Two Running For One Open Seat in Town and Country Election

In Town and Country, four aldermen seats are up for election. Only Phill Behnen, of Ward 4, is running unopposed.

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Nancy Avioli, Ward 1 Alderman, will not seek re-election. Her seat is being contested by two residents active in Town and Country city government, former city mayor Skip Mange and Dr. Dorothy Cooke.

Town and Country - Manchester Patch spoke with both candidates to find out why they feel they are the best candidate for the open seat. Following are their bios and answers to some questions from Patch. The candidates are listed in the order they filed.
 

Dorothy Cooke (Ward 1 Alderman Candidate)

• Previous Government Experience

In 2002, Dr. Cooke served for two years on the Town and Country parks and trails commission. Cooke also served as trustee of Subdivision Essex Point from 2008 to 2011. Cooke has been a resident of Ward 1 since 1987.

Cooke is a retired physician, certified in internal medicine. Cooke also has a nutritional consultant degree and a certification in guided imagery. Cooke is also a member of the Leadership Council of the UMSL School of Nursing.

“Our community is broken. For some, miscommunication from City Hall has led to misunderstanding and mistrust. They have no expectation of getting honest, factual responses from city officials (elected, appointed or salaried). Others are angry because they feel they have been intentionally misled. Some are embarrassed to see their community, which possesses so much human talent, often portrayed in the media as frivolous, inane or just plain clueless.
Many, who have had the opportunity or necessity to interact with our city about issues that affect them personally, have been left so frustrated that they avoid any community involvement. Therefore, the greatest challenge facing the Board is repairing this broken trust between citizens and their elected officials.”

“I am retired and care for my grandchildren weekly in my home in Town and Country. I have been a resident here for 25 years and have deep feelings for my acre and the community in which it sits. As a physician, specifically a general internist, I am a trained listener. Since 1973, I have practiced listening to people, understanding their problems and figuring out ways to make them better. That’s nearly forty years of meeting people, listening to them, hearing them, researching the issues and helping them. As a general internist, my job was to oversee the health of the whole patient by applying what we called meticulous attention to detail; to see both the forest and the trees.

Town and Country faces tough questions. As a physician, and for that matter as a mother of four, I’m used to tough questions. I’m also used to looking for and finding answers to them. My years in general medicine give me a background to help address Town and Country’s current issues and future decisions.”

Richard “Skip” Mange (Ward 1 Alderman Candidate)

Mange has served in multiple positions with the city of Town and Country. From1996 to 1999, Mange served in the Town & Country public works and storm water commission, as well as the Town & Country planning commission. From 1999 to 2002, Mange served as mayor of Town and Country. Mange continued his career in public service by serving in the St. Louis County Council from 2002 to 2007. Since 2008 he has served in the St. Louis County Government Civil Service Commission. In 2011, Mange return to serve in Town and Country as chairman of the Town and Country Ad-Hoc Longview Farm parking committee and as member of the planning commission. Mange has lived in Town and Country for 32 years.

Mange has a degree in Civil Engineering from Washington University. Mange also spent four years on active duty in the U..S Army Corps of Engineers as an officer including service in Vietnam. After serving in the army, Mange became owner and partner of a local construction and development company. He returned to school to UMSL and earned a secondary teaching  certificate in mathematics. Mange spent ten years as a high school math and science
teacher. 

“The greatest challenge facing the Town and Country Board of Aldermen is bringing the community together to agree on an acceptable deer management program. What I would support for the future would be as follows: (1) Make an estimate of the size of the deer herd after this past season of shooting is completed. (2) Have a discussion about what the community believes is an acceptable deer herd size. (3) Break down the numbers of deer between sterilized and non-sterilized deer. (4) It should be noted that only the non-sterilized deer add to the size of the herd. (5) If it is agreed that more deer need to be removed from the herd, then reinstitute the combined lethal and non-lethal program. (6) If it is determined that only a maintenance program is needed, then implement only a non-lethal program. (7) If a program is implemented that includes lethal means, then the required procedures need to be tightened up to improve safety, handling, and cleanup. (8) Coordinate with the St. Louis County Parks Department in utilizing non-lethal means of deer management inside Queeny Park, as we did when I was mayor."

“My greatest asset for the board of aldermen is the experience in government that I have had in bringing together people with very different points of view to arrive at solutions on issues. When elected Mayor of Town and Country I was able to work with the board of aldermen and various citizen groups in such a way as to reach consensus on many issues facing the city such as maintaining a zero property tax rate, continued planning and zoning protections, a deer management program through relocation, a program of city acceptance of private streets, and the first city construction of a public sidewalk along Bopp Road. The accomplishment that I am the most proud of is the purchase and development of both Longview Farm Park and Drace Park. These are two public park jewels that are being enjoyed by many residents. During my service on the St. Louis County Council, I worked very hard to bring the Republican majority on the council to work together with the Democratic County Executive to effectively address county issues.”

*Check back to Town and Country - Manchester Patch daily for more information leading up to the April 3 election.

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