Voters in Webster Groves will head to the polls on April 5 to elect a new mayor and three city council members.
The city’s longest-serving mayor, Gerry Welch, is not seeking reelection to the post she has held for 24 years. With candidate filings for the April 5 election now closed, the mayor’s race features two candidates, both of whom tout city council experience.
Laura Arnold, elected to the city council in 2018, is forgoing reelection to a second, four-year council term in hopes of being elected mayor. Arnold works as an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis where she teaches American government. Prior to serving on the council, Arnold was a member of the Webster Groves Parks and Recreation Commission. She also served on the Legislative Advocacy Committee of the Webster Groves School District.
Kathy Hart, who served three terms on the city council from 2004 to 2016, is a lifelong Webster Groves resident who has worked as an administrative law judge for 30 years. Hart turned a few heads in October when she voiced her concerns at a city council meeting over the sudden departure of several city administrative employees.
“What kind of work environment has been created that has caused all these women to feel the need to resign?” she asked.
Two city employees who left the city in 2021 — former Human Resources Specialist Dawn Cole and former Public Works Administrative Coordinator Karen Beck, who had been with the city for more than three decades — are now running for city council.
Beck retired in July 2021, a year earlier than expected. During her employment for nearly 38 years with the city of Webster Groves, she worked under the management of five city managers and under the direct supervision of five directors of public works. A resident of Webster Groves since 1988, Beck describes herself as an “independent thinker, good communicator and fiscally conservative.”
Cole, along with longtime director of finance and assistant city manager Joan Jadali, suddenly resigned from the city on March 31, 2021, just three months after a new city manager was hired. Cole moved from Colorado to Webster Groves 20 years ago to be closer to family. She has worked as a human resources professional for 25 years, including eight years with BJC, three years with SSM Health and almost seven years with the city of Webster Groves.
Also running for three available seats on the council are incumbent candidates Pam Bliss and David Franklin, both of whom were elected to the council in 2018.
Bliss is president and creative director of Bliss Collaborative, LLD, a graphic design firm located in Webster Groves. Prior to her election to the council, Bliss served on the city’s Business Development Commission.
Franklin, born and raised in Webster Groves, works as an attorney with the Sandberg Phoenix law firm. Franklin served on the Webster Groves Parks and Recreation Commission prior to his election to the city council.
Rounding out the field of six candidates vying for the three available council seats are Emily Hixson Shepherd and John Eppers.
Hixson Shepherd has worked as a business director at Washington University in the medical school’s Department of Surgery for the past 14 years. She said she has experience leading and collaborating on complex projects, managing large budgets and meeting a variety of deadlines. Hixson Shepherd said she was motivated to run for council following her involvement, and opposition to, the proposed Douglass Hill mixed-use development.
Eppers, seeking public office for the first time, has worked as a machinist at Tech MFG for 35 years. Eppers grew up in Shrewsbury, attended Hixson Middle School and Webster Groves High School, and moved to Webster Groves with his wife in 2012.
“As your council member, I will be the citizen’s voice at city hall. Every story has two sides, and I will work to make sure both sides are heard. All voices in this community matter,” Eppers said.
The city of Webster Groves held an “education session” for the candidates on Jan. 5, with a second session planned for Monday, Jan. 31, from 6 to 8 p.m. The session can be watched via Zoom — not in person. The sessions, according to the city, are to ensure that candidates for the April 5 municipal election have accurate and updated information about the city of Webster Groves.
In addition to electing three council members and a new mayor, voters in Webster Groves will also go to the polls on April 5 to decide Proposition U, which would allow for the collection of sales tax on out-of-state items purchased online.
