The primary elections for Athens City Council will be held tomorrow. However, there have been no signs and little talk of the elections that are quickly approaching, as no local parties have candidates competing for a chance to run in the November election for Athens City Council.
Kathy Kyle, director of the Athens County Board of Elections, said it is a small election this year, but at the same time it is not abnormal to have uncontested City Council seats in the primary.
There usually is not a primary in local elections, said Carol Patterson, D-2nd Ward.
It is not unusual for there to be little competition
she said.
The little competition in the primaries also could be attributed to numerous things. It could be partly because people know who's going to run and they don't want to run against someone in the same party Patterson said.
Nancy Bain, D-3rd Ward, said she thought it could be that currently there are changes in finance, making it hard to run for office.
The political framework is uncertain
Bain said. People might want to be involved but they are unsure of things.
The lack of competition within the city is somewhat a disappointment, said Paul Wiehl, D-1st Ward.
A very good government makes people get involved and a very bad government makes people get involved
Wiehl said. I think we're pretty much in the middle
so to speak.
Bain said she also thinks people have not shown much interest in the council because there is a certain level of satisfaction among the people of the city at this point in time.
While many of the council members are running again uncontested, they said they are still putting forth effort to find out what local residents want from the council.
Wiehl has planned walks around the neighborhoods and talks with constituency members.
The idea there is to find out what people want and think
he said.
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Meghan Nicholson
