Not enough candidates to go around, Three area cities in unusual situation

By TONY FYFFE
BSN Editor

PAINTSVILLE — Candidates for local school board and city council/commission seats were few and far between when the filing deadline for those positions passed last Tuesday.
In fact, city council or commission races in Paintsville, Prestonsburg and Allen failed to attract a quorum as there were not enough candidates to fill the number of seats up for election in November.
Five people filed for the six-member council in Paintsville, six entered the race for the eight-member council in Prestonsburg, and only two candidates will be on the ballot for the four-member commission in Allen.
The remaining seats in those cities could be filled by write-in candidates, who have until Oct. 23 to file a declaration of intent to run for the positions. Only votes for declared write-in candidates will be counted in the Nov. 3 election.
If no write-in candidates emerge, the councils or commission in the three cities would have 30 days to pick their remaining members after they take office in January, according to Kentucky League of Cities Executive Director J.D. Chaney. The governor would choose the new members if the governing bodies fail to act within that timeframe, he said.
The filing deadline for nonpartisan school board and city positions was moved from August to June 2 earlier this year by the General Assembly, which could be one reason for the low number of candidates.
The following is a list of candidates in Lawrence, Johnson, Floyd and Martin counties:

Lawrence County

• School Board, District 2: James M. See (incumbent).
• School Board, District 4: D. Heath Preston (incumbent).
• School Board, District 5: Barbara Lee Robinson (incumbent) and Angela (Holmes) Wright.
• Louisa City Council (six members): Randy Matthew Brown (incumbent), Gary Robertson (incumbent), Ashley Caudill (incumbent), Lisa M. Schaeffer (incumbent), Mitch Castle (incumbent), James Allen Pauley-Barker and Tom Parsons (incumbent).

Johnson County

• School Board, District 2: William R. Fraley (incumbent).
• School Board, District 3: Bob M. Hutchison (incumbent).
• School Board, District 5: Melvin Vanhoose (incumbent).
• Paintsville Independent School Board (two members): Kay Hall and Mike Short, both incumbents.
• Paintsville City Council (six members): Sara Hopson Blair, Roger “Bo” Belcher, Tim Hall, David “Coach” Vanhoose and Rick Preston, all incumbents.
• Constable, District 2 (unexpired term): Bruce Ritz (Democrat).

Floyd County

• School Board, District 3: William Newsome Jr. (incumbent).
• School Board, District 4: Rhonda Meade (incumbent), Loretta C. Tackett and Keith Smallwood.
• Prestonsburg City Council (eight members): Rick Hughes (incumbent), Don Willis (incumbent), David A. Gearheart (incumbent), Lowell Thomas Samons III, Brittany Branham (incumbent) and C. “Shag” Branham (incumbent).
• Martin Mayor: James “Jim” Reynolds, Sam Howell (incumbent) and Clara Hughes Akers.
• Martin City Council (six members): Harold Case (incumbent), Charles Justice (incumbent), Gary Akers (incumbent), Bonita Compton, April Gayheart (incumbent) and Jeff Powell.
• Allen City Commission (four members): Elmer “Fudd” Parsons (incumbent) and Harrison Gibson Jr.
• Wheelwright City Commission (four members): Bobby Wayne Akers (incumbent), Andy Wayne Akers (incumbent), Sam Little (incumbent), Bill Newsome (incumbent), Dana McGown (incumbent) and Rodney Hall.
• Wayland City Commission (four members): Charles Bentley, Phillip Michael Caudill, Kathy E. Mills and Curtis B. Lee, all incumbents.

Martin County

• School Board, District 2: James “Bowie” Clark.
• School Board, District 3: Lorna Kirk Cassady and Mike Dingess.
• School Board, District 4: Steven Gauze (incumbent).
• School Board, District 5: Kathleen Price (incumbent).
• Inez City Commission (four members): Dennis Hall (incumbent), Lisa Wells, Richard Wells and Terry Fraley.
• Warfield City Commission (four members): Zane Speers (incumbent), John Sammons, Michael Hinkle (incumbent), William “Bill” Murphy, Crystal Bell (incumbent) and David Bell (incumbent).