July 31, 2003

3 weeks before deadline, few have filed for election

There’s just three weeks before the filing deadline for candidates to get their names on the November ballot, but a handful of local residents have taken out petitions to run and only a few have actually submitted them.

While a total of eight seats on local boards will be decided in the Nov. 4 election, just two people have filed petitions with the Greene County Board of Elections, an action needed to place each candidate’s name on the ballot.

The pace of the filings as well as the circulation of petitions around town is typical of many local elections here, when the majority of candidates file at the last minute.

This year’s ballot will include three seats on Village Council, the position of Yellow Springs mayor, two seats on the Yellow Springs Board of Education, one spot on the Miami Township Board of Trustees and the Miami Township clerk/treasurer position.

To get on the ballot, local residents must submit signed petitions with the Board of Elections by Thursday, Aug. 21, at 4 p.m. The board charges a $30 filing fee.

Official petitions for Village Council and Yellow Springs mayor are available at the office of the clerk of Council in the Bryan Community Center. Petitions to run for both Council and mayor must have 32 valid signatures of registered Yellow Springs voters.

For more information, contact the clerk, Deborah Benning, at 767-9126 or dbenning@yso.com.

Petitions for the Yellow Springs school board, the Miami Township Board of Trustees and the Township clerk/treasurer are available at the county Board of Elections, 651 Dayton-Xenia Road in Xenia. Petitions for the school board and both Township positions must have 25 valid signatures.

For more information, call the board at 562-7470.

Both Council member Mary J. Alexander and Birgitta Valey have taken out petitions for the Council race, though neither has filed with the Board of Elections. Alexander was appointed to Council in April to fill the remaining term of Hazel Latson after she resigned.

The terms of Alexander, Joan Horn and George Pitstick expire this year. Horn has said that she does not plan to seek re-election, while Pitstick said that he is keeping his options open and may run again.

The two candidates in the Council race who receive the most votes will serve four-year terms, and the candidate with the third most votes will receive a two-year term. The winners of the Council race will join Tony Arnett, the Council president, and Denise Swinger on Council.

Mayor David Foubert has taken out a petition to run for re-election, an official with the Board of Elections said Tuesday. Foubert will be seeking his seventh term in office.

The mayor’s position is a two-year term. Under the Village Charter, the mayor of Yellow Springs is the head of the Village government for all ceremonial purposes, and oversees the local Mayor’s Court. The mayor may attend Council meetings and participate in discussions, though the mayor does not get to vote.

Richard Lapedes has filed a petition with the Board of Elections to run for school board. Rich Bullock, whose term will expire at the end of the year, has taken out a petition to run for re-election, but has not yet filed it. In addition to Bullock’s term, the term of Tom Haugsby, the school board president, will expire this year. Haugsby has said that he does not plan to seek re-election.

The winners of the school board race will receive four-year terms, and will join members Mary Campbell-Zopf, William Firestone and Angela Wright on the board.

In the Miami Township trustee race, like the school board contest, one person has filed and another has taken out a petition. Chris Mucher, the president of the Board of Trustees, has filed a petition with the Board of Elections seeking re-election. David Heckler, the former Village manager, has taken out a petition but hasn’t filed it.

The winner of the trustee race will receive a four-year term and will serve with Mark Crockett and Lamar Spracklen on the Board of Trustees.

The Miami Township clerk-treasurer, Margaret Silliman, has taken out a petition seeking re-election but has not filed it. No one else has taken out a petition for this position. The clerk/treasurer job is a four-year term.

—Robert Mihalek