Candidates for May elections, take note
Kootenai County has 28 seats on various public boards that are ready for election on May 16, and the deadline to file for candidacy is just around the corner.
Candidates must file a petition of candidacy as well as a declaration of candidacy by 5 p.m. by next Friday, March 17 to the district in which they’re running.
Highway districts across the county are seeking commissioners, the hospital and library districts need trustees, water and sewer districts are looking for board members and directors, and each of the five school district boards have at least two positions open.
The deadline to file as a write-in candidate is 5 p.m. April 3. All necessary paperwork is available at the Kootenai County Elections Office, 1808 N. Third St. in Coeur d’Alene.
Kootenai County Elections Manager Carrie Phillips said it’s important for candidates to be in contact with their districts.
“Sometimes people come to us with questions that their districts can actually handle,” Phillips said.
She also said only nine people have turned in paperwork to declare candidacy for open seats.
New this year, all candidates for school board trustee seats in districts larger than 500 students are required to appoint a campaign treasurer and file a campaign sunshine report. A sunshine report lists financial contributions and expenditures of a campaign.
The Coeur d’Alene School District has three board seats opening for zones 1, 4 and 5. The incumbents for zones 4 and 5, Dave Eubanks and Tom Hearn, respectively, are both seeking re-election. Zone 1 currently has no declared candidates and incumbent Christa Hazel has announced she is not seeking re-election.
See Coeur d’Alene School District trustee zones here: http://www.cdaschools.org/Page/5011.
The Post Falls School District is also looking for people to serve as trustee for zones 1, 4 and 5. Zone 1 incumbent Dave Paul has not yet decided whether he’ll run for re-election. Zone 4 incumbent Bridget Eismann said she will be running for re-election and Carol Goodman wasn't able to get back to The Press about her intentions.
See Post Falls School District trustee zones here: http://www.pfsd.com/Boundary%20Maps/
The Lakeland Joint School Board has two seats up for election: zones 4 and 5. Both incumbents, Brian Wallace and Larry Brown, intend to seek re-election.
See Lakeland School District trustee zones here: http://bit.ly/2lFmUR6
The Kootenai Joint School District needs community members to step up to fill trustee seats for zones 1, 4 and 5 since none of the incumbents have decided to seek re-election.
Zone 1 is the Harrison zone, zone 4 is the Black Lake zone and zone 5 is the O’Gara zone.
The Plummer Worley Joint School District is looking to fill seats for zone 1, 3 and 7 on its school board. Neither Mona Daniels, Ida (J.R.) Gustin nor Paul Daman, respectively, have made it clear if they are going to run for re-election.
Trustee zone 7 in the Plummer Worley District is for Benewah County and that seat will be voted on in Benewah County’s May election.
See Plummer Worley School District trustee zones here: http://pwsd44.com/District%20Map/
According to the Kootenai County Elections Office, if no one declares candidacy or files to be a write-in candidate for any of the positions up for election, districts will appoint someone according to their statutory requirements. If only one person files for candidacy and there is no write-in, there does not have to be an election for that position.
Looking forward, November elections will be for city council members, mayor seats and fire district commissioners.