Kienstra Big Winner, Englund and Bee Nearly Even

Kathleen Kienstra of Grantwood Village, Donald Bee of Fenton and Vicki Lorenz Englund of Concord took the top three spots out of a field of six candidates, which included runners up Joseph Sartorious of Affton, Leslie Weiss of Concord, and George Rezabek of Sunset Hills.

Kienstra led the race with 4,346 votes or 21.03 percent of the vote, followed by Bee with 3,784 votes or 18.31 percent and Englund with 3,711 votes or 17.95 percent. All 40 precincts were counted by 10:30pm. A term is 3 years.

Kienstra, an assistant professor at Saint Louis University and director for the university's radiation therapy program, supported Proposition L, which passed in November. The measure raised taxes, in part to keep teachers' salaries competitive, she said.

"Although we like lowering taxes in theory, things start getting cut back that we don't want cut back," Kienstra said at the in March. "That's why we passed Prop L."

Kienstra, winning a second term, did not return a call on election night.

Bee, returning for a second term, also counts himself among supporters of Proposition L. Bee is retired from coaching sports teams in the Lindbergh School District and is a member of the district's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Bee credits his victory in part to the passage of Proposition L and his emphasis on creating a great learning environment for the students for his victory.

"I try to make sure that when I talk to anyone that the focus should be on the students," he said.

One of Bee's concerns for the future is maintaining the district's top-notch reputation among public schools in Missouri. Schooldigger.com ranked the Lindbergh School District as the best in the state.

"When you’re number one, all you can do is stay there," Bee said. "If you go down, everyone says you’re a failure."

Bee also hopes to see an increase in teacher salaries in order to keep skilled professionals in the district.

"It's not going to be anything significant to start with, but I think all of us, including myself, think the economy will turn around, and it will make things better for everyone," he said.

As the newcomer among the bunch, Englund looks forward to her first term as a Board of Education member. She, too, ranks Proposition L among the top concerns for the council going forward.

"While Prop L passed, and it was needed for our schools, we need to make sure we maintain our taxpayer trust and use those dollars wisely," she said. During the campaign, she pledged to propose ideas "outside the box" when it came to improving district schools. 

Englund's campaign had her knocking on doors in Sunset Hills, Crestwood, Tesson, Concord and Sappington—all part of the Lindbergh district.

"Frequent voters are folks who are going vote every time regardless of what's on the ballot," Englund said. "I did a lot of door knocking to those folks. I mailed out postcards to people as well and really drew from some of the contacts I had."

Volunteers for Englund also distributed promotional materials near twelve polling places, she said.

Englund is a former state legislator, a commercial realtor for Edward Jones, and a weekly Patch columnist for Sunset Hills-Crestwood and Mehlville.

The local chapter of the NEA teachers' association supported Englund, Sartorius and Rezabek for the board.

Here's how the numbers broke down with all 40 precincts counted, winners are the top three vote-getters.

Kathy Kienstra. . . . . . . . . . . . .4,346 votes and 21 percent

Don Bee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3,784 votes and 18 percent

Vicki Lorenz Englund. . . . . . . .3,711 votes  and 18 percent

Joseph Sartorius  . . . . . . . . . . 3,392 votes and 16  percent

Leslie J. Weiss . . . . . . . . . . . . .3,086 votes and 15 percent

George Rezabek. . . . . . . . . . . .2,326 votes and 11 percent

Write-in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 votes

Percents are rounded to the nearest whole number, totally nearly 100 percent.