The 5 p.m. July 15 deadline to become a one-year commission candidate for drafting a charter making Homer a home-rule city on the Oct. 7 ballot is less than two weeks away. A minimum of seven candidates are needed. Eight Homer residents currently are circulating petitions and gathering the required 50 signatures each in order to be on the Oct. 7 ballot, according to Jo Johnson, city clerk. They are Beau Burgess, Ken Caster, Marilyn Hueper, Michael Neece, Lindianne Sarno, Ted Schmidt, Doug Stark and Beth Wythe. Anyone interested in becoming a candidate can pick up a petition booklet from the clerk’s office at City Hall, 491 E. Pioneer Ave.