Louderman chosen to fill vacant council seat

The wait for six candidates seeking the vacant Fourth Ward seat on the Hannibal City Council ended Tuesday night. When the votes were tallied, Barry Louderman was chosen on a unanimous vote of the council.
Louderman, Bowen “Bo” Duffy, Jerry Irick, Sandra Lane, Linda Wheatley-Coleberd, and Melanie Powell had been waiting in limbo since the council failed to take any votes on the candidates during an Oct. 28 special call meeting.
Tuesday night, each of the individuals was nominated by a member of the council and came up for a vote of the whole council. Irick finished behind Louderman with four votes.
“We wanted to give everybody a full chance,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kyle Wilson of nominating all the candidates.
Asked about the selection process following the meeting, Louderman said, “It went a lot smoother than the previous one. I was very happy with the way it came out.”
Louderman indicated he ran because he sees things that need to be changed not only in the Fourth Ward, but throughout Hannibal.
Among his goals, Louderman would like to see the parks department make use of some of the vacant flood plain property on the South Side, street improvements on the South Side and more businesses come to the South Side. Louderman would also like some type of barrier constructed along Missouri 79 by the new Stowell Elementary School capable of preventing a large tractor-trailer from ever leaving the highway and striking the school.
Louderman takes the council seat last held by the late Jim Dexheimer, who died in September.
“Jim Dexheimer did a great job representing the South Side for a long time,” said Louderman.
At the conclusion of the council meeting, Wilson thanked each of the candidates for their interest in the position.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t pick all six of you,” added Mayor Roy Hark.
Louderman will hold the council seat until April 2009 when it will come up for election to fill the remainder of the term which expires in April 2010.
The filing period for the municipal election will open Dec. 16 and conclude Jan. 20.