Joplin City Council to reorganize Monday
Apr. 5—Newly elected members of the Joplin City Council will be sworn into office at a special meeting Monday.
The existing council will first receive a report on the election results and vote on whether to accept them.
According to the returns of Tuesday polling, incumbent Keenan Cortez will be returned to one of two four-year general seats to be filled by the election. Cortez received 2,102 votes. Joshua "Josh" Bard, a real estate agent, claimed the second available seat with 1,886 votes. A challenger, Natasha Klue-Michael, received 1,424 votes.
There were three unopposed candidates for City Council.
Real estate executive Doris Carlin was elected to a two-year unexpired term with 2,688 votes.
Incumbent Charles "Chuck" Copple received 2,103 votes to continue representing the city's Zone 2. Newcomer Ryan Jackson received 2,055 votes to represent Zone 3. Both of those posts are four-year terms.
They all will take the oath of office and be seated as the council reorganizes.
Jackson will succeed Phil Stinnett, who did not seek reelection. Carlin will take the seat formerly held by Kate Spencer, who resigned in November. Bard will hold the seat to be vacated by Christina Williams, who did not file for reelection.
After that, the new council will elect a mayor and mayor pro tem. Doug Lawson and Cortez currently hold those council leadership positions.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the council chambers on the fifth floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main St.
