Less than 20 days left to file in Washington County
Many open seats still have no certified candidates
Trending
With less than 20 days to turn in signatures, the clock is ticking for those interested in running for public offices across Washington County to get their petitions signed and certified.
Beverly, Lowell and New Matamoras each had no candidate filed for their open board of public affairs seat, a four-year term, by Friday.
Four council seats for each of the county's villages are also open this fall, in New Matamoras, Beverly, Lowell, Lower Salem and Macksburg.
Twenty-four townships with two open seats for trustees also have no certified candidates at this point.
"I've been on this for more than 10 years," smiled Jeffrey Anthony, of Adams Township, as he turned in his petition and signatures Friday. "You're never going to please everyone, but we try to do the best we can with what money we get."
In a recent informational session held by Marietta City Schools Board of Education President Russ Garrison, concerns were expressed over a lack of candidates for school board positions and not much time left to get the required number of signatures to appear on the November ballot.
"Two have filed of the three seats in Belpre City Schools," shared Mandy Amos, director of the Washington County Board of Elections. "And two of the three in Warren (Local Schools)."
Also open are three seats on Marietta City Schools, three for Caldwell Exempted, three for Fort Frye Local, three for Frontier Local, three for Morgan County Schools and two for Wolf Creek Local, each for four-year terms.
"Now some have taken petitions out, but there's not much time to get them back in, and you want to make sure to get more than the minimum just in case a signature can't be verified to match with that voter," said Amos.
Anthony recommends getting an extra set, just in case.
"Sometimes people's signatures don't match; I got around 40 or so, some extra to make sure," he said.
Plus, on July 23 the Board of Elections staff will be out of the building for training, so between Monday and the deadline (Aug. 4. at 4 p.m.) there are only 12 weekdays to turn in the signatures during regular business hours.
"Our hours are Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.," confirmed Amos.
Also expected on the ballot this fall are new levies for Grandview Township to aid in cemetery maintenance and Watertown Township to aid in maintenance of roads. The Washington County commissioners are expected to turn in paperwork for a renewal of the county 911 levy, a five-year 0.35-mill levy.
Janelle Patterson may be reached at jpatterson@mariettatimes.com.