LEWISTON — Voters here won’t have much to choose from in the November City Council races if candidates don’t get their nomination papers in by Sept. 9.
As it stands, there are only two official candidates — both running unopposed at present — in the city’s seven wards.
City Clerk Kathy Montejo said it’s the first time in the last six city election cycles, dating back 12 years, where so few candidates had their nomination papers in as the deadline approaches.
Montejo said she’s not quite nervous yet, but that without official candidates on the ballot it could be a very interesting election.
“We still have three solid weeks,” Montejo said Friday.
She said she’s trying to chalk the delay up to people being busy during the summer and that she hopes that those who have taken out nomination papers start returning them with required signatures soon.
“They have had papers out for six weeks now, and we have three weeks to go, so it is getting close to crunch time,” she said.
She said a lot of people may be holding off until after the Labor Day weekend to finish up their signature gathering, but with the deadline just four days later they may not realize how close that’s going to make it.
“We are trying to assume that people just get busy in the summertime,” Montejo said.
The lack of candidates may be due to the fact that the current council has worked well together and generated little controversy. But some incumbents are not seeking re-election, others have yet to turn in or, in some cases, even take out nomination papers, she said.
Ward 7 and four School Committee seats — at-large, 1, 5 and 6 — have no candidates.
In four wards, potential candidates have taken out papers but have not returned them, and only half of the School Committee seats have prospective candidates.
Candidates seeking election to a council seat need 50 signatures of city voters to get their name on the ballot.
Montejo said she worries people may also be misinformed about how a write-in election would work.
The candidate receiving the most number of write-in votes would be offered the seat, she said. But if that candidate declined the position, it does not automatically go to the next highest vote-getter. She said the city would then be obligated to hold a special election for any unfilled seats.
The City Council can only appoint people to fill remaining terms that are less than 12 month in length, so they can’t just appoint replacements, as some believe, Montejo said.
The one race that doesn’t seem to be lacking for official candidates is the mayoral race. Three candidates have returned nomination papers to take Mayor Larry Gilbert’s place. Two others have taken nomination papers out.
Gilbert will have served five years, including one partial and two full terms, and cannot seek re-election.
At least one of those hoping to be the next mayor said he’s worried about the lack of official candidates for the council at this point.
“I’m very concerned,” said Mark Paradis, a former councilor and member of the Planning Board. Paradis said the commitment to sit on the council is a serious one, and the city needs responsible citizens to step forward and fill the positions.
Paradis said without candidates the city could be in for rough road as it attempts to govern itself in 2012.
“Regardless of whether I’m elected mayor or not, I just know how important it is to have the people, who are needed, sitting there,” Paradis said.
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