Candidates for city and school board elections for communities in the West Liberty School District were released last week by the Muscatine County Auditor’s Office for the Tuesday, Nov. 7 election.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and West Liberty/Wapsi Township voters can cast ballots at the West Liberty Community Center. Nichols voters can cast ballots at the Nichols City Hall and those wishing to cast ballots in Atalissa or Goshen Township will need to go to the Atalissa City Hall.
School board
A total of seven candidates will be vying for three seats on the West Liberty Community School Board of Education in the election.
Jacob Burroughs is the only incumbent among candidates, seeking a second term, while board members Jeff Laughlin and Carla Shields both decided not to run for re-election.
Others vying for seats include Kira Achen, Hanna Chesmore-Potts, Courtney Crees, Audra Daufeldt, Samir Deahr and Joshua Jackson.
The candidates are all being invited to a public forum and a chance to meet the candidates on the evening of Wednesday. Oct. 25, at the West Liberty Community Center, sponsored by the Rotary Club of West Liberty.
Board members whose seats are not expiring include Rebecca Vargas and Edward Moreno.
The school board meets on the first and third Mondays of the month beginning at 6 p.m. at the school district administration offices. Anyone is welcome to attend
West Liberty
West Liberty will have a new mayor and will decide who will be on the city council. With current appointed mayor Ethan Anderson not running for the two-year seat, two candidates have thrown their hat in the ring including Joe Elizondo of 1019 North Calhoun Street and Mark Danner Smith, listed as PO Box 90.
Incumbent Cara McFerren, 411 E. Third St., who is the present mayor pro tem, is running again for a four-year council seat along with Joshua Shiltz Costa, 413 E. Sixth St. Council members Omar Martinez and Dana Dominguez won’t see their seats expire until January of 2026. Ashley Smith has decided to leave the council in January, leaving a vacant seat that doesn’t have a candidate at this point. Smith and Shiltz Costa were both appointed to the board.
The Rotary Club of West Liberty will be hosting a candidate forum for West Liberty mayor and city council candidates on Thursday, Nov. 2, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the West Liberty High School Auditorium.
Anyone is welcome to attend.
Nichols
Linsey Reimers will run unopposed for mayor of Nichols seeking a third term while five incumbents vie for seats on the city council including Kelsie Lampe, Russell E. Grim, Cynthia Massey, Jay Hora and John J. Hudson. All are two-year seats.
Atalissa
There will be a race for mayor in the city of Atalissa this November as incumbent mayor Angie Dickey is being challenged by Kandice Blick. There is just one candidate running for three city council seats as Annie Gerstbrein is seeking one of the posts.