Filing will open Tuesday for municipal elections and two Poplar Bluff City Council seats will be up for grabs.
The terms of Ward 1 council member Lisa Parson and Ward 3 council member Barbara Ann Horton are expiring.
Filing for the offices will continue through Dec. 28, and is two weeks shorter this year. The filing period normally extends into January but was changed under the passage of House Bill 271.
Both Parson and Horton have said they plan to run again.
“Representing the people who live and work in Poplar Bluff’s Ward 3 is interesting as well as challenging,” said Horton, who will be seeking a third term. “Since joining the city council in April 2016, I’ve learned a lot about the community and its residents and would like to an opportunity to serve them another term.”
Horton is an employee of the Daily American Republic and volunteers for Haven House and Women Aware in her spare time.
Parson was elected to the council in April 2019. A lifelong resident of Poplar Bluff, she is employed at Morse Harwell and Jiles. Parson is a graduate of Poplar Bluff High School and Three Rivers College.
“For me, serving the people of Ward 1 is personal,” Parson said. “This is where I grew up and where my family owned a business. While on the council, I am proud to have helped negotiate the decision to keep city hall downtown as well as supporting our local, downtown business owners with the progress they’ve made at revitalization.”
Parson said there is much more work she would like to accomplish.
“We need to continue putting Poplar Bluff in a position to retain and attract high quality employees, which we are so blessed to have,” she said. “We also need to ensure we are taking advantage of opportunities for collaboration across all governmental, non-profit, and private entities to provide a community our citizens are proud of and opportunities for young people to want to stay here and build their families and careers.”
Filing for the April 5 election will close at 5 p.m. Dec. 28.
Candidates must be 21 or older, a citizen of the United States, a qualified voter, a city resident for one year, an inhabitant of the ward for which he or she seeks office for one year and, if elected, continue to be domiciled in that ward throughout his or her term on the council. No one who is in arrears for any tax lien, forfeiture or misappropriation of funds in office can be elected, according to state law.
Winners in wards 1 and 3 will be elected to three-year terms.
Persons wishing additional information about filing for the council may call the city clerk at 573-686-8620 during regular business hours.