Springfield voters choose Kincaid, Mohammadkhani and Provance for school board

One new member and two incumbents won their bids for the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education at the polls on Tuesday.

Danielle Kincaid and Maryam Mohammadkhani got the nod to retain their seats on the SPS board, and Susan Provance was chosen as a newcomer, according to unofficial election results posted by the Greene County clerk's office. Voters were asked to select three board members out of seven candidates.

Provance, a retired teacher and coach, received the highest vote tally, with 13,082 votes, or 18.03% of the total. Kincaid, partner at The Elder Law Group LLC and SPS board president, came in at 16.9% with 12,255 votes and Mohammadkhani, a retired pathologist, received 15.5% with 11,306 votes.

The list of SPS board candidates, by votes, is below:
• Provance, 18.03%, 13,082 votes.
• Kincaid, 16.9%, 12,255 votes.
• Mohammadkhani, 15.5%, 11,306 votes.
• Landon McCarter, co-founder of Secure Agent Marketing, 15.1%, 10,986 votes.
• Chad Rollins, chief pharmacist for HealthDirect Pharmacy Services, 14.8%, 10,730 votes.
• Scott Crise, incumbent board vice president and manager of gas plant operations for Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., 9.9%, 7,181 votes.
• Kyler Sherman-Wilkins, associate professor of sociology at Missouri State University, 9.5%, 6,923 votes.

The SPS Board of Education has seven members, including Judy Brunner, Kelly Byrne, Steve Makoski and Shurita Thomas-Tate, who were not up for reelection on Tuesday.

City of Springfield ballot measures
Two city of Springfield proposals on the ballot yesterday were approved by voters.

Voters were asked to weigh in on whether to double the length of the mayor’s term and revise the city’s code of ethics.

Question 1, regarding the code of ethics update, passed with 11,814 votes, or 76.5% of the total. Question 2 on mayor terms got the nod with 8,455 votes, or 53.5% in favor, according to the Greene County clerk's office.

With the approval of Question 1, city employees will be granted a legal defense and due process if ethics violations occur, and safe harbor provisions if they were acting in good faith on a prior written advisory opinion from the city attorney, according to past reporting. Previous language allowed only for automatic termination of city employees with an ethics violation, while the passed legislation allows for a review process culminating in a range of disciplinary actions up to and including termination.

Question 2's approval extends the mayor's term of office to four years from two years. The measure goes into effect with the 2025 mayoral election, meaning it will not apply to current Springfield Mayor Ken McClure, who is to set to conclude his fourth two-year term next year.

The mayor will be limited to serving two terms, meaning eight years will remain the maximum length of service.

Regional election results are available through KY3.