone 4 race. 

Candidate packet pickups predict a five-way race in Springfield City Council Zone 4, as well as contested races in General A and for mayor. 

Zone 4 incumbent Councilmember Matthew Simpson – the mayor pro tem who was appointed to the seat in 2018 and was elected to it in 2019 – picked up a packet to run for reelection, though he has not yet returned it, according to City Clerk Anita Cotter. Simpson is an administrator at Ozarks Technical Community College. 

Challenger Raymond Lampert, an attorney, returned a petition, which was certified Dec. 10. Other Zone 4 hopefuls who received packets are retiree and municipal activist Tim A. Havens, attorney Amy L. Poe and a newcomer since Springfield Business Journal’s last reporting, Bruce Adib-Yazdi of The Vecino Group. These candidates have not yet returned their petitions. 

As previously reported, there is a race to replace term-limited Mayor Ken McClure, with businesspeople Jeff Schrag, founder of Mother’s Brewing Co., and Mary Collette, president of C-Street booster organization The Commercial Club, collecting packets. Schrag returned his packet and was certified Dec. 9, while Collette has not yet returned hers, Cotter said. 

In General A, Tim A. Havens, mentioned previously as a potential candidate for Zone 4, and incumbent Heather Hardinger, a CoxHealth executive, both picked up packets, though neither has returned a petition. An additional challenger, Eric Pauly, who is a member of the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission, returned his petition and was certified on Dec. 9. 

Incumbents Craig Hosmer of General B and Monica Horton of Zone 1 both returned petitions and were certified on Dec. 10. Challengers have not filed for petitions. Hosmer is an attorney and Horton is founder of Lenica Consulting Group. 

Information on packet pickup, petition return and certification were provided by Cotter by email on Friday. 

Candidates have until Jan. 21 to pick up packets, gather petition signatures – 100 for zone seats and 200 for general – and be certified for the April 2025 election, when voters will select a mayor and council representation for General seats A and B and Zones 1 and 4.  

This will be the first mayoral election after voters approved lengthening the term to four years, like the other council seats, instead of two. All officeholders are limited to eight years on council.