Schutzbach Elected Effingham Mayor; Three New Commissioners, Too

Schutzbach finished with 1,267 votes, more than the combined total of local attorney Scott Ealy and incumbent mayor Jeff Bloemker. Ealy finished with 598 votes, while Bloemker totaled 590.

(MIKE SCHUTZBACH)

Schutzbach will take over with the other members of the City Council in May. Schutzbach served on the Effingham Police Department for 30 years, 13 years as chief.

Full election returns are located here.

In addition to a new mayor, there will be three new city commissioners in May, although two have previous experience on the Council.

Hank Stephens was the top vote-getter among the Commissioner candidates with 1,262 votes. Stephens returns to the Council 40 years after he was elected to his previous term on the Council, later serving many years as City Attorney and as an economic development advisor.

Another former commissioner was elected Tuesday. Larry Micenheimer, who served a term from 2007 to 2011 and then was defeated in a run for mayor in 2011, received 1,180 votes.

The only commissioner re-elected was Merv Gillenwater, with 1,155 votes. Gillenwater served on the Council from 2007 to 2011 and then defeated Micenheimer for mayor in 2011, then ran and was elected commissioner in 2015.

The fourth person elected commissioner Tuesday is Libby Moeller, with 1,032 votes. Moeller has no previous Council experience, but is currently serving on the City Plan Commission.

Three incumbents seeking re-election were defeated. Don Althoff finished fifth with 954 votes and Kevin Willis was sixth with 909 votes. Retired city employee Jayne Miller was seventh with 903 votes. The third incumbent defeated with Althoff and Willis was Kevin Esker, who finished eighth with 788 votes.

That means a new mayor and three new commissioners will join Gillenwater on the new Council seated in May.