The Garden City Telegram
Email this story | Add Your Comment
| Read (0) Comments
Crase running for reelection
Published 1/17/2009 in News : Politics
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
Garden City Mayor David Crase has decided to seek reelection to the Garden City Commission.
Crase, who was elected in 2005 to a four-year term and filed this week for the position, said there are a lot of things he'd like to see finished that he's been a part of with the commission, including the city starting to move forward with a proposed new southeast park -- the first in town to be located east of the bypass.
So far, Crase and Commissioner John Doll are the only candidates to file for City Commission. Rob McCallister, director of maintenance and grounds with USD 363, and Stephanie Tafoya Matheson, a bookkeeper for USD 457, filed for Holcomb City Council.
The deadline for filing is noon Jan. 27, with three seats -- currently filled by Doll, Crase and Commissioner Reynaldo Mesa -- up for vote on the city commission, as well as four seats on the Holcomb USD 363 Board of Education and three each on the USD 457 Board of Education, Holcomb City Council and the Garden City Community College Board of Trustees.
The Holcomb City Council seats up for election currently are filled by Trent Armstrong, Jim Welch and Gary Newman.
The Holcomb school board seats up for election currently are filled by Tom Schuetz (Position 2), Jon Becker (4), Mike Pfeifer (5) and Janet Sharp (6). USD 457 BOE incumbents are Tom Blackburn, George Hopkins and John Scheopner; and Trustees Ron Schwartz, Bill Clifford and Merilyn Douglass are up for election.
Crase said he also would like to see the Kansas Department of Transportation move forward with the U.S. Highway 50 improvements between Garden City and Holcomb, as well as where the cities of Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal head with the Southwest Kansas Coalition.
Crase said he'd also like the chance to support the upcoming sales tax on the April election ballot that will ask voters to approve a quarter-cent sales tax to help fund maintenance of county property and roads, as well as projects.
Matheson said she filed because she wants to see the Holcomb community grow. She has lived in Holcomb for about 20 years and has worked for several governmental organizations, including USD 457, Holcomb Recreation Commission and Finney County Public Library.
She said she feels the town needs to, among other things, grow its number of businesses, as well as further develop the city parks.
According to Finney County Clerk Elsa Ulrich, also the county's election officer, it takes 10 or more candidates -- one more than three times the number of seats open -- to file in the Holcomb City Council, USD 457, Trustees and Garden City Commission races to hold a primary. It takes more than three to file for any position/district for USD 363 to hold a primary.
To file, Ulrich said, city commissioners must live in city limits; candidates must live in and be registered to vote in the district in which they file for, unless they're filing for the GCCC Trustees, who can live anywhere in the county.
Voter registration closes Feb. 16 if a primary is held. March 23 is the voter registration deadline for the April general election.
Found 0 comment(s)!
Twitter Updates
