Filing period starts for Carthage city, school elections in April

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People interested in taking leadership positions for Carthage City Council and Carthage R-9 Board of Education started filing for those positions on Tuesday.

Three people filed on the first morning of the filing period for the two open seats on the Carthage Board of Education and one person filed on the first day for one of the six open seats on the City Council.

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The filing period for the April 2, 2019 local elections in Missouri runs from Dec. 11, 2018 to Jan. 15, 2019.

School Board members will serve three-year terms, while the City Council members will be elected to two-year terms.

City council

One person filed in the first few minutes of the first day of the filing period for one of the six open seats on the Carthage City Council.

Terms will end in April 2019 for incumbent council members James Harrison in Ward 1, David Armstrong in Ward 2, Ceri Otero in Ward 3, Alan Snow in Ward 4 and Brady Beckham in Ward 5.

A second seat in Ward 2 opened when Timothy Shields took a job with the city of Carthage earlier this summer and resigned. Shields’ term would have ended in 2020, and no one has been appointed to take the seat as of Dec. 10.

Voters in Ward 2 will see two candidates, one for a one one-year term and one for a two-year term.

Carthage City Clerk Traci Cox said Ed Barlow was in City Hall at 8 a.m. on Tuesday to file for the Ward 5 seat.

Council members are required to attend two city council meetings a month, serve on at least two of the five standing council committees and serve as a council liaison to some of more than a dozen boards that receive city money.

The city provides training in ethics, the state Open Meetings, Open Records Law, and other issues related to a council member’s duties through the Missouri Municipal League. 

People can call the Carthage City Clerk’s office at 237-7000 for more details and how to file for the election.

Carthage Board of Education

Two of the seven seats on the Carthage R-9 Board of Education will be filled in the April 2, 2019 election.

Incumbent board members Justin Baucom and Niki Cloud, along with Wayne Jones, filed on the first day of the filing period for the open seats, ensuring the district will hold an election on April 2.

Voters will select two candidates and the top two vote-getters will win the seats.

The Carthage Board of Education meets regularly once a month and can be called to special sessions as needed. 

Filing for School Board seats will be at the Carthage R-9 District Administration office, 710 Lyon St., Carthage.

People can call the Clerk of the Board or the Superintendent at 359-7000 for more details about the election or how to file.

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