Michelle Hoferer selected to Topeka City Council on second vote over Janel L. Johnson

Janel L. Johnson and Michelle Hoferer were deadlocked.

Hoferer, a former Topeka planning commissioner, and Johnson, a former Topeka school board member, were tied 4-4 late Tuesday after the Topeka City Council held its first vote to fill west Topeka's vacant District 9 seat on the council.

Michaela R. Saunders had received the one other available vote, from Councilman Brett Kell.

Kell then broke the deadlock on the second and final ballot, voting for Hoferer to elect her 5-4 to hold the District 9 seat for the next 37 months.

Kell praised the quality of the candidates afterward, saying Hoferer, Johnson and the three other people interviewed that evening by the mayor and council had all been "really, really good."

"This was a really tough decision for us," he said.

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Mayor Mike Padilla and Councilwomen Karen Hiller, Christina Valdivia-Alcala and Hannah Naeger voted for Johnson on both ballots.

Council members Sylvia Ortiz, Tony Emerson, Neil Dobler and Spencer Duncan voted both times for Hoferer.

"I welcome Ms. Hoferer to the council and look forward to working with her," Duncan said afterward.

Both votes came after the mayor and council interviewed a five-person field of candidates that consisted of Hoferer, Johnson, Saunders, Joe Cheray and Nicholas Trammell.

Each sought the seat the seat vacated by the resignation of District 9 Councilman Michael Lesser, which took effect Nov. 1.

Emerson, the owner of Emcon Inc., a contracting firm, said his reasons for voting for Hoferer included her small business experience as co-owner of J.T. Lardner Cut Stone Inc.

Emerson said he thinks the city benefits from having small business owners on the council.

He announced Tuesday evening he won't be running for re-election next year to the seat he holds representing southeast Topeka's District 4 on the council.

Duncan joked that he had planned to ask each candidate "If you were a rock, what kind of rock would you be?" but changed his mind after learning one co-owned a cut stone company.

Hoferer responded, "It would be limestone."

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'I'm willing to be that voice'

Johnson, an information technology professional who served from 2007 to 2020 on the Board of Education for Topeka USD 501, told the mayor and council her bid for the District 9 seat was all about serving people.

"This labor of love we call 'public service' is indeed a journey, and I believe for me this is the next leg on my journey," she said.

Johnson pointed out that the Topeka City Council has no Black members.

An African-American voice needs to be "added to the table," she said.

"I'm willing to be that voice," Johnson said.

Hoferer is white. Topeka's mayor and council includes three Hispanics, who are Padilla, Ortiz and Valdivia-Alcala.

'The city doesn't care what I think'

Too often, Hoferer told the mayor and council, she hears Topekans say "the city doesn't care what I think" and that city officials "will do what they want to, anyway."

Hoferer would like to change that and let people know the city cares, she said.

After watching contentious state and national political campaigns in recent months, she added, "I want to be part of a group that works together and gets things done."

Hoferer's resume says she worked from 1983 to 1992 as a structural engineer for Topeka's Finney & Turnipseed, P.A., and has since been involved with J.T. Lardner Cut Stoned, Inc., where she is co-owner.

Her application noted that she served from 2009 to 2010 on the Metropolitan Topeka Planning Organization, which carries out transportation planning, and from 2006 to 2011 on the Topeka Planning Commission, for which she was chair in 2009 and 2010.

Hoferer served earlier this year as chairwoman of the Topeka Redistricting Commission, which drew up new Topeka City Council district line boundaries that were then adopted by Topeka's mayor and council.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at 785-213-5934 or threnchir@gannett.com.