Mayoral Candidate
John Josendale is the incumbent mayor of St. Joseph, first elected in April 2022 and currently seeking re-election to a second four-year term in the April 7, 2026 General Municipal Election. Prior to entering public office, he spent nearly five decades as a senior executive and business leader, most notably with WireCo WorldGroup, where he held leadership roles focused on corporate growth and operations. Josendale holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of Missouri–Columbia and an MBA from Pepperdine University. He has also served in community leadership roles with organizations including the Missouri State Chamber of Commerce, the United Way, the Buchanan County Tourism Board, and the Pony Express Museum, and was inducted into the Missouri Military Academy Hall of Fame in 2024.
Boards
John Josendale’s vision for St. Joseph centers on sustainable economic growth, modernized public services, and regional collaboration among local institutions and government partners. He promotes managing city government using business principles, emphasizing accountability, measurable outcomes, and return on investment for public projects. His approach highlights workforce development, expanded housing opportunities, and technological innovation in city operations. Josendale frames his leadership philosophy around collaboration, civic engagement, and reducing partisanship in local governance.
The Issues
Josendale’s campaign priorities include expanding economic development, addressing housing availability, and modernizing public safety through technology such as AI-assisted infrastructure management and drone-supported emergency response. He emphasizes workforce training partnerships with local education institutions and preparing the city’s finances for long-term stability as federal pandemic relief funding expires. Additional focuses include neighborhood revitalization, city beautification efforts, and strengthening regional cooperation to attract investment and jobs.
Contact
Our Candidate Summary
Socially Conservative
Fiscal Conservative
These assessments are based on the answers or lack of answers supplied by the candidates. John’s responses indicate a socially conservative and fiscally conservative position.
John on the Issues
What qualifies you for Mayor of Saint Joseph?
My strengths are business experience and the ability to communicate and lead people. I have worked with people in both a business environment and the community. I have run a business, balancing a budget and solving tough challenges.
How do you feel the mask mandate went in St. Joseph?
Was it well executed? No. Was it the right direction? No. It’s difficult to say, looking back. Part of the problem with the vaccination rollout was the mandate. The misinformation and changing info from the federal government made it difficult. In this part of the country especially, when you make something mandatory, it makes people skeptical.
If faced with a budget deficit, would you support or oppose cutting spending rather than increasing taxes?
Part of my platform is fixing the budget. My history in business has taught me a lot in this regard. I do not believe in raising taxes. I am a hand-up person, not a hand-out person.
If the council were given $1M to use to fund projects in St. Joseph, what would you fund?
The city has been given $19M this year, and $19M last year, in various forms of COVID funding. The city took about half of that and put it towards the sewer to to lower the payments so we don’t have to raise the sewer rates again. The new children’s center is going up. Some of the money is going to Missouri Western. Some is going to the law enforcement branches. Pivotal Point and Mid-City Excellence also received money. All that money was allocated by a committee, made up of citizens from around the community, who had a say in where that money went. I like that, that’s the way it should be. It shouldn’t be any one person’s say, where the money goes.
Priorities for using the 2022 America Rescue Plan Act monies coming to the city.
Within the rules set out by the government (these need to be better explained to the people) we should use the money for opportunities to grow the city and support the organizations that have been impacted by the pandemic. I believe establishing a strong recommendation committee and letting them do their job is important.
Do you believe in equity (equal outcome) or equality (equal opportunity)?
Equal opportunity. I don’t believe in communism. I don’t believe in socialism. Give people opportunity to succeed. Like I said earlier, a hand-up, not a hand-out.
How does St. Joseph compare to Kansas City? What lessons can each city learn from each other?
St Joe is not KC. People tend to be negative about Saint Joe, but the problem we have is that we don’t know what we’ve got. We have a nice community with a smaller town feel, but all the amenities you could want, and just a 45 minute drive to the big city for everything else. Kansas City does have an advantage in that they can offer more white-collar jobs. In St. Joe we need to do a good job training for white-collar and bluecollar jobs. We are working to attract businesses that would bring more white-collar opportunies.
Merrick Garland stated that the greatest threat comes from racially or ethnically motivated violence, “specifically those who advocated for the superiority of the white race”. Do you agree or disagree?
BS! I have traveled all over the world and seen very different cultures and ways of life. Folks don’t know how good they have it here, with freedom to interact and express themselves. It seems like the first excuse everybody throws out is race, and the second excuse is the “have’s and the “have-nots”.
Are there circumstances where the city council can restrict the church from assembling? If so, under which circumstances?
No. Under no circumstances. People of faith, I don’t care what it is whether its Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, or what, that is their source of hope, and you can’t interfere with that.
Additional Information
Other remarks: Saint Joe is a “city manager” town. There is a full time, paid city manager. The city council is more like a board of directors if you compare it to a corporation, the Mayor being the chair of the board, while the city manager may be like the president of the corporation who actually runs the business. The city council sets policy. The Mayor needs to be the leader. The city council needs to be a team, and work well together. It’s not about one person, party, or agenda, it’s about the people. It should be the city management team’s responsibility to work with all the organizations in town to help them be successful.