The election yesterday of two "smart growth" advocates to the Columbia City Council represents a potentially significant shift in the way the city’s governing body plans for growth and development.

G.J. McCarthy photo

Above, Karl Skala and his wife, Mahree, left, along with supporter Ambiaka Maupin, right, react to an announcement that Skala was in the lead during his election watch party last night at The Pasta Factory. Skala won the race for the Third Ward Columbia City Council seat against Gary Kespohl. Below, Fourth Ward city council candidate Jerry Wade looks over returns with supporter Vicky Wilson last night during his election party at the House of Chow.

Nick King photo

Throughout their campaigns, Karl Skala and Jerry Wade called for a close examination of city policies and the pace of growth, along with how much developers should pay to help offset the cost of that growth.

Both were elected to the city council, and some members of the development community are wondering today how it might affect their plans for growth and economic development.

"I expect there to be many challenges ahead as the Columbia City Council moves forward," said Craig Van Matre, an attorney who often represents local developers. "It’s just going to be that council meetings are going to last significantly longer and any development proposals of any significant size are going to take longer."

"Smart growth" advocates agreed that the election represented a change, but they considered it a victory.

"I really don’t think it’s going to be doom and gloom for the developers," said Ben Londeree, co-chairman of the Boone County Smart Growth Coalition. "It will be a different process. Over a period of years, we’re going to see changes in how growth occurs and where it occurs and who’s paying for it."

Skala, a longtime proponent of better planning for future infrastructure needs, defeated local businessman Gary Kespohl in a close race in the Third Ward.

Unofficial election results show Skala received 908 votes, while Kespohl got 845. Skala is a research scientist at the veterinary school at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Wade, chairman of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, defeated Mike Holden, a member of the same panel and owner of Guaranty Land Title, 2,455 to 1,552 in the Fourth Ward.

Wade is a retired MU professor of community development. He based his campaign on claims that significant changes, including how the city approves land-use plans, need to be made to city policy.

Last year, Boone County Smart Growth Coalition co-founder Barbara Hoppe defeated Realtor Valerie Barnes in a hotly contested race for the Sixth Ward seat. Some said at the time that the election reflected a move among Columbia voters toward candidates who favor conservation over development.

Don Stamper, executive director of the Central Missouri Development Council, said he would take a wait-and-see attitude after yesterday’s election. However, he said he worried that moves to curb growth in the city could also curb the number of new jobs created by development.

"We could really put ourselves in an economic fit," Stamper said. "The local economy is dependent on progress."

Wade and Skala maintain that they are not "anti-growth." Both said they want the city council to take a closer look at issues such as how new roads are paid for and the fees charged to developers to finance roads and utilities.

"Clearly, the voters of the Fourth Ward connected with my view of the issues," Wade said. "Now the work begins."

Skala said he hopes Hoppe and Wade will join him in a "coalition" to force some of his campaign suggestions through the council.

"There’s an awful lot of people in this town that are concerned about how we’re growing," he said. "I think things certainly will change."

Kespohl said today that he’s "a little concerned about the direction of the council" and did not rule out another run.

"They profess to be not anti-growth, but when you listen to them, there’s a hint of that," he said. "They want to control growth, they say. You can control it to death."

Holden expressed a similar view. "Jerry Wade supporters are … the anti-growth faction in Columbia and we didn’t have the resources to counter that," he said.

The new council members will be sworn in during a ceremony next week in the Daniel Boone Building.

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