Tonight will be the end of an era for Joplin Mayor Ryan Stanley, who chose not to run for reelection. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

Eight years after first running for election to the Joplin city council and serving as Mayor during a pandemic shortened 19-month term, tonight city council meeting will be the final for Ryan Stanley as a council member.

Speaking with Mayor Stanley last week, he revealed how difficult it was to be the face of sometimes twice weekly COVID updates during the early stages of the pandemic. “I thought that when Governor Parson delayed the municipal elections to June, I thought, that’s great you know I might be Mayor and COVID will be long gone and so. But you know I did not enjoy especially being the face talking about COVID; I wish I weren’t. I wish it wasn’t here.”

Mayor Stanley was one of six council members who survived a recall effort in November of 2020 by residents who were upset over the reinstatement of Joplin’s mask mandate. The recall effort died when organizers didn’t gather enough signatures to proceed.