Ten Apply for Open School Board Position

Ten people have applied for Michael Ocello’s vacated seat on the Mehlville school board. Seven applied on the last day of the deadline, Friday at 4 p.m.

They are (in order of application): Gary "Brit" Rose, Ken Leach, David Wessel, Michael Gindler, Greg Frigerio, Timothy Champion, Marea Kluth-Hoppe, Fred Padberg, Aaron Hilmer and Ronald Fedorchak.

The board will hold a meeting June 11 at 10 a.m. in the Administration Building to read through the applications and plan a date to interview candidates. 

Rose previously ran for the school board in 2009 and tallied 1,926 votes, losing to current board member Tom Diehl (7,608 votes) and Ocello (5,782 votes).

Rose has three children in the Mehlville School District, twins going into 11th grade at Mehlville High School and a second-grader at Bierbaum Elementary. He works at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in general maintenance and building repair.

Leach was elected to the board in April 2005 and pulled the most votes out of three victors; himself, Cindy Christopher and Karl Frank, Jr. After being elected Board President in 2006, Leach chose not to run again in 2008.

 is a new face to the district, recently moving back to the area. He is a graduate of Oakville High School and has two children, one at John Cary Early Childhood Center and a toddler. 

Wessel ran for the school board in April and was the fourth vote-getter out of three possible seats, missing the mark by 145 votes. He is a hiring manager in the information technology field.

 has also previously run for the school board, in 2005, 2008 and April of this year. She served on the board from 2002-2005. 

 is the current Mehlville Fire Protection District Board Chairman and has held that position since 2005. 

Editor's Note: A follow-up story including all of the candidates and why they applied will be available next week.