Northwest Iowa — Several candidates have filed papers to run for city and school board positions in the November election. The filing period wrapped up last week. Since there are a lot of races, we’ll highlight the ones that are contested.
In O’Brien County, the city of Archer has an open mayor seat and no candidates have filed, so the winner will likely be a write-in. Only two people filed for the three available seats on the city council. Two people have filed papers to be the Mayor of Paullina. They are incumbents Marlin Sjaarda and Cain Junkman. There are two council seats open on the Paullina council, and four people have filed for them. They are Mark Wilson, John Ihle, John Funkhouser, and Roxanne Pottebaum. Two people want to be Sanborn’s Mayor. They are incumbent Randy Lyman and challenger Daniel Verrips. Four people want to be on Sanborn’s council, and two seats are available. The candidates are incumbent Larry Reitsma, and challengers Chris Cammann, Brian Elgersma, and Stefan Sybesma. We told you last week, but we’ll repeat it: In Sheldon, Tom Eggers decided to run for Ken Snyders’ 2nd Ward chair, as Snyders decided not to run again. Two people have filed papers for Eggers’ old at-large chair. They are Kevin Miller and Jeff Wagner.
There are no contested races in Calumet, Hartley, or Sutherland.
As far as O’Brien County schools, there are no contested races in the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn district. In fact, of the three chairs available, only one person has filed. Three people have filed for the two available Sheldon Community School District seats. They are incumbent Susan Rensink and challengers Tyler Yongers and Trever Gottula. There are no contested races in the South O’Brien district.
In Sioux County, in Boyden, three people have filed papers for two available seats on the city council. They are incumbents Stacie Damstra and Austin Loges. Also running is Wanda Brands. In Granville, three people are running for two seats. They are incumbents Chris Hunt and James Wynia, and challenger Chuck Kreber. In Hawarden, five people are running for three council seats. They are incumbents Patricia Anderson and Robert Klocke, and challengers Trevor Schelling, Jerry Wilson, and Benjamin Bouza. In Ireton, five people want to be on the council, but there are only two available seats. Candidates include Jim Lewis, Loren Mosterd, Pat Johnson, Darrell Hoogendoorn, and Nathan Anderson. In Orange City, no fewer than eight people have filed papers for two available city council seats, and none of them are incumbents. Vying for the seats will be Andrew Bloemendaal, Grace De Boer Brown, Adam Howerzyl, Luke Livingston, Mark Scallon, Tony Vande Brake, Dennis Vander Wel, and Kenton Vore.
There are no contested races in Alton, Chatsworth, Hospers, Hull, Matlock, Maurice, Rock Valley, and Sioux Center.
For Sioux County school boards, at MOC/Floyd Valley, two people are vying for the District 3 seat on the board. They are Kley De Jong and Sarah Jungers. Five people have filed for three available seats on the Sioux Center Community School District Board of Education. They are incumbents Jerod Work, Nathan Bullock, and Yeabsira Doornink, and challengers Donna Tea and Scott Varilek. There are no contested races in the Boyden-Hull, Rock Valley, or West Sioux districts. There are no contested races either for the Northwest Iowa Community College Board of Trustees.
In Osceola County, in the City of Ashton, two people have filed for the mayor’s chair. They are Michele Meyer and Mark Vander Pol. Five people have filed papers for the three available seats on the city council. They are Jacob Bos, Mark Carlson, Robert Meyer, Nick Stettnichs, and incumbent Kay Winkel. In Melvin, two people have filed for mayor — incumbent Paul Heitritter and challenger John McDougall. Ocheyedan will have a new mayor, and no one knows who it is yet, as no one filed for the position, and the winner will be a write-in. There are also two seats available on the city council, and only incumbent Jewel Garms filed papers. Sibley will also likely have a write-in mayor, as no candidates filed for the position. There are no contested council races in Sibley either. In fact, for Ward 1, there were no candidates. There were no contested races in Harris.
As far as the Sibley-Ocheyedan Community School District, races for districts 1, 3 and 4 are uncontested. Three people have filed papers for the District 5 seat, however, including Arthur Eddy, Kelli Kauffman, and Sarah Loerts. Sibley-Ocheyedan voters will also decide the fate of a $1.34 physical plant and equipment levy, or PPEL.
In Lyon County, Alvord … In Doon, five people have filed papers for three available city council seats. They are incumbents Arlys Rozeboom and Les Vander Tuin, and challengers Ethan Van Bemmel, Randy Van Engen, and Lindsey Van Bemmel. It’s a similar situation in Inwood, with five people there vying for three seats. They are incumbents Rick Roozeboom and Mark Timmerman, and challengers Greg Meendering, Jordan Halma, and Laurel Reinke. There are seven people vying for only two spots on the Larchwood City Council. They are incumbents Shane Reinke and Lauren Steers, and challengers Dawn Romero, Terry Viereck, Theodore Underberg, Zachariah Davis, and Austin DeSmet. In Rock Rapids, there are two seats available. Running for them are incumbent Cody Hoefert and challengers Ranae McCarty and Dan Aeschilman. There are no contested races in Alvord, George, Lester, or Little Rock.
As far as Lyon County schools, at Central Lyon, in addition to two uncontested seats, there is a race to fill a vacancy. Craig Wynia and Jaselyn Wissink are running for that seat. At West Lyon, there is one contested race and two that are not. The contested race is for District 5, where Ryan Dieters will face incumbent Alexander Hage.
KIWA Staff Photo
