Following Tuesday’s filing deadline to run for Columbia City Council in April, Sixth Ward Councilwoman Betsy Peters will run unopposed and Second Ward Councilman Mike Trapp will face one challenger, Paul Love, who unsuccessfully tried to unseat him in 2015.
Love turned in a petition with over 70 signatures, above the minimum of 50, hours before the 5 p.m. filing deadline. City Clerk Sheela Amin said his petition is currently under review as the city validates the signatures. The city clerk’s office expects to know whether his submission is finalized tomorrow, Amin said.
Peters, a neonatologist, has been in the Sixth Ward council seat since April 2015, when she replaced Barbara Hoppe, who served nine years on the council.
Trapp has been in his Second Ward position since 2012 and narrowly beat Love by 83 votes in the 2015 election. Trapp currently does contract work with Welcome Home, which is a temporary housing program for at-risk or homeless veterans. He was formerly the executive director for Phoenix Health Programs.
Love, 47, said his opponent is the driving reason behind why he has chosen to run again.
“I’ve been unsatisfied with Mr. Trapp’s performance, and I’ve always thought if you don’t like the way things are going, you need to get up and do your part to make a change,” Love said. “It seems to me we’ve had more gunshots fired in my local neighborhood lately, and I don’t feel Mr. Trapp is doing a good job of representing that to the city council.”
Love also said Trapp has made other poor choices, such as contracting with the Downtown Community Improvement District, which Love believes to be a conflict of interest for Trapp, given his current position with city council.
Love, who works as a network engineer at Carfax, has been a resident of Columbia since he was a student at MU in 1988. His community is his first priority, he said.
“I’m just an ordinary guy who doesn’t like how the government is working,” Love said. “I’m trying to make a change.”
The municipal election is set for April 3. The last day to register to vote to participate in the election is March 7