Tax measure passes for New Madrid County

NEW MADRID - Portageville voters voted to retain the current Board of Alderman members in Tuesday's Municipal Election.

Portageville Ward 1 voters picked incumbent Jessie James to continue to represent them on the Portageville Board of Alderman. James had 35 votes defeating John Dubois, who had 14 votes.

Unopposed were Chris Stinnett, municipal court judge, 70 votes; and Vince Berry, Ward 2 alderman, 35 votes.

On the County-wide tax measure, voters elected to continue to collect a tax on purchases made out of state.

Nearly 60 percent of those voting Tuesday gave their approval for the use tax of 1.5 percent, which is the same as the local sales tax rate, to be applied to out-of-state purchases exceeding more than $2,000 annually. According to unofficial vote totals provided by County Clerk Clement Cravens, 812 residents cast yes votes to 545 no votes.

With just over 13 percent, or 1,430 of the county’s 10,789 registered voters, going to the polls Tuesday, Cravens called it a “very quiet day.”

Lilbourn

Lilbourn residents decided the position of chief of police for the community should be appointed by the board of alderman. There were 125 votes cast in favor of the issue to 84 no votes.

Cravens said that according to the Missouri Municipal League, the ballot question supersedes Tuesday’s vote for city marshall which was won by Jasmika Davis, who was running unopposed and received 120 votes.

In the race for mayor, voters chose Robert Taylor over Kevin Lyons by a vote of 119 to 95.

In Ward 1, Vernon Dale Birdwell was narrowly defeated by Terry Hawkins to serve on the board of aldermen by a vote of 59 to 50. Also contested was a one-year unexpired term as Ward 2 alderman which was easily won by Richard “Dickie” Kolwyck who garnered 65 votes to 23 votes for Eddie Dewayne Eaton.

Unopposed were Yvonne Morgan for city collector, 176 votes; and Larry J. Hamilton, Ward 2 alderman, 76 votes.

Gideon

Larry D. Wiggs will serve as mayor of Gideon. Wiggs had just over 60 percent of the vote with 121 ballots cast in his favor to defeat Lawrence “Toby” Jordan, who had 79 votes.

In the race to serve a chief of police, Rinda Dillard easily defeated Keith B. Trosper Jr. by a vote of 136 to 66

Running unopposed were Vicki Berry for North Ward alderman, 101 votes; and Jimmie Nettles for South Ward alderman, 73 votes.

Howardville

Residents of Howardville agreed the terms of the mayor and alderman should be four years instead of two years. There were 16 votes favoring the issue to 11 opposed.

Unopposed on the ballot were Jessie Newson Jr., mayor, 21 votes; Revanell E. McMillan, Ward 1 alderman, 9 votes; and Douglas Haney, Ward 2 alderman, 13 votes.

Marston

Residents of Marston approved a one-half of 1 percent sales tax to fund capital improvements in the community. There were 48 yes votes to only 5 no votes The improvements will include water tower maintenance and possibly the retirement of some of the community’s debt, according to the ballot.

New Madrid

None of the incumbents were opposed on New Madrid’s ballot. Vote totals were: Mayor Richard (Dick) Bodi, 119; Chief of Police Joey Higgerson, 110; Ward 1 Alderman Thomas (Tommy) Chism, 39; Ward 2 Alderman Anthony Young, 46; and Ward 3 Alderman Ryan Riley, 33.

North Lilbourn

Three candidates were listed for the two openings on the North Lilbourn Board of Trustees. Gregory Hughes led the race with 12 votes followed by Roosevelt Johnson, 10 votes, and Ernest McFerren, 2 votes.

Parma

Residents elected two people to serve on the board of alderman. Jerry T. Shaw, Ward 1, had 29votes cast in his favor while in Ward 2, there were 21 votes for Simon Wofford Jr.

Risco

None of the candidates were opposed on Risco’s ballots. Brent Landers, who had 77 votes, was elected mayor while for the board of aldermen, Bert Todd was elected in the East Ward with 36 votes and Paul Hayes received 35 votes in the West Ward.

Tallapoosa

Alice Darmofal was the only candidate on the ballot for mayor of Tallapoosa and she received 10 votes.

Residents in the North and South Wards had to write-in their choices to serve as alderman. Receiving votes in the North Ward were Tracy Goskins and George Hansley, who each polled a single vote. In the South Ward, a single vote was cast for Russell Deprow and one vote for Kenneth Russell Deprow.

New Madrid County School District No. 2

No votes were cast in New Madrid County for the three candidates — Andrew Ambrose, Dana Brown-Ellis and Tera Redfering Johnson — listed on the ballot for the New Madrid School District No. 2 Board.

Risco R-2 School District

Four people sought the two openings on the Risco School Board. Leading the vote tallies was Kent Buck with 135 followed by Ashley Calvert with 102 votes. Eric Garris had 54 votes cast in his favor while Shawn Fouthman received 37 votes.

(Some information available from Standard-Democrat)