St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale seeks reelection for second term
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- Current St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale is seeking re-election for a second term.
Josendale was elected mayor in April 2022. A St. Joseph native through and through, he attended the University of Missouri – Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
Josedale also earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. Josendale said his initial drive to become mayor was because he wanted to help grow and promote St. Joseph.
"Bring it back or make it feel like what it was when I was younger, but also put the new positive, current feeling to it where we can grow, and get people live here and make it a better place," he said.
Josendale said his decision to rerun comes because he thinks the City is moving in a positive direction, motivating him to continue to do more for St. Joseph.
"We've made a lot of changes. We've got a lot more coming. I feel like I bring some experience to the job now because, you know, you got four years of understanding it, you've got four years working with people. We've had a lot of change in the city," Josendale said. "We've had a lot of change in City Hall. To help bring it and continue to bring it along."
Josendale said he brings business experience and four years of experience of city and municipal government.
When it comes to what sets him apart from other candidates, Josendale said his business experience and previous four years of experience in city and municipal government help.
"Part of what the job of the mayor is, is to be able to communicate, not only with the other council members, because the council is made up of nine people, and that's really important. I also understand how you have to go out and talk, whether it be to Washington or to Jefferson City or businesses that are trying to bring here," he said. "How do you work with those companies or politicians to brag on St. Joe to make people want to invest here or be here?"
During his term, the City budget has seen different changes. Josendale said being able to manage those changes and the budget overall is critical.
"Over the last four years, there have been the ARPA funds. Those ARPA funds are gone now, and how do we manage our budget?" Josendale said. "One of the things we've done in the last four years, again, is to streamline the financing of how you read the budget, how you understand the budget and we make it more departmental so that you can actually see where the money is being spent to make sure that it's being most effective for the City."
Josendale said he wants to work with the different departments on what they need.
"One of the things that is being implemented as we speak, our new drones will be able to help the fire department. It can get out before the fire department does. The thermal image, so they can see where the hotspots are, or they can check for people inside the building," he said. "The police department, working with that be able to give them a quicker response time. It will be able to also verify whether or not the situation they can be on scene faster, the can report back."
Josendale said he's grateful to have served as Mayor for the last four years, and that he would appreciate the continued support for another term.
"To the people of St. Joe, thank you for letting me be there. I believe in people, I believe in St. Joe," he said. "It means so much to me to, you know, be able to go out and brag on our city because we got so many really good things that I want people to know about, that I want others to be able to see and attract people to come here. St. Joe means a lot to me."
The primary election will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Josendale's name will appear next to three other candidates: Ken Reeder, Jonathan McClain and Larry Miller.
