Neighborhoods, safety, school values factor into decisions as Springfield votes

Steady streams of voters flowed in and out of polling places early Tuesday morning and into the afternoon as voting continued in Tuesday's election.

Springfield voters have the opportunity to elect a mayor, choose at least three new City Council members and two school board members. They also ill decide whether Springfield Public Schools should move forward with a $220 million bond issue.

The polls close at 7 p.m. To find your polling place, visit the Greene County Clerk website at vote.greenecountymo.gov/.

The News-Leader interviewed Springfield voters leaving polling places in various parts of the city throughout the morning and early afternoon.

For additional coverage and election results, go online to News-Leader.com.

Neighborhoods, leadership factor into votes for mayor

Kris Hoffmeyer, a stay-at-home mom, visited McGregor Elementary on Tuesday morning to vote.

When it came to voting for mayor, Hoffmeyer said she chose Melanie Bach because of her pro-neighborhood stance on development.

"From my understanding, she is more in line with my type of thinking that we need to help ourselves be better before we bring lots of new in," Hoffmeyer said. "I'm not against bringing new in, but I think we need to be more established and secure before that happens. There are people who live here in houses falling apart; roads that aren't taken care of. We need to take care of our people more than we do."

Jill Cooper voted at Sequiota Elementary School because she felt like Springfield leadership needs a change. For her, crime and homelessness were the biggest factors that went into deciding who to vote for.

"I'm concerned with the current situation in Springfield and the current leadership, and I think that we need some changes," Cooper said, like making sure "the mayor represents the desire of the citizens, and they have a holistic approach to deciding what's best for Springfield."

Ray Burmood, a retired clinical social worker and resident of the Delaware neighborhood, said he voted for incumbent Ken McClure at University Heights Baptist Church on Tuesday afternoon. He described himself as a conservative-moderate.

Burmood is a board member for the National Alliance of Mental Illness Southwest Missouri and said McClure's support for the organization is one reason why he voted for him.

"I've gone to some meetings that he's been at and the dedication of our building down on Boonville, and he seems to really be in favor of helping out the mentally ill," Burmood said. The NAMI Hope Center is located at 819 Boonville Ave.

For Stanley and Lynda Magoon, voting “is like celebrating birthdays and Christmas” — it’s just something they make sure to do. The Magoons voted at the Darr Agricultural Center on Tuesday morning.

Lynda said she has been happy with McClure.

“I also felt that Ken McClure has done a good job as mayor," Magoon said. "No politician is perfect but some good things have happened during his administration.”

Electioneers try to win last-minute support

Gerard Burns was electioneering outside McGregor Elementary School, a polling place for members of the West Central neighborhood, in support of City Council Zone 3 Candidate David Nokes on Tuesday morning.

State law prohibits electioneering within 25 feet of a polling places, and bans political apparel inside, but candidates and supporters are allowed to make their pitches from outside that distance.

Burns is a former school teacher and currently works as an overnight security guard. Originally from Chicago, Burns moved to Springfield last year.

"I think he has a good attitude toward some of the problems that the city has," Burns said about Nokes. "I think he correctly identifies that crime and homelessness are some of the bigger problems the city should address."

Burns said that prior to Tuesday's election, he met with the candidates he felt agreed with his political views, which he described as a meld of conservatism and libertarianism.

Carolyn Ruff and Maggie Castrey were outside the Davis-Harrington Welcome Center on Missouri State University's campus on Tuesday afternoon, showing support for school board candidate Shurita Thomas-Tate. The women said they also voted for Jury Brunner.

"Springfield is changing. Thirty percent of the children in our schools are (of a) race or ethnicity other than white," Castrey said. "We have significant numbers of children who are LGBTQ or trans, and I think we need people on the board who are committed to standing up for the rights of people who are not in the majority."

Ruff and Castrey both added that they were not interested in voting for candidates with an "agenda."

"Our kids aren't red or blue, you know," Castrey said. "Let's focus on all being grown-ups and trying to educate them for the good of the community."

Ruff and Castrey did not disclose which mayoral or City Council candidates they voted for but expressed support for the pro-neighborhood perspective.

