November election deadline nears
- Published: July 30, 2009
With only three weeks until the deadline to file and seven seats up for grabs, only one newcomer has indicated interest in running for a local office, while several incumbents have stated their intention to seek re-election.
August 20 is the deadline for filing petitions with the Greene County Board of Elections for the Nov. 3 election. Three seats on Village Council, three on school board, two on Miami Township Trustees and the Village mayor will be vacant.
The seats of current Council members Judith Hempfling, who is president of Council, Karen Wintrow, who is vice president, and Kathryn Van der Heiden will be on the ballot. Hempfling and Wintrow are both finishing their first four-year terms, having been the top vote-getters in 2005, and Van der Heiden is finishing her first two-year term.
As of last Friday, both Wintrow and Hempfling had taken out petitions for the empty seats, although no petitions had yet been turned in. This week Wintrow said she will run again, and Hempfling is currently undecided. Van der Heiden had previously stated that she had not decided if she will run.
Council members Lori Askeland and John Booth, who were the top vote-getters in 2007, each have two more years until their terms expire.
Newcomer John Hempfling has taken out a petition to run for school board, and this week he stated that he has decided to run. Incumbents Aïda Merhemic, Anne Erickson and Angela Wright have all taken out petitions. Merhemic and Erickson had previously stated that they will run again. Last Friday Wright stated that she remains undecided about whether to run, contingent on a family health issue.
Current school board members Richard Lapedes and Sean Creighton will be up for re-election in two years.
Current Miami Township Trustees Mark Crockett, who has served eight years, and Lamar Spracklen, who has served nearly 10, have both taken out petitions for their seats and have indicated that they plan to run again. The other trustee, Chris Mucher, is in the middle of a four-year term.
Nine-term mayor David Foubert, who has held the office for 18 years, plans to run again, he has said.
Candidates have until 4 p.m. on Aug. 20 to turn in their petitions. Candidates for Village Council need to have 35 registered voters on their petitions, although the Board of Election urges them to have twice that number, and school board candidates need to have the signatures of 25 registered voters.
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