Seim, Smith running for city council
The field of candidates running for Aurora City Council in the pending Nov. 5 General Election grew last week with two more local residents throwing their hats in the ring as write-in candidates.
Jannelle Seim filed as a candidate in Ward 1 and will face off against incumbent Wayne Roblee. In Ward 3, Carl Smith announced his candidacy by filing the necessary paperwork at the courthouse and will challenge incumbent Mark Dunn for a four-year seat on the council.
That brings the total number of write-in candidates running for city council to four, as both candidates seeking election in Ward 2 filed as write-ins. Nancy Lohrmeyer, a two-term member of the council, filed after the deadline for incumbents and will be challenged by Esther Bergen, who announced her candidacy on Sept. 30.
Hamilton County Election Commissioner Jill DeMers reported that candidates have until Oct. 25 to seek election as a write-in candidate. The election will be determined by a simple majority vote.
Bergen, Seim and Smith all made the decision to run for city council after recent public hearings regarding the city’s budget. They explained their reasons for running in a candidate profile published in this week’s edition on Page C1. That profile series features all six city council candidates.
Due to the recent additions and the short time between now and election day, the News-Register will be hosting a candidate forum focused on the city council races on Oct. 17 at the Bremer Center.
Deryl Hilligas will serve as facilitator for the program, which will begin at 7 p.m. Each candidate will begin with a two-minute introduction, with Hilligas then asking the same questions of each candidate in rotating order. Anyone who would like to submit questions to be asked during the forum is invited to submit them to ANR news editor Ron Burtz by noon Friday. Questions can be dropped by the office at 1320 K St., or emailed to newsregister@hamilton.net
No questions will be taken from the audience.