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Nixa voters stick with Mayor Steele

Voters say ‘No’ to recall attempt that started with masking order

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Brian Steele will remain mayor of Nixa until April of 2023.

More than 75 percent of the 3,266 voters in a special election chose “No” on a question of whether or not Steele should be recalled. The effort to recall the mayor stems from an order he gave that made face masks a requirement in public places from October 2020 to the end of April 2021. Steele gave the masking order in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The final result, with seven Nixa precincts reporting, was 2,457 “No” votes to 808 “Yes” votes, according to the Christian County Clerk's Office at 8:17 p.m.

The recall petition called for the recall of the mayor from office because he acted without a vote of the city council to install the mask mandate, "and taking other actions detrimental to the city of Nixa, its economy and the health and welfare of the community in general." The mask order started in October 2020 and expired at the end of April 2021.

The petition claims Steele acted "individually and without regard to the citizens of Nixa," and without regard to the Nixa City Council in enacting a requirement that people wear coverings over their mouths and noses in certain public places.

Steele gave the order under a set of emergency powers granted to him by a city council vote in March 2020. The recall petitioners' complaint is that Steele issued an executive order with a mask mandate after the Nixa City Council voted 0-6 to turn down a bill that would have mandated mask use in public places in July 2020.

At some point during the mask order, a Nixa City Council member could have proposed a bill to repeal the order by ordinance. However, that didn't happen.

"Members of the recall committee would come to each meeting and ask them to do it. I explained to (council members) and gave them that opportunity. I said, 'Would anyone like to make that motion?' multiple times; not one person did," Steele said.

None of the six members of the city council introduced such a bill over the span of about seven months that Nixa was under the executive order for masks.

The official petitioners' complaint is that Steele issued an executive order with a mask mandate after the Nixa City Council voted 0-6 to turn down a bill that would have mandated mask use in public places in July 2020.

The Committee to Recall the Mayor of Nixa, Missouri, as it is known on Facebook, submitted an affidavit to Nixa City Hall on March 31 to start the process of petitioning for a recall of Mayor Steele. The petition had 73 signatures verified with the Christian County Clerk's Office on July 5, clearing the way for a special election in November. Sanders filed information with the Missouri Ethics Commission to create his own PAC on Sept. 3.

Nixa had 16,105 registered voters when Steele last ran for reelection unopposed in 2020. A total of 667 people voted, and 648 of them voted for Steele. Under the home rule charter of Nixa, the turnout set the requirement for a recall petition at 67 voters, or 10 percent of the overall turnout.

According to the home rule charter, it would have taken a simple majority vote in order for a recall election to succeed.


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