Lori Eisenbeis will remain as Festus city treasurer, City Council members said during a May 26 work session.
Her status was put into question after staff failed to include the Festus city treasurer position on the April 7 ballot.
At the council’s April 13 meeting, Brian Malone of Lashly & Baer, the city’s law firm, said Eisenbeis would remain the city treasurer unless a successor was appointed.
In the April 2027 elections, the remaining year of the two-year term will be on the ballot.
At the April 13 council meeting, members discussed whether other people should be given the chance to apply for what is normally an elected position.
The council, with newly elected members Karl Weekley of Ward 1, Allen McCarthy of Ward 2, Dan Moore of Ward 3 and Rick Belleville of Ward 4 along with long-time council members Dave Boyer of Ward 1, Kevin Dennis of Ward 3 and Michael Cook of Ward 4, voted to discuss the matter at a work session.
During the work session, Moore said he had spoken with Eisenbeis since the April 13 meeting.
“I have talked to Lori since on two different occasions, and I do think she has the qualifications for it,” he said. “Some really good conversations.”
But, he said Eisenbeis told him she had felt constrained in the past as city treasurer and felt she could do more in regard to overseeing the city’s finances if allowed to do so, rather than what she has been doing, mostly signing checks on behalf of the city.
Moore said he agreed.
“She said she wants to return back to what the ordinance says for her elected position, which is general oversight of City Hall,” he said. “She wants to be a part of it.”
Moore said Eisenbeis gained his support as city treasurer.
“I think, if she is nominated again, that we give her the full backing to do her job,” he said.
Council members asked Michelle Vaughn, the Festus finance director, for her opinion on the city treasurer’s position.
“She has the authority to oversee my department, and I just think it would be a good thing for the city to have more internal controls,” Vaughn said. “So, I’d be more than happy for her to come in and do the review checks and balances, and I have no issues with that, at all, with any elected official.”
Richards directed staff to put the city treasurer’s appointment on the agenda of the council’s next regular meeting, which is June 8.
Eisenbeis has served as the Festus city treasurer since 2012. She has run unopposed for the post each time it has been up for another two-year term.
She said she had no comment on the situation beyond, “I want to continue on as I have in the past doing my civic duty.”