As of Friday, only three people had filed for the vacant Second Ward city council seat in Austin.

Wednesday, January 12, 2000

As of Friday, only three people had filed for the vacant Second Ward city council seat in Austin. By the end of the filing period Monday, the number had jumped to six, a number more in line with Austin’s recent surge of interest in public service.

The seat was vacated by Todd Penske when it became apparent that negotiations between his company – Cooperative Response Center – and the city of Austin would bring him into a conflict of interest. Penske had been himself appointed to replace Dick Chaffee, who had been elected to the council member at-large seat.

First to file was Garry Ellingson, former chief deputy for the Mower County Sheriff’s Department. Ellingson had applied for the seat when Chaffee had first vacated it, and also ran against Gary Nemitz for his county board seat during the last county election.

Next to file was Roger Boughton, retired vice president of academic affairs at Riverland Community College.

Third was Lennia Burtch, a former licensed practical nurse and active volunteer in the area. She was born and raised in Austin, and returned to the city after a career in Rochester.

Monday, the last day to return an application, saw a small flurry of papers arriving at the city office.

Among the three new applicants are two Hormel Foods Corp. employees and one perennial candidate:

n Rich Osness has sought public office in Austin before, running against Rob Leighton for his state representative seat in the recent state elections. He is a Libertarian. He is the president of Colorcraft printing.

n Michael Allen works on the soup stocks night shift at Hormel in Austin. He also attends classes at Riverland.

n Chuck Anderson also is a Hormel Foods employee, a product manager for food services there who graduated from Pacelli High School and has been transferred around the country by the company, recently returning to Austin.

Applicants will be interviewed Saturday, and Mayor Bonnie Rietz and the council will announce the appointment at Tuesday’s council meeting.