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Four people declare for vacant council seat

Candidates have until Feb. 2 to file for Second Ward seat; special election will be Feb. 27

From this Jan. 6 photo, second ward city councilor applicants, from left, Jay Carollo, Brittany O’Shea and Leigh Bauder answer questions during an interview session with members of the Marshalltown City Council earlier this month. Applicant Bob Untied was out on town on business, participated via phone. All four have announced their candidacy for the seat to be resolved by the Feb. 27 special election.

“If at first one does not succeed, try, try again.”

That age-old, motivational idiom appears to have registered with four Marshalltown second ward residents.

Their mission: convince second ward voters to put them in the winners circle for the vacant city council seat in the second ward.

This follows the city council declining their applications for appointment earlier this month.

Candidates F. Leigh Bauder, Jay Carollo, Brittany O’Shea and Bob Untiedt either announced at city council meetings, or told the Times-Republican earlier this week of their intent to file, and have their names placed on the Feb. 27 special election ballot.

There may be others, since candidates may download nomination forms online.

January has been a busy month for the four candidates, since they publicly interviewed with the city council for the appointment at a special noon Jan. 5 special council meeting.

It was the council’s interest then one of the four might garner three “yes” votes to earn the seat appointment to be discussed and voted on at at the regular Jan. 8 council meeting.

However, none hit the three-vote benchmark at that meeting.

Consequently, the city passed a resolution at its Jan. 22 meeting calling for a special election.

Upon receipt of the resolution, Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson set Feb. 27 as election date.

“Basically, that is the earliest date we could, so that we’re not delaying it at all,” she said. “We’re going to do a full day: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.”

Benson said all necessary documents required by candidates to file for the second ward seat election can be picked up at the Auditor/Recorder/Elections office in the courthouse, or printed off from Iowa Secretary of State’s website. The Affidavit of Candidacy and Nomination Petition can also be found on the city of Marshalltown’s website, marshallown-ia.gov.

The Affidavit of Candidacy and Nomination Petition with 25 signatures from individuals eligible to vote in the second ward must be hand-delivered to the Auditor/Recorder/Elections office no later than 5 p.m. Feb. 2. No electronic filing.

Unofficial voting results will be released after polls close the evening of Feb. 27.

The official results will be released after the canvass, March 5.

The seat was vacated Jan. 2, when then second ward councilor Joel Greer was sworn-in as Marshalltown mayor, a position voters awarded him in the Nov. 7 election.

Greer had completed two years of his second four-year term.

An election timeline listing key candidate and vote deadlines can also be found on the city’s website.

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Contact Mike Donahey at 641-753-6611 or mdonahey@timesrepublican.com

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