Springfield City Council Looks to Fill Vacant Ward 4 Seat
During the Jan. 23 Springfield City Council meeting, council member Leonard Stoehr announced his resignation “citing a job transfer to Atlanta Georgia.” According to charter rules, council members must reside within the ward they represent during their entire term and his departure has created a vacancy in the city’s Ward 4.
The council quickly worked to fill the void and sought applicants for an interim to finish out Stoehr’s term. They subsequently approved the vacancy process on Feb. 21 and applicant recruitment began the following day.
Four individuals applied before the March 23 deadline: Beth Blackwell, Cj Mann, Rev. June Fothergill, and R. Leon Noble.
Recently, on April 3, the council met in a work session to select the interview questions and narrow-down the applicant pool.
More information about the applicants can be found in the April 3 agenda packet on Springfield’s Online Public Documents archive site.
The three remaining candidates—Blackwell, Mann, and Rev. Fothergill—are scheduled for interviews on April 17 during the council’s work session beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The council will then deliberate and select one of the candidates to fill the seat until Dec. 31, 2024 during their regular session at 7 p.m.
