Columbia’s Second Ward elects Meyer to city council
COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)
Columbia's Second Ward got a new representative on the City Council on Tuesday night's election. Lisa Meyer won the three-candidate race, receiving 54 percent of the reported vote.
Robert Schrieber III and certified write-in Lucio Martino Bitoy were also seeking the seat. All three people applied to fill the role when former councilwoman Andrea Waner announced her resignation in October because she was moving into a new home outside of Ward 2. Rachel Proffitt currently has the seat but said she would not run for election.
Meyer's platform revolves around safety, infrastructure, and health and well-being. She told ABC 17 News in an interview last week that she is hoping to bridge a “really large disconnect between regular residents and what's happening at city hall.”
Campaign finance reports show that Meyer spent over $9,000 on her campaign. According to the report, the largest item spent was a $6,051.71 purchase at Omni Prints in Moberly for campaign materials and an additional $2,641.55 at Cumulus Radio for on-air advertisements.
Schreiber’s report shows he spent $3,193.50, the bulk of which ($2,765) went to radio advertisements with an additional $348 spent with the USPS for campaign postcards.
Bitoy did not have a campaign committee. According to his website his “grassroots campaign” has received just $75 in donations.
Schreiber hosted a campaign watch party beginning at the Democratic Central Committee Headquarters on Vandiver Drive. He describes himself as a “blue-collar candidate” on his campaign website and told ABC 17 News in December he thought he could represent the working class on the council as someone who is a maintenance worker for the University of Missouri.
His platform focuses on affordable housing, addressing homelessness, infrastructure, transitioning to green energy and collaboration with local unions.
Bitoy is a former political science major at Lincoln University. His platform focuses on what he describes as a lack of affordable housing in the Second Ward, minimal public transportation access, environmental racism and low wages. He says on his website that he wants the City Council to create more tangible policy solutions aimed at lowering poverty rates.
