Published: August 01, 2008 05:31 am      

There’s been no rush for candidates to file

Local News

With the filing deadline less than two weeks away for elective offices in small cities and for members of boards of education there has been no great rush to file nominating petitions. Deadline is 4 p.m. August 12 for the November 4 general election.

Most incumbents and a few newcomers have filed for city offices in Burnside and Science Hill. However, so far there are potentially wide open seats at Eubank and Ferguson as well as for positions on the Pulaski County, Somerset and Science Hill boards of education.

In Burnside, five of the six incumbents –– Jimmy Gibson, Richard Gaskin, Brian Watson, Jim Rasnick and David Brummett –– filed Wednesday. They reportedly came together to County Clerk Ralph Troxtell’s office to file. Incumbent Becky Huff has not filed and the Commonwealth Journal was unable to reach her by telephone.

Also filing Wednesday for a seat on Burnside City Council was newcomer Eddie Phillips. Operator of the water-treatment plant at Woodson Bend Resort, Phillips ran unsuccessfully two years ago for a seat on the Burnside governing body.

Burnside City Council election is citywide and the top six vote-getters will win a two-year term on the council. Mayor Chuck Fourman has two years remaining in his current term.

At Science Hill, all four incumbent members of the city commission –– David F. Phelps, Junior Dick, Mike Hall and Terry Wesley –– have filed for re-election. Jeffrey Wesley, a nephew of Terry Wesley, has also filed for a seat on Science Hill’s governing body. A history teacher at Lincoln County High School, Jeffrey Wesley is seeking his first public office.

Members of the Science Hill City Commission are elected at-large and the top four vote-getters will be seated on the commission for the next two years, beginning in January. Science Hill Mayor Bill Dick has two years remaining in his current term.

Incumbent members of Eubank City Commission –– Curtis G. Todd, Lee Coffee, Ken Nothstein and Edward Hicks –– had not filed as of midafternoon Thursday. However, two newcomers –– Alton Fulcher Jr. and Connie Belcher –– have filed for seats on the commission.

Fulcher, 59, is a 30-year employee of the former Crane Plumbing. He is currently taking classes at Somerset Community College. Belcher is co-owner of Belcher’s Grocery in Eubank and sales representative for Cumberland Mountain Express, based in Williamsburg.

Mayor Frey Todd has two years remaining in his current term. He is the only mayor in the history of Eubank and is expected to seek re-election.

Linda Hughes has filed for re-election to Ferguson City Council. As of mid-afternoon Thursday, Hughes was the only filer for the next two-year terms on the Ferguson governing body.

In addition to Hughes, other incumbents on Ferguson City Council are Joni King, Tony Deprato, Wanda Hunt, Sue Poynter and Janie Ping. Mayor Allen Dobbs has two years remaining in his current term.

All 12 seats on Somerset City Council will be filled at the November election. Candidates for Somerset council had a January 29 filing deadline. Four wards had three candidates and primaries on May 20 reduced the number in each ward to two.

• Incumbent Jim Rutherford will square off against former councilor David Burdine in Ward 1.

• Incumbent Linda Stringer will face former councilor Earl Owens in Ward 2.

• Incumbent Jimmy Eastham will be challenged by former councilor Jerry Wheeldon in Ward 3.

• Incumbent Stephen B. Kelley Jr. goes against Scott Simpson in Ward 4.

• Incumbent Jerry Girdler will face off against Bill Meece in Ward 5.

• Incumbent David Childers will run against Mike New, a former Pulaski County magistrate and son of the late council member Charlie New, in Ward 6.

• Incumbent Donna Hunley will be challenged by Lonnie Hurst in Ward 7.

• Incumbent John Ricky Minton is opposed by David Blevins in Ward 8.

• Incumbent Jim Mitchell has Michael McWilliams as an opponent in Ward 9.

• Incumbent Pat Bourne will be challenged by Jeff Sims in Ward 10.

• Incumbent Jerry Burnett will run against David Turner in Ward 11.

• Incumbent Tim Rutherford will face Tom Eastham in Ward 12.

Somerset city council races are nonpartisan and citywide. Eligible voters in the city may vote for a candidate in each of the 12 wards.

Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler is in the middle of his first four-year term and has two years remaining.

Sherrie Walters, vice-president for employee benefits for First Insurance Group, has filed to fill the unexpired term of Ginger Fitzgerald on the Science Hill Independent School District Board of Education. She is seeking her first public office.

Fitzgerald resigned earlier and Supt. Rick Walker said Thursday morning no one has been appointed to fill the vacancy.

Science Hill school board member Jeff Leigh’s term will expire at the end of this year. Leigh had not filed for another four-year term as of midafternoon Thursday and no one else had filed.

Science Hill school board members with time remaining in their terms are chairman Mike Elliott, vice-chairman Bruce Phelps and David Sayers Jr.

The Somerset Independent School District will fill three seats during the fall election. Terms of T. Jeffrey Adams and Gretchen W. Cole expire and the recent resignation of longtime board member Hobert T. Withers Jr. created a vacancy.

As of midafternoon Thursday, Adams and Cole had not filed for re-election and nobody had filed to fill the unexpired term of Hobert T. Withers. He resigned as the result of alleged conflict of interest with his job at SomerSplash, the city-owned water park.

A spokeswoman at the city school system’s central office said no appointment has been made for Withers’ vacant seat. Elaine Wilson and Sharon Brown have time remaining in their current terms.

Local elections no doubt will be overshadowed by the most contentious presidential race in years between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Keith Russell Judd is a write-in candidate for president. Presidential contests normally attract a heavy turnout at the polls.

Also, veteran U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican, faces a challenge from Democrat Bruce Lunsford, and 5th District Congressman Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, will be opposed by independent candidate Jim Holbert, an Emergency Medical Service pilot from London.

State Sen. Vernie McGaha, representing the 15th Senatorial District, and state representatives Jimmy Higdon, 24th Legislative District; Ken Upchurch, 52nd Legislative District; Danny R. Ford, 80th Legislative District; Jeffrey H. Hoover, 83rd Legislative District; and Tommy Turner, 85th Legislative District, all are unopposed and their names will be on the November general election ballot for complimentary votes.