Festus City Council members on June 8 voted 7-0 to approve the appointment of Lori Eisenbeis as city treasurer until the next general election.
The vote was more or less a formality after council members previously discussed the situation that arose after the two-year term for city treasurer did not appear on the April 7 ballot due to what city officials called an “administrative oversight.”
Brian Malone of Lashly & Baer, the city’s law firm, said the position will need to be placed on the ballot of the April 2027 election.
“Because this is an appointment, she’ll serve until the next April election and then there will be an election to fill the unexpired term,” Malone told Festus leaders at the June 8 meeting.
Eisenbeis has served as the Festus city treasurer since 2012. During her time as treasurer, she has not faced an opponent each time she has filed for reelection, Malone reported at an earlier meeting.
Mayor Sam Richards initially sought to appoint Eisenbeis to continue to serve as city treasurer and have council members vote to approve the appointment at the April 13 council meeting. But new members of the council who had been elected to their posts the previous week said they were interested in the city advertising to see if anyone else would apply for the position. The matter was tabled for further discussion.
The council discussed the matter at a May 26 work session, with the new councilmen agreeing to vote to keep Eisenbeis in the position after Dan Moore of Ward 2 said he had spoken with her and felt comfortable in keeping her as city treasurer.
Eisenbeis declined to comment for this story.