Springfield mayor, 4 council seats open in spring election

Craig Hosmer wants to address crime issues, if reelected.

Jan Fisk plans to spend time traveling when the pandemic is over.

• 
• 

Opportunity is knocking at City Hall.

Of the nine Springfield City Council seats, five will be on the election ballot in April 2021:

• Mayor, currently Ken McClure;

• Zone 1, currently Phyllis Ferguson;

• Zone 4, currently Matthew Simpson;

• General seat A, currently Jan Fisk; and

• General seat B, currently Craig Hosmer.

McClure, Simpson and Hosmer have said they’re seeking reelection. Ferguson and Fisk are not running.

Simpson was appointed to council two years ago but was elected for the remainder of the term in 2019. Simpson said there is work still to be done, such as completing the Forward SGF plan. He said the community is starting to see some work in action with the proposal of two multimillion-dollar sports complexes.

“It will draw in sports tourism, but it also will provide retail-hospitality,” Simpson said.

Hosmer has held his seat for seven years and has his eye on cleaning up crime.

“The crime issue is something I think we got to work a little smarter on. I think we have done some positive things on that, but still there is some indications that things are going the wrong way for the city,” he said.

There is competition for their seats. Two individuals have turned in candidate packets to city offices, according to City Clerk Anita Cotter.

Justin Michael Hasty is running for Hosmer’s general seat. A U.S. Army veteran, Hasty said he has been displaced from his job due to COVID-19. Hasty would like to make Springfield a safer city for future generations by addressing crime, drugs and homelessness.

Craig Kauffman plans to be on the ballot for Zone 4 alongside Simpson. Kauffman, the president of Associated Video Producers Inc., said he’s been unimpressed with council’s zoning work, particularly in Galloway Village.

Zone 1 in northwest Springfield will be open. Ferguson had represented the area including the Grant Beach and Westside neighborhoods since April 2015.

She announced her intention to step back on the Facebook page for the “Zone 1 – Northwest Springfield, MO” group and declined an interview for this story.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to get more done to improve the problems with nuisance properties and dangerous buildings,” she said in the Facebook post. “Even though I’ve probably spent more time working in that area than any other, I do not believe that we are much more ahead today than when I came to council five and a half years ago. We have a steep hill to climb, and until there is more staff hired to work on this problem, then I don’t know how we will see any significant progress.”

Fisk’s nine-year tenure on council is coming to an end amid controversy. She was accused last year of benefiting financially from her role as co-founder of J. Howard Fisk Limousines Inc. through a city contract involving the company. Allegations also have involved private interest in Galloway Village blight legislation and unpaid tax payments on properties Fisk owns with her husband and son, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

At council’s Nov. 2 meeting, prior to council ending the investigation last month, Fisk denied any wrongdoing and said she made a nearly $3,500 payment to the city because it represents the sum anyone could reasonably believe she or her family gained through the alleged activity. She also said she disclosed personal financial information to avoid any public confusion about the allegations raised against her.

Fisk said once the pandemic ends, she’ll spend time traveling.

“It’s time for the next generation to step up to the dais and take the reins on guiding Springfield through the next decade,” Fisk said via email.

Competition on the rise
So far in Zone 1, Angela Romine and Isabelle Jimenez Walker have pledged to run, but only Romine has turned in her candidate packet, said Cotter.

Romine is the owner of Halo Massage and Wellness in Plaza Towers and said the business was financially affected by COVID-19. At the beginning of the pandemic, she understood why city officials enacted a stay-at-home order on March 26, but now she said it should be up to the businesses and individuals whether they abide by health guidelines.

“We have had a mask mandate, the numbers still keep going up, other cities have now joined in on the mask mandate, our numbers still keep going up,” Romine said. “So, I don’t know how much masking is really doing as far as curving the numbers down.”

As of Dec. 8, the Springfield-Greene County COVID-19 dashboard showed 239 deaths and 16,512 confirmed cases from the virus. The number of cases in the seven-day rolling average was up 16%, as of Dec. 9.

Walker, a real estate broker and owner of Eagle Management & Realty 1 LLC, said with Ferguson not running, there are big shoes to fill. She agrees that nuisance properties need to be addressed, along with more opportunities for workforce development.

The race for General Seat A is a bit more crowded: Justin Burnett, Alexander Aton and Darline Mabins have submitted candidate packets to the city clerk.

Burnett is no stranger to the political scene as he won a council seat five years ago. His stint didn’t last long, however. Burnett first resigned in early 2016, citing health complications, but quickly rescinded before moving out of Zone 2 to trigger a resignation later that year. He’s since identified the health issue as a panic disorder and said he’s now recovered.

“I took a break off from politics, but I am ready to get reengaged with local politics and make a difference,” Burnett said.

Aton is a foreign language professor at Missouri State University. He decided to run because of his dismay for the current council’s actions during the pandemic.

“The decision was made to force all of our local and small businesses to close; meanwhile places like Walmart kept their doors open through the entire thing,” Aton said. “And I think we have only begun to feel the economic effects of that. I know of at least five businesses that have closed, and that’s only scratching the surface.”

For instance, he pointed to the owners of The Hepcat downtown jazz club attributing the closure of their doors to the pandemic annihilating the hospitality industry.

Mabins, a branch sales manager at Arvest Bank, said she would emphasize helping small businesses grow and work to assist companies affected by the pandemic.

“I thought this was a good next step and another way to be involved in the community and also give back and continue to serve,” Mabins said.

Mayoral race
McClure looks to extend his four years as mayor.

While it wasn’t an easy decision to enact stay-at-home and face mask orders, McClure said he’s eager to work with other city leaders to see the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Missouri Ethics Commission, he has raised nearly $20,000 this election cycle.

Marcus Aton also has pledged to enter the mayoral race next year and has turned in his candidate packet. Yes, there’s potentially two Atons on next year’s ballot, and they’re brothers. Marcus Aton, a freelance marketer, said he would like to see more fairness, consistency and balance in the community from council. The mayoral hopeful said he has noticed a lot of political division the past few years.

“I would like to see Springfield be more of a place where we aren’t afraid to try something,” he said. “My goal would be trying to bring some real energy to the council and find a way that we can just offer a mindset shift and not simply just another political package.”