3 will take unopposed council seats in April election

Mar. 4—Three people who filed for election to the Joplin City Council but were unopposed are virtually assured of election and will take their seats when the council reorganizes after the April 2 election.

Ryan Jackson filed for the Zone 3 seat to be vacated by Phil Stinnett, who did not run for reelection.

Jackson is a lifelong resident of Joplin who currently serves on the city's planning and zoning commission. He has previously served on the Joplin Airport Board and chaired both the Sales Tax Oversight Committee and the Traffic Commission in past years. He ran unsuccessfully for council twice previously, in 2006 and 2012.

"I want to serve on City Council so I can be part of the solutions as the city faces challenges," Jackson said. "Challenges like prioritizing safety and security from vandals who destroy parks and burn down empty structures in our community.

"Additionally, I believe we need to develop resources to properly pay and staff our city departments that serve the citizens of Joplin. It's important to staff our police and fire departments first, but we also need to look at our approach to fund the staff needed for our seasonal parks and recreation department for our pools in the summer."

Doris Carlin, a founding partner of Keller Williams Real Estate Elevate, was the sole candidate for the two remaining years of a seat left vacant by the resignation of Kate Spencer. Carlin was one of 12 who applied for appointment to that seat when the City Council filled it temporarily shortly after Spencer left. A former councilman, Anthony Monteleone, was tabbed by the council to serve until Carlin can be seated after the election.

She sought the office, she said, "to be of service to the community that I have been an ambassador for over 40 years. I have leadership skills, business expertise and a servant's heart I would love to bring to the table, yet have no particular issues or agenda other than to be of service where needed."

Carlin has served on boards of a number of community organizations and also has served on the Joplin Industrial Development Authority, Joplin Historic Preservation Commission, and the city's Community Housing Resource Board.

A third unopposed candidate is Charles "Chuck" Copple, who will retain his four-year seat as Zone 2 council member. He was elected to that post in 2020.

He is a retired Joplin firefighter and battalion chief who has been employed for 11 years by Verisk Analytics.

He serves on the Joplin Sports Authority board and was a previous co-chairman of the Proposition B Action Committee. That proposition was one passed by voters in 2019 to put a half-cent sales tax in effect to bring the Joplin Police and Firemen's Pension Fund to a fully funded level after years of lagging behind on assets to cover all the benefits the fund owed.

He won a three-way race in 2020 for the zone seat he holds.