Cadillac mayor, council seats up for election in November

CADILLAC — Three positions on the Cadillac City Council will be on the ballot Nov. 6.

The two-year mayor’s position will need to be filled as well as the first and third ward council member positions. The term for mayor will be from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2009. Council member positions are four-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2008 and ending Dec. 31, 2011.

As of Thursday, no one has filed for any of the positions. However at recent city council meetings Bill Barnett and council member Gordon Baas have stated their intentions to run for mayor. Mayor Ronald Blanchard has no plans to run for a 10th term as mayor.

“It has been a wonderful 18 years as mayor, but I have no reason to negate what I said in the last election (about this being last term as mayor),” Blanchard said. “I’d like to wish the best to all candidates.”

Mayoral candidates must be a registered voter in Cadillac and file a nominating petition with the city clerk by 5 p.m. Sept. 14 that contains between 30 and 60 signatures of registered voters citywide. The deadline is new this year, according to City Clerk/Treasurer Jan Nelson.

“Rather than four weeks before the election, council extended it to eight weeks before,” she said. “It was becoming impossible to get the ballots printed and information out in that amount of time.”

Nelson said she hopes this new deadline will help for a smoother election process.

Because Baas plans to run for mayor, he will not defend his council seat for the first ward.

Art Stevens’ seat in the third ward also will be on the ballot. He said his intention is to run for city council, but believes it is too early yet to begin campaigning.

For a council member position, a person must be a registered voter of the first ward or third ward and file a nominating petition by 5 p.m. Sept. 14, 2007 that contains between 15 and 30 signatures.

The reason behind the maximum amount of signatures is to prevent candidates from gathering so many signatures that there aren’t enough left for opposing candidates.

“We have never had a problem with candidates getting an excessive amount of signatures,” Nelson said. “In fact, we encourage them to get a few extras in case some signatures are not valid.”

tberkebile@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)

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Three Cadillac City Council positions will be on the ballot in November: a two-year term for mayor and two four-year terms for city council seats. The following are requirements for those interested in becoming a candidate: