Ken McClure will run unopposed for a second two-year term as Springfield mayor — one of four City Council seats uncontested on the April 2 ballot.

The other positions without challengers are Zone 2, Zone 4 and General Seat D. That means that out of the six seats up for grabs in this election cycle, only two will involve a contested election, according to a sample ballot released Tuesday afternoon by City Clerk Anita Cotter.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, Abe McGull will represent Zone 2; Matthew Simpson will represent Zone 4; and Richard Ollis will represent General Seat D.

Friday afternoon, mayoral hopeful Eric Wood told the News-Leader he learned via email and a phone call from city officials that he will not appear on the April 2 ballot.

Springfield City Charter requires citywide candidates — for mayor and general City Council seats — to obtain 200 verified signatures from registered voters anywhere in the city.

Wood said he had filed 242 signatures before the deadline Jan. 15. But not enough were verified registered voters.

"I had 67 signatures of people who weren’t registered voters," Wood said, "so when I ask people, are you registered, will you sign, and they say yes, apparently they don't understand what that question means."

Wood said that gathering petition signatures for a city elected office is "difficult."

"It’s not easy," he said. "I thought it would be easier, to be honest."

But, he said, "in two more years, I'll give it another shot."

On his campaign Facebook page, Wood thanked followers for their support.

McClure, a former official in the 2000s-era administration of Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, was first elected mayor in 2017, defeating then-Councilwoman Kristi Fulnecky.

Flenoid not certified for General D

Larry Flenoid II, a hopeful who had been campaigning for General Seat D, will not appear on the April 2 ballot — to his surprise.

Flenoid told the News-Leader on Tuesday afternoon that the city clerk notified him by phone call Friday that his candidacy would go through with 203 verified signatures, out of 277 he submitted before last week's deadline.

But in a Tuesday phone call, Flenoid said he learned that he only had 190 verified signatures.

Flenoid said he was told some of his petitioners were from outside city limits. He said he was also told that some of his petitioners had also signed petitions for his opponent, incumbent Richard Ollis, and that those signatures counted for Ollis.

"How would I even know that they signed for (Ollis)?" Flenoid told the News-Leader.

A provision in the city charter adopted by Springfield voters in 1984 states that registered voters may not sign a nominating petition for more than one candidate running for the same office.

Should a voter sign for multiple candidates, the first candidate to file a certified petition containing that signature gets to count the signature.

Cotter, the city clerk, said that Ollis filed his petition at 8:18 a.m. Dec. 3 and that it was certified Dec. 10 at 9:45 a.m., well before the Jan. 15 deadline.

More:Deadline to run for city council was Tuesday. Here are the candidates.

Flenoid filed his petition at 8:25 a.m. Jan. 15. Vetting signatures took until Tuesday, Cotter said. She said she worked Friday night and over the holiday weekend to check all of the signatures ahead of the ballot deadline Tuesday evening.

Flenoid said he had figured on losing at least 50 signatures before submitting his paperwork.

"From the community I come from," he said, "being the poor community, a lot who signed for me, they aren't really stable."

Flenoid said he was looking into legal action.

"I am so pissed," he told the News-Leader. "I'm not done. I'm trying to help my community. Basically, they shut out the poor community. That's what they do in this community."

Cotter, asked to comment, denied that was the case. "I take the issue of reviewing and certifying nominating petitions very seriously," she wrote in an email to the News-Leader. "There is a very specific, multi-step process that is followed consistently in accordance with the City Charter to determine whether or not a petition is sufficient."

She said she apologized to Flenoid for the confusion Friday.

Flenoid said Tuesday that he intends to continue to get involved in Springfield politics.

"I'm going to try to get somebody to run for everything possible," he said. "That's the only way we can change."

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