These five people have applied for the vacant District 9 seat on the Topeka City Council

Topeka's mayor and city council will choose from between five applicants to fill west Topeka's District 9 City Council seat left vacant by the Nov. 1 resignation of Councilman Michael Lesser.

Joe Cheray, Michelle Hoferer, Janel L. Johnson, Michaela R. Saunders and Nicholas Trammell all applied for that seat prior to Monday's 5 p.m. deadline, said Brenda Younger, Topeka's city clerk.

Saunders, Cheray and Trammell applied Friday, and Hoferer and Johnson on Monday, Younger said.

The Capital-Journal this week either has published or will publish an article focusing on each applicant.

Learn more about each applicant for Topeka City Council

Though city officials cite statistics indicating crime here is going down, the information she sees shared by local Facebook police scanner groups suggests otherwise, Joe Cheray said in the application

More:City council applicant Joe Cheray hopes to see Topeka address homelessness and crime

Topeka City Council applicant Michelle Hoferer says she cares about her hometown's future and wants to do more to positively affect people's lives.

More:Council applicant Michelle Hoferer says crime and infrastructure are Topeka problems

Janel Johnson, a veteran of 13 years on the Board of Education for Topeka USD 501, says she wants to build community relationships for the Topeka City Council.

More:Janel Johnson wants to build community relationships for Topeka City Council

Michaela R. Saunders said her history of community engagement helps make her a good fit for the vacant District 9 seat.

More:Topeka City Council applicant Michaela Saunders stresses history of community engagement

Nicholas Trammell is a bail bondsman and private investigator and says he offers the council a new perspective from the outside.

More:Topeka City Council applicant Nicholas Trammell brings 'new perspective from the outside'

What happens next in selecting new city councilmember?

Applicants are tentatively set to be interviewed Dec. 6 by the mayor and council, who will then select a replacement.

The appointee will serve the rest of Lesser's four-year term, which began in January, according to the city website.

Mayor Mike Padilla said at a news conference last month that he hoped to find someone with a history of community engagement to fill the seat.

This marks the 11th time since 2001 that Topeka's governing body has replaced a council member or mayor who's left office in the midst of a term. Each time, at least three people have applied.

More:Tony Emerson chosen to take Topeka City Council District 4 seat

Applicants have histories of community involvement

Their applications share information about the community involvement of those seeking the District 9 seat.

Hoferer, a licensed professional engineer, co-owns J.T. Lardner Cut Stone, Inc. She served from 2009 to 2010 on the Metropolitan Topeka Planning Organization and from 2006 to 2011 on the Topeka Planning Commission, for which she was chair in 2009 and 2010. She was a member and the chair this year for the Topeka Redistricting Commission.

Johnson has been a mainframe systems programmer since 2017 for Illinois-based Ensono, and previously worked for the state of Kansas. She served from 2007 to 2020 on the Board of Education for Topeka USD 501. She's president of the Topeka Public Schools Foundation and chair of the Board of Trustees for Faith Temple Church Inc.

More:Schmidt chosen to fill District 8 council seat

Trammell is a bail bondsman and self-described "COVID-19 refugee" from Los Angeles. He is a Shawnee County Democratic Party precinct committeeman and a member of Topeka's Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Council and the Board of Editors and Board of Publishers for the Kansas Bar Association.

Cheray's application said her experience includes being a member of Topeka's Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Council, vice president of Capital Area Democratic Women and and chair of the Kansas Democratic Disability Caucus.

Saunders is communications coordinator and assistant to the vice president for academic affairs at Washburn University. She is serving her third term on the city's sustainability advisory board, was part of the Leadership Greater Topeka Class of 2015 and was a 2018 member of Topeka 20 Under 40.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at 785-213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Five applicants seeking vacant District 9 seat on Topeka City Council