Lebanon voters unseat incumbent, elect newcomer to council

Lebanon voters elected two new members to their city council in elections held Tuesday. According to unofficial results from the Laclede County Clerk’s Office, Lebanon’s former codes administrator Joe Berkich defeated the incumbent councilwoman Sheila Mitchell. Berkich received 227 votes or 55 percent of the vote. Mitchell received 181 votes or 44 percent. Jaret Scharnhorst was elected councilman in Ward 1 with 173 votes or 48 percent of the vote. He defeated Jeff Stokes who received 81 votes and Jeremy A. Goforth who received 102 votes. Scharnhorst will hold the seat formerly held by the late Gib Adkins who died in December. Incumbent Lebanon councilmen Jeff Mutchler in Ward 3 and Chuck Jordan in Ward 4 were reelected without opposition. Elected to the Lebanon R-3 School Board were Mary Russell with 1,349 votes, Jina Richardson with 1,270 votes and Craig Blair with 1,031 votes. Laclede County R-1 (Conway) School Board members elected were Ricky Savage with 101 votes, Jarid Jensen with 100 votes and Courtney Gunter with 93 votes. Lebanon Special Road District #1 voters approved a continuation of its additional 20 cents per $100 assessed valuation for a period not to exceed four years The vote was 1,036 in favor or 69 percent with 448 voters opposed.