Schowengerdt beats Shepard to become Mission mayor

Mission narrowly elected former councilman Steven Schowengerdt as its new mayor on Tuesday, and longtime Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn won a sixth term unopposed.

Meanwhile, incumbents and newcomers alike won contested city council races in four Johnson County communities.

That Mission is getting new leadership was never in doubt, as incumbent Mayor Laura McConwell is stepping down after 12 years.

Unofficial final results had Schowengerdt beating current councilman David Shepard, 862 votes to 843.

The election was seen by some as a referendum on McConwell’s record since taking over for longtime Mayor Sylvester Powell, who died in office in 2002.

Shepard, who has been on the council since 2005 and is its current president, was more closely aligned with McConwell. During the campaign, the 44-year-old marketing company executive said he would build on what he saw as McConwell’s successes in fixing streets, repairing other infrastructure and fostering development.

Schowengerdt, who served on the council from 2003 to 2010, was critical of the debt the city has taken on in recent years to accomplish some of those goals.

The 62-year-old remodeling contractor also found fault with the so-called “driveway tax” imposed during McConwell’s tenure to raise funds for road work. Properties have been taxed according to how much traffic the home or business generates.

Shepard supports the tax.

Those issues also figured in the three Mission City Council contests. Of the two incumbents who supported McConwell, one won and the other lost.

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In a battle between political newcomers, Steven Lucas beat Jay Meyer, 165 to 130.

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Arcie Rothrock bested incumbent William Vandenberg, 207 to 161.

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Incumbent Suzie Gibbs over Bill Nichols, 448 to 252.

In other city council races in Johnson County:

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Jori Nelson outdid incumbent Dale Warman, 461 to 349.

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Eric Mikkelson got 134 votes to 41 for Lauren Wolf, who did not campaign and supported Mikkelson.

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Dan Runion walloped Marc Baratta, 392 to 78.

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Terrence Gallagher beat Paul Gorelick, 153 to 69.

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Tom Robinett defeated James Stephens, 124 to 87, and will fill out the last two years of an unexpired term.

Robinett has been serving in the seat since September 2013, when he was appointed to temporarily fill the vacancy left by Gary Bussing, who moved out of the ward.

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This story was originally published April 1, 2014 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Schowengerdt beats Shepard to become Mission mayor ."