Nick Knoth out, Lisa Meyer in with municipal election
The makeup of the Columbia City Council is changing after Tuesday's municipal election.
Ward 2 has new representation in Lisa Meyer, with 1,349 votes; over Robert Schreiber III, with 998 votes and 43 votes for certified write-in candidate Lucio Bitoy IV in unofficial summary results.
An attempt by the Tribune to reach Meyer Tuesday night was unsuccessful. Meyer, through her campaign, has focused on parks and public safety, where she previously has said the No. 1 issue is getting the police department fully staffed. Mayer is a real estate professional and would like to see some housing code and zoning changes as well.
Schreiber said he feels he ran a good race for the seat.
"I did everything I could do, left everything out on the table and the people decided," he said, adding he would consider joining city boards and commissions so as to be in an advisory capacity to the city council and possibly move some of his election goals forward.
Schreiber, during his campaign focused on affordable housing and renewable energy.
While Bitoy ultimately did not win the seat, he was pleased to have garnered as many write-in votes as he did through his relatively unfunded campaign.
A campaign to recall Ward 1 council member Nick Knoth was successful in unofficial results, with 531 votes to recall and 394 against, roughly 57% to 43%. The recall effort centered on Knoth's position as a lobbyist with the Missouri Board of Realtors.
"I put my faith in first ward voters to make a decision for themselves and they have done just that," Knoth said. "I wish nothing but the best for my community and hope someone else in the ward steps forward to take my seat."
Sarah Medcalf, who was part of the campaign to recall Knoth, said it felt like common sense prevailed in the first ward.
"Voters saw there was a conflict even when Mr. Knoth would not admit there was," she said, adding she does not have plans to run for the Ward 1 seat.
Bitoy conversely expressed he is looking for a Ward 1 residence so as to hopefully be a candidate in the special election to fill the remainder of the Ward 1 term, likely in August.
Ward 6 incumbent Betsy Peters ran unopposed, garnering 1,045 votes to secure a fourth term on the council. There were 26 write-in votes, unofficial summary results reported.
A county wide vote on Proposition 1, which is a property tax exemption program for senior citizens passed with 13,928 Yes votes to the 6,430 No votes.
The Boone County Commission now will start work on drafting the tax exemption program, including eligibility parameters, the application and administrative process, and safeguards to minimize the potential for abuse of the program. Implementation likely will not happen until 2025 as the Boone County assessor and collector offices work to create and test the program's administrative process.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia City Council municipal election results
