Johnston In As Mayor, Voters Turn Down Community Campus Proposal

     With just 23% of City of Grain Valley voters showing up at the polls, Chuck Johnston was elected Mayor, beating incumbent Michael Todd 48% to 39%. A third candidate, Jeff Craney, received  12% of the vote.
     Reached for comment following his win, Johnston struck a more conciliatory tone than communications made via social media throughout the campaign.
     “I would like to thank everyone that put their faith in me to serve as your Mayor. I will do my best to live up to your expectations,” Johnston said.
     “I don't take this job lightly. I know I have to develop a working relationship with the Board of Aldermen and City staff to achieve the goals I have set. I would also like to congratulate all the others that won their campaign. I look forward to working with all of you. I want to thank those that ran and didn't win for offering their services to the City by running for office. We need those that are willing to work for the betterment of the City, if this City is going to grow and prosper.”
     Voters soundly defeated Questions 1 and 2, which requested more than $38 million in bonds to develop a community campus on the former Sni-A-Bar Farms site. In Ward 1, incumbent Alderman Jayci Stratton ran unopposed and received 97.39% of the vote; Bob Headley also ran unopposed in Ward 3, winning 97.78% of the vote. Rick Knox was elected as Alderman in Ward 2, receiving 69.81% of the vote.
     Grain Valley Schools received strong support for its bond issue to add additional fine arts space at the high school. The question passed with 66.71% of the vote.
     In a statement, Dr. Marc Snow, Superintendent of Grain Valley Schools, thanked voters for their support and outlined construction projects to begin immediately.
     “Construction at the high school will begin within the next two weeks. There will be interruptions to the drive off Eagles Parkway this summer as crews relocate the main north/south drive towards the back of the school to make room for the addition. Also this summer, new parking will be added to the east side of the school to replace a staff parking area where the addition will be. Walls for the new instructional spaces should start to go in by September. Students will be walking the hallways of phase 5 in August 2021,” Snow said.
     Three incumbent school board members retained their seats. Jeff Coleman, Tisha Homfeld, and Jan Reding were each reelected, with first time candidate Jeff Wolff as a close contender.
     Voters next head to the polls on August 4th for a primary election. The deadline to register for the August election is July 8th.