The race has started.

Thursday, February 08, 2001

The race has started.

Austin City Councilman Dick Chaffee announced late last week that he’s decided to make a run for the newly vacant seat on the Mower County Board of Commissioners.

The seat became vacant when Commissioner Gary Nemitz resigned for health reasons on Jan. 23. The resignation forces the county to conduct a special election to fill the seat.

Persons interested in running for the post need to file their intent with the county auditor’s office before the end of the day on Friday. Already, Chaffee has announced that he will be filing for the position.

The position is important for Austin because the Fifth District seat encompasses Precinct 2 of Ward 1 and Precinct 1 of Ward 2 in the city. The seat is wholly within Austin.

If the number of people running dictates that a special primary be held, it will be held Feb. 27. The special election is scheduled for March 20.

Let the race begin. Either we’ll have a bunch of candidates, forcing a special election, or a scant turnout allowing just the special election in March.