VOTER TURNOUT PREDICTED AT 14 PERCENT
Voter turnout for April elections is often light, and that may–or may not–be the case when the municipal election is held in jurisdictions throughout Platte County on Tuesday, April 4.
This April does have something that a lot of April elections do not have, which is a contested countywide race.
There are three seats up for grabs on the Platte County Health Department Board of Trustees and the campaigning for those spots has been active. The health board seats are countywide positions, so every registered voter in the county can cast a ballot in the health board race and vote for as many as three of the eight candidates listed on the ballot.
Voter turnout over the past five years for spring elections in Platte County has ranged between 10 percent and 18 percent.
“I always have 12 percent in my mind but it looks like that hasn’t been the number since 2014 and that was 12.99 percent. I’ll (project) 14 percent this year,” Chris Hershey, a director for the Platte County Board of Elections, told The Landmark on Monday.
“The health department is an important race and every Platte County voter gets to vote on that, so that could bring the total turnout up a little,” Hershey said.
“However, there are several parts of the county where health department is the only thing for citizens to vote on, and that could depress turnout a little. As always, there are a few local races that will motivate voters in certain communities. We’ve been getting a lot of calls from Weatherby Lake, and Parkville’s tax questions seem to be getting some attention,” Hershey remarked.
Any voter can come to the election board office and cast a ballot during what is known as the two week period of no excuse absentee voting.
“There was a marked uptick in absentee voting when we entered the no excuse period, from single digits to 20-30 voters per day,” Hershey said.
See the legal notices section of this edition for more ballot listings for various entities. Some of the highlights include:
PLATTE COUNTY HEALTH BOARD
There are eight candidates for three open spots on the Platte County Health Department Board of Trustees. In ballot order, they are: Michael Shafe, Susan Cole, Kim Swaney, Steve Hoeger, Karen E. Payne, Paula Willmarth, Marygold Fry, and Brandi Moritz.
The first three on the ballot–Shafe, Cole, and Swaney–have been endorsed by the Platte County Republican Central Committee by saying: “We have three conservative candidates running. They have the first three spots on the ballot. Please support them any way you can.”
The Platte County Federated Democratic Women’s Club has endorsed the next three on the ballot, Paula Willmarth, Steven Hoeger, and Karen Payne.
Marygold Fry and Brandi Moritz are also in the race. Moritz did not show up at either of two candidate forums held in recent weeks.
CITY OF PARKVILLE
Two tax questions face voters in the City of Parkville. One is a use tax that imposes a local use tax on purchases made online and from out-of-state sellers. This would be the same rate as the total local sales tax. The city says it would use this revenue to fund infrastructure and capital improvements within the city.
Also on the ballot is a new half cent sales tax for public safety. The city says uses for this revenue would include police positions, salaries and benefits, and related expenditures such as police facilities and equipment.
PLATTE COUNTY R-3
SCHOOL BOARD
There are five candidates for three available positions on the Platte County R-3 School Board. Candidates are Tyler Fadler, Matt Craine, Amy M. MacCuish, Bobby Vann (incumbent), and Sharon Sherwood (incumbent).
NORTH PLATTE SCHOOL BOARD
There are four candidates for three open spots on the North Platte School Board. Candidates are Jeff Hinton, James Steven Kubly, Rebecca (Becky) Hoffman, and Jennifer Ralston.
CITY OF WEATHERBY LAKE
There are two contested races for alderman positions at Weatherby Lake
East Ward: Russsell Monuski and Wilbur Stuhlman.
West Ward: Doug Richmond and Paula Ward.
CITY OF RIVERSIDE
Riverside voters will vote yes or no on a question to establish a three percent sales tax on the sale of adult use non-medical marijuana in the city.
CITY OF KANSAS CITY
There are several candidates and questions on the City of Kansas City ballot, for residents of Platte County who reside within the city limits of Kansas City. See the Kansas City legal notice in the legals section of this edition of The Landmark for the list of candidates and questions.