Tom Schneider Wins Mayor's Seat in Crowded Candidate Field

After a campaign unlike any other for the City of Florissant, with no incumbent and six different candidates vying to be mayor, has emerged on top. The longest serving member on the city council was elected Tuesday night as the third mayor of Florissant in the past 40 years, following James J. Eagan and Robert Lowery.

“I started my campaign by asking people what was important to them,” Schneider said in a speech to his supporters on Tuesday night. “I thought that was a good place to start because it wasn’t about me. It was about Florissant and the surrounding community.”

Schneider beat out an open field of five other candidates for the seat of mayor and won with 37 percent of the vote. Incumbent announced he would not seek re-election of his office in December, which left the field wide open for the office. 

Mayor Lowery stopped by to wish Schneider the best of luck early in the night at Cannoli’s, telling the people of Florissant that they were in good hands.

“Tom is going to keep Florissant progressive, keep home values high and keep Florissant great,” Lowery said before the crowd at Cannoli’s.

Schneider has served on the Florissant City Council for 32 years. Before being elected to office, he worked as the city’s engineer for two years, where he helped establish a bridge-replacement program that is still in existence today. In a previous interview, Schneider said more than 90 percent of the bridges and culverts have been replaced.

As a city councilman, Schneider has proudly touted the Project Lift-Off Party as one of his biggest achievements throughout his time on council.

Fighting the good fight

Opponents and followed closely behind with 24 and 23 percent of the vote, respectively. Current Ward 6 City Councilman received 11 percent of the vote, while and each failed to achieve more than 4 percent of the vote. 

As Behlmann saw the results come in, he spoke to Florissant Patch about the results and his future plans at his campaign’s watch party. 

“Am I happy? No,” he said. “We ran a good race.”

Behlmann said he will continue to serve residents of the North County area as a member of the , but he wouldn’t rule out a run in 2015.

“There’s always a next time,” Behlmann said.

Geerling she put on a smile and said she was happy with the overall experience. 

“We ran a wonderful campaign,” she said. “I don’t look at it as losing an election. It as a positive experience for me and the city.” 

Geerling said she doesn’t know what the future holds for her--besides getting her sleep cycle back on track and spending more time with her family--but she did offer mayor-elect Tom Schneider her congratulations and ask that he consider what other candidates mentioned in their campaigns in going forward. 

Schneider does not take office for another three weeks, but he already has plans for his administration.

He wants to focus on helping the continue to perform an excellent job by more closely intertwining the community with their own efforts. He wants to have block captains in every neighborhood as part of an expansion of the Neighborhood Watch Program. He believes a need for safety to be the one thing shared by everyone in Florissant, no matter who THEY voted for.

Investment in the North County area is another key issue he hopes to address. He believes that Florissant must stand united with the neighboring municipalities of North County.

“I want to help stimulate investment not just in Florissant, but the areas surrounding Florissant as well,” Schneider said. “What’s good for Ferguson, Blackjack, Hazelwood and other surrounding cities is also good for Florissant. Development in Hazelwood means jobs for people who live in Florissant.”