BonnerSprings.com

John Eickhoff

Edwardsville — Five days after a City Council member resigned in disgrace, Edwardsville learned the name of his successor. The Council, minus Bob Lane, who had tendered his resignation Dec. 7, unanimously approved the appointment by Mayor Heinz Rodgers of John Eickhoff to fill the vacancy left by Lane.

Eickhoff will serve the rest of Lane's term, which began in 2004, and was to end April 9. Lane resigned after striking a plea agreement with Atty. Gen. Paul Morrison, in which he was found guilty of four misdemeanors in a DUI ticket-fixing case.

Eickhoff is a former Kansas City, Kan., police officer who retired after sustaining medical injuries on the job in a traffic accident. Eickhoff is studying for a medical degree at Kansas City, Kan. Community College.

"I've known him for awhile," Rodgers said. The mayor said he selected Eickhoff because "John has many of the attributes that you look for in a civic leader. He has a logical thought process, ability to articulate his point of view : He will prove, I'm sure, to be a fine addition to the Council we have now, and represent a segment of our constituents. He's an all-around good guy.'

Eickhoff, for his part, had another understanding of why he was chosen.

"Heinz called me and told me was going down the order of the candidates" listed by the number of votes in the April election, Eickhoff said. Eickhoff had the highest number of any of the three candidate who didn't make the cut for the three positions open in the election. Eickhoff received 275 votes, or 15.3 percent of the total votes cast.

"Yeah, I was happy," Eickhoff said of his reaction when Rodgers first told him. "I was surprised too, but I was surprised by all the ordeal."

Eickhoff said his biggest concern was in repairing Edwardsville's image.

"I'd mainly just like to get the city back in good rapport with the media," he said. "I think the city in general has been doing great since Heinz has been here."

Eickhoff was named and approved unanimously by the Council at the meeting's outset, so he voted on every agenda item except the minutes from the previous meeting.

"Heinz had given me the (agenda) packet right after Bobby Lane," Eickhoff said, so that he would be able to participate and vote in the meeting.

Getting right to work is fine with Eickhoff, who volunteers as a Youth Friend and coaches local children's basketball, football and soccer.

"I'm excited anytime to be more involved in the community," Eickhoff said. "That's why I volunteer so much."

. A former Kansas City, Kan., Police detective, Lane's plea agreement struck the most serious charges against him: two counts of bribery and one count of aggravated intimidation of a witness of victim. Lane was found guilty Dec. 4 by Judge William Lyle Jr. of two counts of class-A misdemeanor compounding of a crime, one count of class-C misdemeanor conspiracy to commit official misconduct, and one count of class-A, misdemeanor official misconduct.

Lane's agreement included the surrender of his certification as a law enforcement officer, a sentence of 10 days in Jefferson County jail at his own expense, which was to begin Monday, and one year probation.