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Candidates slow to file for city, school board elections

Deadline to file is January 19

Justin Addison, Editor/Publisher
Posted 1/5/21

With less than two weeks remaining in the filing period for the April 6 municipal and school board elections, very few have filed for office. As of Tuesday morning, most seats remain open and none …

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Candidates slow to file for city, school board elections

Deadline to file is January 19

Posted

With less than two weeks remaining in the filing period for the April 6 municipal and school board elections, very few have filed for office. As of Tuesday morning, most seats remain open and none are contested.

In Fayette, Jeremy Dawson has filed for the Northwest Ward seat on the city council. Dawson had served as East Ward Alderman following a successful write-in campaign but was forced to resign when he moved out of that ward. Current East Ward Alderman Pat Roll was appointed to the seat in August after Larry Dimond resigned due to health reasons. Roll has told this newspaper he does not intend to run.

Acting City Marshall David Ford has filed to be formally elected to the office. He was appointed by the city council in November after it was known that Jeff Oswald had been elected as Howard County Sheriff. Oswald had been the City Marshall, commonly known as the Chief of Police, for 10 years. He was sworn into office on Dec. 31.

That leaves three seats open on the Fayette City Council. Incumbents for the Southwest Ward, Grafton Cook, and the East Ward, Stephanie Ford, have yet to file. Both terms are for two years. A partial term will be up for election for the East Ward, from which Dawson resigned in November. Kylie Tillman was appointed to the seat in November. Any candidate who files for that seat will finish out the original term, of which there is one year remaining.

Two seats are open for election on the Fayette school board. Board vice-president Matt Hudson and John Stroupe are each finishing their first terms. Hudson led the controversial effort to transition the district to a four-day school week. Both members voted for the change. In June, voters ousted incumbent Larry Anderson and re-elected Shauna Young in what is widely considered a rebuke of the measure.

Neither alderman in Armstrong has filed for re-election. Seats for the East and West wards are open. Terms are for two years each.

Two candidates have filed for the city council in New Franklin. Seth Hallowell is running for Ward 1 Alderman and Mary Beth Sokolski for Ward 3. None of the incumbents First Ward Alderman David Breshears, Second Ward Alderman John James, and Third Ward Alderman Walter Banks, have filed for re-election.

A similar situation is occurring for the New Franklin school board. Kirk Wilmsmeyer has filed for one of two open seats. Incumbents Darren Harris and John Bailey have yet to file. Terms are for three years.

Not one person has filed for any municipal elections in Glasgow. Three city council seats, as well as the office of Mayor, are open. Current Mayor David Monnig took office after a successful write-in campaign in June’s election that had been postponed from April. Incumbents Susan Freese, Danny McMillan, and Aaron Gouge for the North, Central, and South wards, respectively, have not filed.

Two seats are up for election on the Glasgow school board. Incumbent Josh DeMint has filed for re-election. Board secretary Mitch Monnig, the only other incumbent, has not filed.

A drought of candidates has hit county offices as well. Two seats are up for election on the Howard County Ambulance board. Incumbents Chris Schreiber and Greg Prothero have yet to file.

Anyone interested in running for these offices must file before the end of business on January 19. Filing should be done with the entity to which the seat is attached. For those running for school board seats, candidacies should be filed at the school superintendent’s offices, which typically close around 3:30 each day. Municipal seats should be filed for at their respective city halls. Other seats may be filed for at the County Clerk’s office in the Howard County courthouse.

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