Shannon Otto
Shannon Otto has resigned her District 3 seat on the Jefferson County Council.
Otto, 36, of Arnold was elected to a four-year term on the council in January.
Council chair Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) said Otto sent the county a notice on Nov. 2 that she was stepping down immediately.
Groeteke, who said he was not expecting Otto to resign, said the resignation letter did not include a reason for her action.
“It has been a pleasure serving with everyone and I thank you for everything,” she said in her letter.
Groeteke said he hadn’t spoken with Otto, and she did not respond to telephone calls or emails from the Leader requesting a comment.
Otto defeated incumbent Councilman Phil Hendrickson and challenger Johnathan Sparks in the August 2022 Republican Party’s primary election for the District 3 seat, which takes in Arnold and the surrounding unincorporated area. Because no Democrats filed for the seat, Otto ran unopposed in the November general election.
Under the county’s charter, the County Council will select a replacement who will serve through the end of Otto’s term after the 2026 election.
Those wishing to be considered may apply through the county’s website, jeffcomo.org.
Otto is a Republican, so, according to the charter, her replacement also must be.
Those who apply also must be at least 24 years old, be a registered voter in the county, be a U.S. citizen for at least 12 months and a resident of District 3 for the same time period.
Applicants must not be past due paying their state income taxes, personal property or real estate taxes or municipal taxes.
People who have been found guilty of a felony or misdemeanor of a federal crime or a felony under state law also are prohibited from holding the seat, as are registered sex offenders. Background checks will be completed for all applicants.
Once the field of potential candidates is vetted, each will be interviewed by the remaining council members. After all interviews are over, the council will vote in a closed session to decide Otto’s successor.
Under the council’s rules of procedure, if the council is unable to agree on a replacement after two votes, they will then be asked to rank all the candidates.
However, when the council appointed Gene Barbagallo to replace Renee Reuter as District 2 representative earlier this year, it decided to suspend that rule and instead went to a third ballot, when Barbagallo received a majority of votes.
Reuter, a charter member of the council when it was formed in 2010, resigned before she was sworn in to represent the 112nd District in the Missouri House of Representatives.
County council representatives are paid $12,240 a year.