Sullivan Preparing For 2009 City Elections

Just 17 days after the presidential election, Sullivan County, Tenn., election officials started preparing for the May 19, 2009 city elections.

On Friday, they began distributing candidate petitions for city elections, including Bristol City Council and the Bluff City Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Prospective candidates must file completed petitions with at least 25 signatures to the county elections office by noon Feb. 19 if they want to their names on the ballots in any of these contests, Assistant Elections Administrator Jacquelyn Rutherford said Friday.

In Bristol, Mayor Joel Staton, Councilwoman Margaret Feierabend and Councilman David Shumaker are up for re-election May 19, said Barbara Ryan, administrative assistant for City Manager Jeffrey Broughton. The Bristol City Council has five members. The mayor is chosen by the council each year. All members earn a little more than $3,000 a year.

Bristol voters also will pick a slate of three school board members during the May election. Board Chairwoman Gwen Ellis, Vice Chairwoman Debbie McMillan and Secretary Kathy Cooper are up for re-election. The board has five members, each serving four-year terms.

In Bluff City, Mayor Todd Malone, Alderman Don Weaver and Alderwoman Irene Wells are up for re-election in May, said City Recorder Judy Dulaney. All three board members were targeted in a failed recall election Nov. 4. The Bluff City Board of Mayor and Alderman includes the mayor and five alderman, all elected to four-year terms. The mayor earns $900 and board members earn $120 a year.

So far, no one has picked up a candidate petition.

But Rutherford said this is nothing new, because “usually [candidates] wait until the first of the year [to pick up their petitions] so they can think it over.”

Rutherford said voters must be registered by April 30 if they want to participate in the May 19 election. The election’s early voting period will last from April 29 to May 14.

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City elections:
2009 schedule

Feb. 19 – Candidate petitions due in county elections office
April 20 – Last day of voter registration.
April 29 to May 14 – Early voting period.
May 19 – Election Day