Fontanelle council seats to be filled by Dec. 13 special election

Who will fill three seats on the Fontanelle city council will be decided by voters in a special election Tuesday, Dec. 13.

It was citizens of the town who formulated a petition that a special election be held. The other option would have been that council seats filled by appointment would have held until the next election.

Michael Walker is currently in a seat vacated by John Huddleson, Dawn Brown is in a seat vacated by Jamie Campbell and Jeff Thompson is in a seat vacated by Dixie Dukes.

“We’ll actually have three seats on the special election ballot,” said Mayor Mary Sturdy-Martin in a follow-up interview. “It’s very important that if anyone is interested in running for council that they talk with our county auditor, get their name in in time. It really is a time push to get that done. They only have so many days to be put on the ballot.”

The Adair County Auditor’s Office announced details about the election filing period last week. Candidate filing deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18. Voter pre-registration deadline is Monday, Nov. 28. Voters may file an absentee ballot request with the Adair County Auditor’s office at any time. The deadline to request an absentee ballot be mailed is Monday, Nov. 28. The last day to vote absentee in the Auditor’s Office is 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12.

At the council’s August meeting, the council wanted to fill two seats by appointment but were only able to appoint one because notice had not been given yet for the second seat. Brown was appointed that night, Thompson was appointed this month.

Sturdy-Martin said that it is a good feeling to have so much interest from the community in wanting to serve on the council and get the right-fitting people on the council.

“I think that as the pandemic settles down a little in society and more people are coming to the meetings, they’re really taking an interest in the community. I think they’re looking at what they can do to be a part of a change. That’s really what it is, a kind of grass roots level, because the members of the council are truly chosen by the community to put them in place and vote how the community would like,” Sturdy-Martin said. “I think it’s so important that all of us who sit at that table really remember that it’s the community that we serve and we need to do what is in the best interest of the community.”