Additional candidates for vacant Columbia Board of Education seat bring total to 13
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The addition of three more names as the filing period wound down has brought the number of candidates seeking an empty Columbia Board of Education seat to 13.
The school board will take an open vote on which candidate will replace Katerine Sasser, who resigned earlier this month. Voters will then choose who sits in the seat next April.
Mike Zweifel, an active member of the local Republican Party; James Gordon, who ran last April for a seat on the board; and Karen Hayes added their names to the list Wednesday, the last day to do so.
Sasser announced her resignation at a May Board of Education meeting, citing recent anti-transgender state legislation as a reason.
The other people who have added their names to the pool are:
- Jan Mees
- Chuck Basye
- Phil Stroessner
- John Potter
- Della Streaty-Wilhoit
- Andrea Lisenby
- James Patterson
- Frank Aten
- Sahba Jalali
- Greg Brockmeier
Many of them have run for seats on the school board and two of them -- Mees and Streaty-Wilhoit -- are former board members. Basye is a former Republican state representative who is known for his battles with Columbia Public Schools, including a lawsuit to get his name on the ballot in this past April's election.
The board will vote June 12 on the appointment, according to the CPS website. That will happen after special session to review applicants and interview the top candidates.
