By MICHAEL WHITNEY
Published May 24, 2023

Candidates for Monroe council,
school board include big voices

MONROE — Five challengers are aiming for two City Council seats this November.
Council incumbent Heather Fulcher will face Melanie Lockhart, while the seat held by Councilman Ed Davis will have Junelle Lewis, Jake Walker and Will Schlegel seeking it.
Councilman Jason Gamble saw no challengers file.
Davis is stepping back from council after three full terms.
Lewis, Lockhart and Walker all are appointees to the city planning commissioners today. The board sometimes is a prelude to council; Fulcher and councilman Kyle Fisher are two recent faces who came from the commission. 
Fulcher was elected to council in 2019. She owns Monroe Coffee Co. with her sister and is a board member of the EvergreenHealth Foundation.
Lockhart, who is involved in school district matters, said she filed for council because she “would like to see a new variety of voices at the decision-making table for our city government.” She said she will continue to be a voice for students and families in the school district.
Council primary 3-way
Lewis is an Attendance Intervention Specialist in the Monroe School District working with underrepresented, marginalized students and families. She said she is running with the passion to “help amplify the voices that we may not always hear.” She’s also on the board of Take the Next Step.
Walker said it’s been a childhood dream to get on City Council. The insurance agent made his first bid for council at age 19 in 2017, and ran again in 2021 where he came close to beating Councilman Kirk Scarboro.
Details about Schlegel, who filed Thursday, were not immediately available and an email to his listed candidate email address was not immediately returned.

School board

Check out our online publications!