...The stage is set for city and school elections in April and Pleasant Hill voters will find some new faces on the ballot in April.
...Filing for city and school elections closed on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
After the dust cleared, Pleasant Hill voters will find a race in one City Council precinct and another for the R-3 School Board.
Pleasant Hill will also lose a veteran mayor, a seasoned councilman-at-large and a long time R-3 Board president who all chose not to run for re-election in 2012.
...Terry Wilson will leave office in April after 26 years as Pleasant Hill mayor. Wilson served as mayor in 1980-88, again in 1990-94 and finally in 1998-2012. Prior to being elected mayor, he served two terms on the City Council.
...Wilson's decision not to run again leaves newcomer John VanGorkom as the only candidate for mayor on the April 3 ballot.
...VanGorkom served on the R-3 School Board from 1999 to 2003 and was school board president for a year before leaving office, but had never run for city office in Pleasant Hill before.
...A former assistant fire chief in Lee's Summit before retiring, VanGorkom is currently chief of the Sni-Valley Fire Protection District in Oak Grove, Bates City and the surrounding rural community.
...Councilman-at-large Larry Rosanbalm is also not running for another term in 2012 after ten years on the Pleasant Hill City Council.
...That leaves Ed Lust the only candidate for councilman-at-large this spring.
...A former Pleasant Hill police officer, Lust is now vice president of Lewis Tower Services in Pleasant Hill.
...The only City Council race this spring will be in Precinct #22 between Councilman Steve Long and challenger D.A. Kramer. That race is a rematch of the Precinct #22 City Council election a year ago. Long is chief of the Pleasant Hill Fire Protection District and Kra-mer is a retired construction worker.
...The mayor elected by Pleasant Hill voters in April will serve a 4-year term and the two councilmen will serve 2-year terms.
...Four candidates will be running for two 3-year terms on the Pleasant Hill R-3 School Board in 2012.
...In that race, veterinarian David Hertzog will be joined on the ballot by Kohler Outdoor & Lawn owner Clay Kohler, retired U.S. Marine Mike Mansfield and Liberty Mutual Insurance senior disabiliy case manager Brian Barnum.
...Dr. Hertzog is running for his second 3-year term on the R-3 School Board and Kohler, Mansfield and Barnum are running for the first time.