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Application Process for Vacated Joplin City Council Now Open

VisitJoplin.com

The Joplin City Council will appoint a temporary council member who will serve from December 2023 through April 2024. During those five months, the individual will be able to run for the remaining two years of Kate Spencer's time in office. Residents will also elect two general council seats and seats in Zone 3 and 4.

Last week a member of the Joplin City Council stepped down. The city announced Tuesday they are now seeking her replacement. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

Last Monday, Joplin Mayor Doug Lawson with an announcementon the city’s website said that Kate Spencer relinquished her seat on the city council citing a need to put her family first.

Spencer was elected to a four-year term last year and had two years remaining on her term. Yesterday, the city announced that residents interested in filling Spencer’s seat on the Joplin City Council should apply to the City Clerk’s office by 5 p.m. Thursday, November 30, 2023.

The vacant seat being filled by this application process is for the period from when the appointed person is sworn in in December 2023 to April 2024, when the remainder of the two-year seat will be filled through the election process.

Applicationscan be obtained through the Clerk’s office on the second floor of Joplin City Hall, 602 South Main Street. The office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; however, it will be closed on November 23 and 24 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Candidates for the General Seat should be qualified voters of the City of Joplin and have been a Joplin resident for at least the immediate past four years.

Any applications received after 5 p.m. on November 30 will not be considered.

Copyright 2023 Four States Public Radio. To see more, visit Four States Public Radio.

Since 2017 Fred Fletcher-Fierro has driven up Highway 171 through thunderstorms, downpours, snow, and ice storms to host KRPS’s Morning Edition. He’s also a daily reporter for the station, covering city government, elections, public safety, arts, entertainment, culture, sports and more. Fred has also spearheaded and overseen a sea change in programming for KRPS from a legacy classical station to one that airs a balance of classical, news, jazz, and cultural programming that better reflects the diverse audience of the Four States. For over two months in the fall of 2022 he worked remotely with NPR staff to relaunch krps.org to an NPR style news and information website.

In the fall of 2023 Fred was promoted to Interim General Manager and was appointed GM in Feburary of 2024.