Filing for the Crookston City Council, Mayor, and School Board was completed and closed last night on August 16, and despite several filings for the open positions in the council and school board, Ward 2 didn’t have any filings come in for it at all. While this doesn’t have any immediate effects on the City Council and the Ward, the city is currently looking through all of its options to fill the seat before the end of Councilmember Steve Erickson’s term at the end of the year.
Interim City Administrator Charles “Corky” Reynolds and Election Administrator Ashley Rystad stated that they are currently looking at all of the options available to them at the moment. With no candidates filed, write-in candidates will be allowed, and the write-in candidate who is 21 years or older, lives in the ward, receives the highest number of votes as a write-in, and accepts the position will be declared the winner of the election and the Council member for Ward 2. If there is more than one write-in candidate, but the winner does not choose to accept the position, the runner-up does not win it either. If the write-in candidate that receives the highest number of votes chooses not to accept the position on the council, another option is that the Ward residents can constitute a committee to bring forward interview candidates to be appointed to the position. Interim Administrator Reynolds said those are the current options they are aware of at the moment, but the city will continue to check the statutes to see what other options are available to them. “There may be other options that we’re not aware of at this time. I will be checking the statues in our city charter, and I will also be contacting the League of Minnesota Cities to see if there are other options,” said Reynolds. “At this point, there is no set option that’s been predetermined, but we will be looking at all of those I mentioned, and if there are others, we will look at all of those as well.” While the city is currently exploring options for finding the filings for Ward 2, City Council member Steve Erickson will continue to hold the seat until the end of the year.
If you wish to become a write-in candidate for Ward 2, make your desire known to the residents of Ward 2 and encourage them to write your name on the ballot in the write-in section of the ballot on November 8. We will continue with updates on the progress of the filings and general election when we receive more information from the city.
