City of Springfield
The Springfield City Council rejected the mayor’s nominee to fill the Ward 3 vacancy on the council, despite support from faith and community leaders.
Some council members were concerned Roy Williams, Jr., the mayor’s choice, declined to say if he’d run for election in two years. Williams said he wanted to focus on the job for the first year before deciding on whether to run for a full term in 2023.
“I want to spend this time dealing with the violence and cleaning up Ward 3,” he said Tuesday night. Williams is president of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good and head of the Ernie Bankhead neighborhood association.