BonnerSprings.com

As John “Tiny” McTaggart takes a seat in the middle chair April 27 in the Edwardsville City Council chambers, the new mayor should feel right at home.

This won’t be the first time that McTaggart will take the chair belonging to the mayor. From 1993 to 1997, the Edwardsville business owner served in the same position before stepping down early to become a commissioner for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/ Kansas City, Kan.

McTaggart defeated Stephanie Eickhoff and Lesli Trout for the mayoral position Tuesday night with a total vote count of 378. Eickhoff followed with 212 votes and Trout received 99.

“I feel very good, very happy,” McTaggart said. “I’m kind of anxious to get back into the position. This city council is a really good unit, and I look forward to working with them.”

McTaggart said he wasn’t surprised by the victory. He said that any candidate who had a position in the government in the past can stand up and say development came when he or she was in office, but his record showed something different.

“(Development and industry) is going to come anyway,” McTaggart said. “It’s when you take other initiatives like I did — establishing parks and rec, getting a grant for the community center, the Fourth Street development and the sewers in Old Town — that’s leadership. That’s taking some initiative about things that don’t ordinarily come your way. I think I just have a better vision for the city.”

Now that he’s been elected, McTaggart plans to stick to his campaign promise of working to get sewers to the north end of Edwardsville. He said the current administration has started the process, and he plans to help as much as possible.

In the race for the two open city council seats, it was a nail biter as the final votes were tallied late Tuesday night. Coming out on top, however, was Mark Bishop, with 351 votes, and John Eickhoff, with 237.

Trailing Eickhoff by only two votes was Patrick Isenhour. Both Eickhoff and Isenhour were running for re-election this year. Isenhour was the longest running member of the council with six years of experience under his belt.

Of the remaining candidates, John Broman received 192 votes, Tom Farris received 69 votes and Randy Gilbert, who withdrew from the election but was still included on the ballot, received 94 votes.

“I’m pretty excited,” Bishop said of his victory. “I’m kind of shocked it was such a huge margin. I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m pleased with the outcome, and I’m looking forward to finding out more and getting started.”

Bishop said he planned to ease his way into the new council position and learn how things are run. He said he remained cautious throughout his campaign and tried to not get his hopes up.

In the end, he attributes his victory to his efforts talking to the public about issues.

“I ran a good campaign and an honest one. I followed every rule,” Bishop said. “I just listened to anyone that wanted to talk to me. I wanted people to know I was running for the citizens and not running for myself. I love this town, and I just want to see us do the right thing.”

Of the 91,215 registered voters in Wyandotte County, 16,524 cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, which makes for an 18.12 percent voter turnout.

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