Voters show support for Proposition S, mixed views on board

Paula Christenson voted at Sequiota Elementary School on Tuesday morning. The main issue that brought her out was Proposition S, which she said was especially important as the parent of former SPS students and someone who substitute teaches there.

If approved by Springfield voters, Proposition S would allow the district to issue $220-million in bonds for capitol improvements. It would not raise the property tax rate.

"I've been in the schools and I've seen how they've renovated Delaware and Hillcrest, and my kids all went to school here. The buildings need help," Christenson said. "It'd be nice if they put up doors that shooters can't break, like they did in Nashville."

Donnie Browning also voted in favor of Proposition S at Sequitoa Elementary School on Tuesday morning. Browning did his research, which included talking with people who would be directly impacted by races' outcomes.

"Proposition S is important to me; my wife is a teacher. I love the upgrades and what they plan on doing with the funding," Browning said. His wife's input also helped him decide his choices for school board.

At Woodland Heights Presbyterian Church, Ryan Kowalski, who said he volunteers at Westport Elementary, also voted yes for Proposition S on Tuesday morning.

"Knowing that Proposition S would be good for our local schools is really important to me," Kowalski said. "Even though it's a regular election time to get out and support that, having worked in public schools it's going to be really beneficial to all of the people that I work and volunteer with."

Burns did not disclose the candidates he voted for school board, but he stressed his distaste for Critical Race Theory.

"I think some things like Critical Race Theory are just ridiculous ideas," Burns said. "My own family is multi-racial ... the idea that people are supposed to have an attitude of someone else because of their race, is ridiculous. I'm very much against that."

Current and former SPS employees cited the school as reasons they came out to vote Tuesday morning at Darr Agricultural Center.

“I wanted to vote for Judy Brunner. I know what kind of educator she is,” said Carol Arms, a former educator. “When I used to teach at Wilder Elementary, she was my principal when I was there. She was such a wonderful educator so I wanted to make sure that I voted for her. That was the most important to me.”

Nancy Ragains said voting on school board and Proposition S was important to her as a current employee at SPS.

“I work for the school, so I have my opinions on how the school board, which direction I’d like for it to go,” Ragains said. “I’m a strong proponent of Proposition S so we can continue doing what we’ve been doing.

Brian Cain said he already planned to vote in the election, but the attack ads targeting Brunner and Thomas-Tate reminded him why he needed to exercise his civic duty at the Darr Agricultural Center on Tuesday morning.

“It was amazing to me to see a negative attack ad against school board opponents, calling them ‘anti-American,’” Cain said. “I was already going to vote for Shurita Thomas-Tate and Judy Brunner, but I was flabbergasted” at the ad.

“It kind of reminded me how important it is to vote locally,” Cain said.

While the Magoons, who voted at the Darr Agriculture Center, have no children or grandchildren in the Springfield Public School district, they both feel strongly about education.

“I am very disturbed about the lack of, I call it civics. Growing up, we had civics from first grade on — learning the Pledge of Allegiance and the Constitution, and ‘I have a bill here on Capitol Hill.’” Lynda said. “Some of the young people today just have no clue. … How do you make decisions on those kinds of things when you don’t have something to judge?”

The state of public education across the country is part of what drove Stanley’s decisions, as well.

“I am a firm believer that our education system — throughout the country, we’ve lived in many areas of the Midwest in our working career — is failing our kids in too many places. It just really bothers me,” Stanley said. “The school system needs to get back to ‘reading, writing and ‘rithmatic,’ like when I was a kid. Making sure they’re teaching that really well and get away from some of this other stuff. I’m really opposed to what popular culture is calling ‘woke,’ things that are happening in school."

Missouri State students provide resources to community

Set up outside the Davis-Harrington Welcome Center on Tuesday was the Paws to the Polls tent. The student organization, established in 2020, works to educate both students and community members on the importance of voting. This year, the organization published a non-partisan voter guide for the local election.

Paws to the Polls member Ava Taylor said the organization emailed three questions to each mayoral, City Council and school board candidate for the guide. All of the candidates but City Council General Seat D Candidate Derek Lee submitted answers.

"With local elections, this is going to impact our community for years to come," Taylor said. "Who gets elected today is going to have really lasting impacts."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Neighborhood development, CRT, crime discussed by Springfield voters