New 5th District commissioner to be chosen by election, not appointment

Published 7:09 am Tuesday, December 8, 2009

A special election and possibly a primary will be held sometime before March 4 to fill Mower County’s 5th district seat left vacant by the death of Commissioner David Tollefson.

“We’re a representative government, and District 5 citizens need to be represented, especially in today in this type of economic environment,” Mower County Auditor-Treasurer Doug Groh said. “We need to fill that seat as quickly as possible.”

Groh is still planning the process, but a special election will be used rather than the commissioners appointing a replacement because Tollefson has more than one year left on his term.

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The special election can be held no earlier than 30 days from the vacancy and no later than 90 days — meaning the special election needs to be held between roughly Jan. 4 and March 4.

In reality, Groh said that time frame is much shorter because new requirements from the Federal Government call for 45 days following an election to allow for soldiers overseas to vote via absentee ballot.

A notice for an office to be filled will be published in area newspapers soon — possibly in the next week. Candidate will then need to file their affidavit of candidacy.

A special primary will be held if more than two people file papers to run for the open seat, Groh said. The primary would then determine two candidates to be voted on in the special election.

A minimum of two weeks are required between the special primary and special election.

District 5 includes ward one, precinct two and ward two precinct one. Only citizens living the district 5 will vote. The two typical polling places in the district are Austin High School and Southgate Elementary School.

Tollefson was the board chairman and vice chairman Ray Tucker is currently the acting chairman, and Groh said he’ll likely become chairman.

The commissioners will appoint a new chairman Jan. 5 at their annual meeting. A commissioner typically serves as chairman for one year and is then replaced by the vice chairman, said Denise Barthels, clerk pro temp. So Tucker will likely remain chairman for 2010 as was the original plan.

A new vice chairman will be appointed at the Jan. 5 meeting, though the commissioners could select a temporary vice chairman before that.