Candidates vie for seats on City Council

by John Fischer
Staff Writer

All eight Athens City Council seats are up for election in November, and potential candidates already have begun their campaigns.

Four seats on the council represent wards, with each ward covering a part of the city. Council also consists of three at-large seats that cover the entire city, and the council president seat.

Melinda Gard is running as an independent affiliated with the Green Party.

"I want to try to help the city become a friendlier place for all kinds of people," she said.

Gard is running in the 1st ward, a seat with no incumbent opposition because Michael McSteen, the current council representative from that ward, has announced he will not be running for re-election.

Council President Guy Phillips also decided not to run.

Prospective candidates for council must be at least 18 years old and have lived for at least one year prior to the election in the district they wish to represent.

They also must collect either 25 or 50 signatures of qualified voters, depending on the type of seat and whether they are major-party candidates. The completed petitions then must be submitted with a filing fee of $45 to the Athens County Board of Elections, 15 S. Court St., by the filing deadline.

The deadline for filing petitions is Feb. 22 for a candidate running as a Democrat or Republican in the May 8 primary; it is May 7 for a candidate who is running as an independent.

Candidates can submit up to three times as many signatures as required to try to assure they will have the necessary number of valid signatures, said Carol Perry, clerk at the Board of Elections. Signatures can be declared invalid if they are illegible or if the voter is not registered in the ward for which the candidate is running, she said.

The winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries will be on the ballot as their party's candidate in the Nov. 6 general election, along with independent candidates. Independent candidates do not run in the primary election.

Ed Baum, Republican at-large member of City Council, will be running for re-election.

"I am running as a Republican because I believe in the importance of the individual to do things for him or herself, recognizing there are times for larger entities such as government to have a role," Baum said.

Dale Tampke, a Democrat at-large member of City Council, also is running for re-election.

"I think the critical issue in this city is the availability of quality housing," Tampke said.

Anyone who meets the qualifications to apply for candidacy can run for City Council. The Board of Elections has additional information and the necessary paperwork.