KIRKWOOD — City Council members on Thursday voiced their support for moving forward with next month's mayoral election despite pleas from some residents to postpone it.

The public meeting was the first time the council gathered in the renovated chambers since a deadly shooting spree in that room a month ago. Some have said the room, rededicated in a solemn ceremony Saturday, is almost unrecognizable after renovations, and the meeting Thursday night had a business-as-usual tone.

Talk focused on the upcoming election with Councilwoman Connie Karr's name removed from the mayoral ballot. Karr was one of the five people to be fatally shot by Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton on Feb. 7 before he was killed by police.

Some residents said the election should have been rescheduled, allowing someone else to run in her place. They said citizens are being denied a choice for mayor in the April 8 election.

Only Karr and Councilman Arthur McDonnell had filed to run for mayor of the city. Mayor Mike Swoboda, who was shot by Thornton but survived, had not sought re-election due to term limits.

In mid-February, the council was informed by county election officials that Karr was not an eligible candidate because she had died. So the council voted to removed Karr's name from the ballot.

Acting Mayor Tim Griffin has said that Karr's widowed husband, Kevin Karr, made it clear that he did not want his family to go through an election with her name on the ballot.

But a mayoral election that offers just one candidate has some residents seething, and prompted the formation of "Kirkwood Coming Together for a Brighter Future." Members of the group believe some city leaders are using the shootings for political purposes and to deny residents the right to vote in a contested election for mayor.

Member Dick Reeves, 67, said residents deserve an elected mayor, not an appointed one.

"What we're looking for in Kirkwood is democracy," Reeves said.

Other residents who spoke Thursday, including Doris Dana, 78, supported going ahead with the election.

She said uncontested races are common in local cities and that democracy is not hindered.

Said Dana: "Do we want to tell our neighbors that they are holding undemocratic elections?"

lthorsen@post-dispatch.com

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