Sheldon, Iowa — Voters in Sheldon’s 2nd Ward will go to the polls today to select a person to represent them on the Sheldon City Council.
Today’s special election finds three candidates vying for the vacant 2nd Ward council seat vacated by the resignation of former Councilman Shawn Broesder. We list them in the order in which they returned their nomination papers to the City Office.
The first candidate to file nomination papers was George native Sandra Johnson, a retired USDA employee, who moved to Sheldon upon her retirement. Johnson lists her key issues as economic development and a continued partnership between the City of Sheldon and the Sheldon Chamber and Development Corporation, housing and business development, improved shopping opportunities in Sheldon and water improvement.
The second set of papers for the election were filed by Madeline Kopel. She will be attending NCC’s Nursing program this fall. In June of last year Kopel was elected 4th District Affirmative Action Chair. In that capacity, she works with city councils in the 39-county 4th District, helping them figure out how to be more inclusive and wants to do the same thing as a Sheldon council member. Her key issues include a desire to have the City better publicize vacancies on the various boards and committees to get more citizens involved, as well as increased funding for mental health.
The third candidate to file papers is Ken Snyder. He is a native of Virginia, moving to Sheldon in 1973. Snyder is a former evangelist and singer, who served as Pastor of the Parkview Assembly Church for the past several years, retiring recently. He and his wife, to the delight of their grown children, plan to spend their retirement years in Sheldon. Snyder says he’s concerned about the number of vacant storefronts in downtown Sheldon, and wants to see the business and residential community of Sheldon grow and prosper. He says, as a council member, he’ll try, to the best of his ability, to listen to those on all sides of any issue and try to help the Council seek an acceptable solution.
Polls for today’s 2nd Ward Sheldon City Council Special Election are open until 8:00 pm at the Crossroads Pavilion. Voting is open to all registered voters from Sheldon’s 2nd Ward.
Unofficial results will be available both on-air on KIWA-AM & FM Radio, and online at kiwaradio.com tonight, as soon as the votes are counted.
The vote totals will become official once they are canvassed by the O’Brien County Board of Supervisors at their meeting next Tuesday, June 15th.
The winner of the election will be sworn in at the beginning of the regular Sheldon City Council Meeting on Wednesday, June 16th at 4:30 pm, and will be seated on the Council for the balance of that meeting.
The new Councilperson will serve out the remainder of Broesder’s unexpired term, which runs through January 1st, and would need to run for reelection this November to retain the seat for a full term.
