BY DON NELSON
Only a couple of local elections will be contested after filing ended last Friday (May 17) unless write-in candidates emerge.
Openings were available for town council positions in Twisp and Winthrop, and for the boards or commissions of the Methow Valley School District, Okanogan County Fire District 6, Cemetery Districts 1 and 2, and Hospital District 1. All the offices are non-partisan.
The following information is from the Okanogan County Auditor’s Office.
• In Winthrop, two-term Mayor Dave Acheson is not running again. Current council member and former mayor Sue Langdalen was the only one to file for the position, which carries a four-year term.
Incumbent council member Rick Northcott will be challenged by Vern Herrst for Position 1 and a four-year term. Current council member Tiffany Langdalen did not file for re-election to Position 2. Michael Strulic was the lone person to file for that position, which comes with a four-year term.
No one filed for Position 4, currently held by Sue Langdalen. That position will be for two years because Langdalen was appointed after the previous council member in that seat, Lance Christensen, resigned.
• In Twisp, the seats held by council members Bob Lloyd (Position 1) and Clint Estes (Position 2) will be up for election for four-year terms. Both filed for re-election; no one else filed for those positions. Also on the ballot is Position 5, a two-year term now filled by Clay Hill, who was appointed when Hans Smith resigned. Hill filed for re-election and will be challenged by Dwight Filer.
• In the Methow Valley School District, the four-year school board positions now held by Dana Stromberger (Position 2) and Gary Marchbank (Position 4) will be up for election. Both filed for re-election, and no one else filed for the positions.
• In Okanogan County Fire District 6, the six-year seat now held commissioner Darold Brandenburg (Position 2) will up for election. Brandenburg was the only one to file.
• In Hospital District 1 (Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster), the commission seats held by Jerry Tretwold (Position 2), Mike Pruett (Position 3) and chairman Dan Webster (Position 4) are up for election. The offices are for six years, except for Tretwold’s, which is a two-year term. Pruett and Tretwold both filed for re-election, and no one else filed for those positions. Webster did not file for re-election. Cherryl Thomas of Winthrop was the only person to file for Position 4.
• In Cemetery District 1 (Sullivan Cemetery, Winthrop), the six-year seat now held by Don Waller (Position 2) will be up for election. Waller was the only one to file.
• In Cemetery District 2 (Beaver Creek, Twisp), the two-year seat held by Carol Gaston of Twisp is up for election, as is the six-year term for Position 3 now held by Dick Webb of Twisp. Gaston and Webb both filed for re-election. No one else filed for the positions.
The current offices typically expire Dec. 31 and new or re-elected officials take office Jan. 1, 2014. There will be primary elections on Aug. 6 only if more than two candidates file for a position. The general election is on Nov. 5. For more information, call (509) 422-7244.
