Ballot is sparse in Gate City

By CARRIE KIRSCHNER
The Independent

CATLETTSBURG June 21, 2008 11:48 pm

— Only a handful of candidates have filed for Catlettsburg public offices with more than two months remaining before the filing deadline.
Catlettsburg residents will elect a mayor and six council members this November in their first election since changing to a non-partisan at-large system.
According to the Boyd County clerk’s office, three now have filed to run for council, while a single candidate has filed to run for mayor. Numerous others have reportedly picked up the paper work to file for both offices.
Council candidates include current Councilman Julius “Dee” Young and political novices Kevin Stanley and Jimmy Epling. Lonnie Ashley is the only candidate to file for mayor.
The deadline for filing is Aug. 12.
Council members voted last year to eliminate the partisan, ward system of elections in Catlettsburg, then voted again in January to eliminate primary elections in both the mayoral and council races.
The decision was spurred in part by confusion about Catlettsburg’s ward system in the 2006 primary, which led to a number of candidates disputing election results. Confusion about boundaries and clerical errors prevented some Catlettsburg residents from being able to vote for candidates running in their wards but allowed others to vote for candidates outside the proper areas.
Catlettsburg residents will now elect all council members in a non-partisan, at-large process with the top six vote-getters winning seats on the council. Council members are elected every two years while the mayor serves a four-year term.
The mayoral race in November is a special election for the remainder of the term of former Mayor Donald Wellman who resigned in January. Wellman’s resignation became official on Jan. 15 — too late by Kentucky law to trigger a primary election to replace him — so November’s election must be conducted to determine who will finish his term, which expires Dec. 31, 2010.
James Allen Lambert is currently serving as the city’s mayor. A longtime councilman, Lambert was appointed by his peers to fill the position. A former councilman himself, Dave Marushi was appointed to fill Lambert’s vacant seat.
CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reached at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.