Today is the last day to file as a candidate in Nome’s upcoming municipal election. This year features two seats up for grabs on the City Council, two on the Utility Board, and two on the School Board.
Interested candidates must file a declaration of candidacy at Nome City Hall, pay the nonrefundable $25 filing fee and not be delinquent on any city taxes or payments. As of Tuesday morning, only a few people have filed to run for the six open seats, including incumbents, City Clerk Bryant Hammond said.
Jerald Brown’s City Council seat E is currently open, and Brown has not filed for re-election. Derek McLarty has filed to run for seat E and is the only candidate to file for this position as of this morning.
Mark Johnson’s City Council seat F is currently open and Johnson has submitted the necessary paperwork but has not paid the filing fee yet, according to Hammond.
For the two utility board seats up for election, Larry Pederson is running as the incumbent for his seat as is McLarty. A candidate cannot run for both mayor and as a city council member in the same election, but it doesn’t prevent McLarty from running for both city council and utility board, according to Nome city ordinances.
The two school board seats belong to Darlene Trigg and Barb Amarok. As of Monday night, Hammond says neither have filed their declaration of candidacy, but at least Trigg has indicated she plans to before the deadline.
That potentially leaves all six seats with only one candidate filing for each position and no declared challengers for the upcoming municipal election.
Interested candidates have until 5 p.m. today to declare their candidacy with the Nome City Clerk and be included on the Oct. 4 ballot. To learn more about what it takes to run for a seat with the City of Nome watch this informational video put together by Councilmember Sigvanna “Meghan” Topkok.
Image at top: Municipal elections in Nome take place at Old St. Joe’s in October.
