Waitsburg City Elections Extended to Fill Vacant Seat

WAITSBURG – Anyone who considered running for Waitsburg City Council, but missed the original filing deadline, will have another chance to file. At their March 15 regular meeting, the council voted to reopen the filing period for three days, from March 27 through March 29.

The filing extension was approved in hopes that at least one more person will run for city council. After the original March 10 filing deadline, four incumbents, including KC Kuykendall, Kevin House, Karen Gregutt, and Kate Hockersmith, had filed Declarations of Candidacy.

Incumbent Karl Newell opted not to run for a seventh term on the council in order to be free to travel and visit family members that are moving out of state. No one else filed, leaving the fifth council seat empty.

Incumbent mayor Marty Dunn and former council member and 2016 mayor candidate Debra Callahan will vie for the position of mayor.

City Attorney Jared Hawkins advised the council that city code provides that elections could be reopened the next business day and remain open for three days. The issue with that, he said, is that no one would be aware that it had been reopened.

The council agreed to reopen the filing period from March 27-29 so that the filing extension could be advertised in the newspaper, giving citizens notice of the extension. Ballots will be mailed on March 30-31, with the voting deadline extended from April 3 to 8 p.m. on April 17. Votes will be certified on April 19.

City Manager Randy Hinchliffe said that, historically, the city elections operated through the caucus system, where a slate of candidates would run together, thus preventing any shortages. He said that in the last five to seven years, the declaration system was installed, allowing citizens to file individually.

“We have slowly transitioned away from the caucus system to where everyone here filed through the declaration system,” Hinchliffe said.

The last caucus candidates were elected under the “Truth & Trust” slate in 2013. The “Truth & Trust” slate was first elected to council, under Mayor Walt Gobel, in 2010. Original council members were: Marty Dunn, Kevin House, Karl Newell, Scott Nettles, and Orville Branson.

In 2012, Branson opted not to run, and was replaced on the “Truth & Trust” slate by current council member KC Kuykendall. In 2013, the “Truth & Trust” slate ran for the last time, and was broken up when Deb Callahan filed individually and unseated Nettles by two votes.

That council remained unopposed until last year when Callahan ran for mayor and Gregutt and Hockersmith ran for council. Callahan lost her council seat in an unsuccessful bid for mayor and was replaced by Hockersmith.

In August 2016, Mayor Walt Gobel resigned amid backlash over dealings with Nestle Waters North America. Mayor Pro-Tem Dunn assumed the role of mayor, and Gregutt, after being interviewed along with other candidates, was approved by the council to assume the council seat vacated by Dunn.

Candidate hopefuls for 2017 can pick up a Declaration of Candidacy form at City Hall or download it from the city website at http://www.cityofwaitsburg.com on March 27. Completed candidacy forms are due to City Hall by 4 p.m. on March 29.