As of early Monday afternoon, all local elections are still wide open. In fact, only the local school board has a slate of candidates, all incumbents seeking to hold their seats.
There have been no takers for either the hospital board or the city council, both of which are “at large” elections. The school board elects its directors by area or zone.
Bobby Toney has filed for the Area 1 seat on the school board; his term is for two years as he completes the term of former Trustee Steve White. Also running for a two-year term is the board’s second appointee, Patty Robertson, representing Area 3. She took the place of Mary Gonzales-Gomez, who accepted a position on the Kings County board of education.
Filing for four-year terms are Mary Wadsworth (Area 2) and Karen Frey (Area 4). Both are incumbents who are yet unchallenged.
There are two openings for the city council. Neither incumbent has yet filed; those seats are currently held by Jim Wadsworth and Mark Cartwright.
Likewise, there have been no filings for the hospital board, which has four openings. Jon Rachford and Steve Brown have terms expiring. The late Jess Martinez was also up for re-election in November and there is an opening for a seat that has already been vacant.
The filing period ends Friday, Aug. 12. Should there be incumbents who do not file, that period can be extended by five days. The local elections take place Nov. 8 along with the national election.
