Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 • City announces municipal election with no running incumbents

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 edition of the Lassen County Times.

No matter what happens during the June 8 election, the Susanville City Council will have two new faces among its ranks.

That’s because Mayor Kurt Bonham and Mayor Pro tem Vern Templeton have made it official — they will not be seeking re-election.

The two vacancies on the five-member council were announced at its Jan. 20 meeting. City Administrative Assistant Gwenna MacDonald announced the open positions while giving notice about the city’s general municipal election coming in summer, along with the election for the next city treasurer, a position Richard Stovall holds.

Another resolution was passed requesting the Lassen County Board of Supervisors consolidate the municipal election with the statewide primary election. This is a common procedure for local government entities in order to save money on election costs.

Bonham said he has enjoyed his time on the council, but he said he wants to serve Lassen County in another capacity. Bonham announced at the meeting that he is now a candidate for County Auditor.

As for Templeton, the surveyor and owner of NST Engineering in Susanville said he is done with politics, at least for a while.

“I’ll never say never,” Templeton said. “But I’ve got other priorities right now. I’ve enjoyed being on the council, but I feel like it’s time for me to step aside so they can bring in some new blood. I thought it was great when Joe Franco joined the board, he’s been a tremendous help.”

Franco joined the board after beating out former three-term councilmember Rod DeBoer in the last election on June 3, 2008 by 40 points.

Franco, Doug Sayers and Lino Callegari aren’t up for re-election until 2012. Franco is currently serving his first term, whereas Callegari is serving his sixth term and Sayers is serving his fifth.

According to MacDonald, she said she was under the impression that in election years when more than one incumbent is not seeking re-election, there tend to be more people submitting their bid to run for the council.

MacDonald said at the meeting that the period for taking out nomination papers is Feb. 15 to March 12. MacDonald said there are no fees charged by the city to those who wish to stand for election, with the exception of the optional candidate’s statement fee. Her report said this is a pro-rated cost determined by and paid to the county clerk.

According to the city election code, candidate’s statements may include the name, age and occupation of the candidate, as well as a brief description of no more than 200 words of the candidate’s education and expressed qualification for the council seat.

The Susanville City Council meets every first and third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the City Hall Building located at 66 North Roop St. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, Feb. 3.