School board gets new faces, Bernie elects new mayor

Several school and local boards will soon welcome new faces following Tuesday's municipal election.

Despite several contested races, overall county-wide voter turnout was low with only 2,256 ballots counted overall.

The race for three seats on the Dexter School Board was likely the most heated race of them all and the board will see some changes.

With seven candidates vying for three positions, newcomer Bob Thrower held the board's highest vote tally with 668. Mark Nea followed behind with 552. Kevin Bishop received the third highest total with 456.

The Bernie School Board saw all three incumbents re-elected-- Denny Riddle (342), Rick Beaird (361) and Kenny Walters (326.) Challenger Ashley Robertson managed 121 votes.

The Puxico School Board is welcoming a newcomer to its ranks with Brian Robison pulling the highest vote total--480. Incumbents Chad Payne (387) and Jeffrey Hamann (384) were also re-elected.

In municipal races, Bernie offered its share of interesting outcomes.

The City of Bernie elected David Teeters (191) as its new mayor, with long-time mayor James H. Tilmon pulling only 129 votes.

Collector Maggie Teeters, wife of the new mayor, succeeded in her bid for re-election over Charlette Zimmerman 217-103.

Bernie Ward Two incumbent Dennis Jackson also won re-election against James Henderson by a margin of 78-51.

The City of Bloomfield had only one contested race.

In the race for Ward Two Alderman, incumbent Donna Deardorff defeated newcomer challenger Timothy Cazee by a tally of 56-6.

Two incumbent Puxico aldermen also won re-election.

Ward One Alderman Gary Wilfong (43) defeated challengers Doyle Mitchell (33) and Ken Osborn (13).

Ward Two Alderman Lance Hamann (92) defeated competitor Raymond "Shayne" Gibson (40).

The City of Puxico also split on a pair of propositions.

Proposition One was an amendment to the city code allowing the City Collector to be elected to a four-year term. The residents voted 149-75 to approve the amendment.

Proposition Two was a proposal from the Board of Aldermen that would have allowed the city to appoint a Chief of Police--effectively doing away with the City Marshall form of policing the city still practices. The voters shot down the proposition by a margin of 120-107.