It’s Hollander vs. Fann for council vacancy
Fresh off his St. Charles West basketball team’s recent run to the Class 4 state high school championship game, longtime coach Terry Hollander is ready for some more competition - this time in politics.
Hollander, 55, of St. Charles, has been picked as the Republican nominee for a St. Charles County Council vacancy that will be filled in a special election Aug. 5, the same day as the Missouri primary.
The Democrats, meanwhile, have tapped Tom Fann, 49, a St. Peters insurance broker. Fann will try to take advantage of the the name recognition and contacts gained in his unsuccessful race in February for a Missouri House vacancy.
The two party selection committees each met Sunday night at St. Charles police headquarters to make their choices. The 5th District council seat opened up two weeks ago when Democratic incumbent Joseph McCulloch resigned.
Hollander’s St. Charles West Warriors finished second last month in the Class 4 tournament, losing to Cape Girardeau Notre Dame.
County GOP Chairman Jon Bennett said Hollander was chosen over three other Republicans who applied for the nomination - former St. Charles Councilman Mary West, local Young Republicans leader Matt Ehlen and business executive Eric Stegemann.
Bennett said Mike Sommer, a newly-elected Francis Howell School Board member who was considering a bid as well, decided against the idea.
On the Democratic side, county chairman Tommy Roberts said Fann was chosen over Angie Beerman, a teacher at Becky David Elementary School.
Fann in a February special election lost to Republican Mark Parkinson for the final few months in the term of former Republican Rep. Carl Bearden, who resigned last summer.
By tapping Fann for the council nomination, Democratic leaders avoid a battle in the party’s August primary for the right to run against Parkinson in November for the next full two-year House term.
Fann and Kristy Manning - a party committeewoman and a Jefferson City aide to Sen. Joan Bray, D-University City - had both filed for the House seat. Fann now will withdraw from that fray.
The council nominees were chosen by 4-member panels made up of the Democratic and Republican county committee members from the 5th District’s two townships.
Tom Fann is a good choice for that County Council seat. He will carry on the work of Joe McCulloch representing the residents of St. Peters and St. Charles city in a district that is mostly incorporated.
On the contrary, McCullough was not a tool for labor on the County Council.
Fann has already proven that is all the substance he can bring to the table.
Now, Jim, you know there are plenty of tools in county government. While it is true that Mr. Fann and organized labor (and other working-class residents) will support each other, candidate Fann brings a lot of substance to the table on a variety of issues that impact working families and will lead to common sense leadership at the county level. Better to be a tool of working residents than the tool of yet another developer or other special interest looking to make a buck.
Amusing. Fann’s entire support base came from labor, not those without an agenda.
Even when he filed for election this time around, his buddy Tommy Roberts (convicted felon) threw him under the bus and became Kristy Manning’s treasurer to run AGAINST Fann.
I’ve met Fann and know him to be a decent guy, but his base of support being solidly behind the union agenda hardly classifies him as someone without an agenda of his own.
Meanwhile, Terry Hollander has proven himself a leader in the community and will have hundreds of non-political agenda supporters behind him.
This race is all but over, and poor Tom is going to find himself in the same category as Ed Appelbaum, who was used by the dems in St. Charles County in the exact same way.
Fann’s support came from voters on both sides of the political spectrum, not just labor. Perhaps it is true that most of his volunteers and helpers on the campaign were members of various unions, but it was all unpaid volunteers. You could define every one of Parkinson’s campaign workers with one adjective………….paid. Either paid directly or paid indirectly by big business interests, big developer PAC’s, or Sinquefield lobbyists.
The CC 5th district is a good fit for Tom Fann and for the residents of that district.
There, there now Jim (the republican), settle down. As always, you are forever sarcastic and critical of anything Democratic in St. Charles County.
If there were anything democratic about them! lol
Face it, the dems dumped on Fann, and he’s going to lose another election because of it!
So he lost his first election because the dems dumped on him? Explain.
I think Tom Fann saw an opportunity, with the resignation of Joe McCulloch, to serve his community while remaining much closer to his family and his business. He has left the campaign for the 16th District House seat in good hands and he will build on the progress made in that district during the previous campaign. Tom Fann will win the 5th because he is in tune with the issues that affect hard working, middle class taxpayers’ lives which is exactly why he got such strong support from the labor organization in that effort…
Jon, er Jim (the republican), do tell what Mr. Hollander’s leadership credentials are besides being a good basketball coach. BTW, I’m sure that having a young talent by the name of Soderberg on the team didn’t exactly handicap the coach’s ability to lead the kids through a great season. Schlinkman’s been working on this story all afternoon and all he’s come up with is round-ball. Please tell me there’s more.