BUCKHANNON – Candidates who wish to represent the residents of Buckhannon may begin filing for public office Monday, Jan. 10, 2022.
The city’s election will run in conjunction with the May 2022 Primary Election, which is slated for Tuesday, May 10, 2022. Three slots on Buckhannon City Council are at stake, including two city council members at large and one city recorder position. All three posts carry four-year terms.
At city council’s Dec. 16 meeting, council members unanimously approved the Call for Election on May 10, 2022.
“This is pretty standard,” mayor Robbie Skinner said. “We do this every two years.”
Candidates, who must reside within city limits, may begin filing Jan. 10, and the last day to file in-person for office is Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, from 9 a.m. to noon in the city recorder’s office at Buckhannon City Hall, 70 East Main St. in Buckhannon. Any candidates filing by U.S. mail must ensure their paperwork is postmarked by midnight Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022.
Additionally, the last day candidates may withdraw from the election is Tuesday, Feb. 15.
The two council seats that will open up in 2022 currently belong to councilman David Thomas, who was re-elected in 2018, and councilwoman Shelia Lewis-Sines, who was appointed to city council earlier this year to fill the unexpired term of former councilwoman Mary Albaugh.
Albaugh, who had served on city council since 2014, resigned when she moved to another state. Albaugh was most recently elected in 2018, so her term will expire in May 2022, meaning Lewis-Sines must run in the election should she wish to retain her seat.
In addition, city recorder Randy Sanders’s post is also at stake. Sanders was appointed as city recorder following the resignation of former city recorder Colin Reger in 2019 and subsequently won the unexpired term in the May 2020 election. Reger’s term began in 2018, so if Sanders wants to remain city recorder, he must file for a full four-year term of office again in 2022.
During council’s meeting, Thomas said although he’s previously stated he would not run again, those plans may change.
“I said a couple, or three, maybe four months ago that I wasn’t going to run for city council again, but after visiting my children down in North Carolina and having a phenomenal time with them, we talked about what my plans for the future were and their plans for the future and so forth,” Thomas said. “I’ve been in Buckhannon since 1984. I’ve been here a long time. I love this community, and I’m going to reconsider now and probably run for city council.”
Thomas said council has accomplished a great deal over his tenure, particularly over the past several years, but there’s more work to be done.
“I want to be involved in that,” he said.
Thomas made a motion to approve the Call for Election, which was seconded by Lewis-Sines prior to passing unanimously.
According to the Call for Election document, drawing for positions on the ballot will take place at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, in the Upshur County Clerk’s office in the courthouse. Candidates running for office must complete campaign financial reports throughout the election process. Registered voters in precincts 8 (Buckhannon Academy Elementary School), 9 (Buckhannon City Hall), 12 (Fred W. Eberle Technical Center) and 14 (BAES) may vote in the city election.
For more info, call City Hall at 304-472-1651 or email Sanders, the city recorder, at randy.sanders@buckhannonwv.org.
