Commissioner hopefuls are abundant

When Presiding Commissioner Marianne Roose announced she would not seek another term, it was expected there would be interest in filling the post she’s held for 18 years. However, even Lincoln County election officials are surprised by the number of candidates seeking to be Eureka’s Commissioner.

“I knew there’d be interest, but I didn’t expect this kind of response,” said Assistant Election Administrator Leigh Riggleman of the 10 who have filed for the June 5 election.

There are three commissioners, and this year the six-year term of the Eureka Commissioner expires. In 2014, the term of the Libby Commissioner — Tony Berget — expires. In 2016, the term of Troy Commissioner Ron Downey expires.

According to the County Constitution, each panelist assumes the lead of Presiding Commissioner during the fifth and sixth years of their term.

Those filing for Commissioner, which began on Jan. 12 and ended at 5 p.m. Monday, March 12, include Ginny J. Emerson, Scott Brandos, Gary De Lorenzo, David M. Brandt, Mike Cole, Dawain K. Burgess, Brian Linnell and Gilbert Cate, Jr. The candidates are listed in order of their filing.

The filing for Commissioner requires residency in that district; they must be a registered voter, and pay a $218.69 filing fee, which represents fractional percentage of the Commissioner’s pay, according to Riggleman.

Despite the large number of hopefuls who are vying for the job, Riggleman said Thursday she doubted the filing was complete.

“Oh, I suspect there will be more,” she said. “About two minutes til five, I suspect we’ll get an additional filing.”

Asked why some procrastinate, Riggleman said many candidates wait to see who else is filing.

“Normally, if they like those who are running there won’t be as many. If they don’t, it seems like there are more late-filers,” she said.

By 5 p.m. Monday, the close of the filing period, there were no more filers.

While Roose’s decision not to seek re-election has sparked considerable interest in that race, there are two others are less-contested races, those of Circuit Court Clerk and of the Conservation District where only the incumbents have filed as of late last week.

Incumbent Susan Farmer of Libby seeks to retain her seat as the Circuit Court Clerk and Donald G. Crawford, Susan Ennenbach and Michael Justus have filed to retain their seats on the Lincoln County Conservation District Supervisor’s Board.

The election will be at the county’s 14 polling places. Except for two locations, polls open at 7 a.m. and stay open til 8 p.m. However, Precincts 5 (Yaak 2) and 14 (Pleasant Valley) are open from noon to 8 p.m.