Friday marked the end of the candidate filing period for the Oct. 7 municipal election.
On the city of Homer’s ballot, two changes occurred before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Don Stead withdrew his bid for mayor and, later that day, Lindianne Sarno made her candidacy for mayor official.
“We just decided, my wife and I, that we were too busy and wanted to spend more time with our family. I’m retiring and it just didn’t fit in with our plans,” said Stead, who retired from his position as a construction inspector for Enstar on Friday.
“Today’s the last day. Construction is wrapping up and I’m of retirement age and it’s time to go.”
Stead said he had called Beth Wythe, Homer’s current mayor who is running for re-election, to tell her of his change of plans.
Stead said he plans to continue as vice chair of the Homer Planning Commission. His term expires in 2015.
Sarno is a local business owner and former member of the city’s Economic Development Advisory Commission.
She brings to six the number of candidates, including two incumbents, who will be on the city of Homer ballot.
Mayor: Lindianne Sarno and Mary E. (Beth) Wythe, incumbent.
Wythe was elected to Homer City Council in 2004 and elected mayor in 2012.
Homer City Council (two seats): Justin Arnold, Corbin Arno, David G. Lewis, incumbent; and Catriona Lowe. Council member Barbara Howard has chosen not to run for re-election.
Arnold and Arno were city council candidates in 2013. Arno also is a member of the Homer Economic Development Advisory Commission. His term expires in 2016. Lewis was first elected to the council in 2008 and again in 2011. Lowe is employed at the Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic, assists in her husband Derek Reynolds’ business, Cycle Logical, and is a member of the state of Alaska Medical Care Advisory Committee.
City voters in October also will decide if a seven-member commission should be formed to draft a home-rule charter and who the commission members will be.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough’s office of mayor will be on the October ballot. That office is currently held by Mike Navarre, who first served as mayor from 1996-1999 and was reelected in 2011. Navarre will be running for re-election and faces two challengers, Tom Bearup and Carrol J. Martin.
Bearup is a retired businessman, pastor and law enforcement officer from Soldotna. Martin, a Kenai resident, also is retired. He has served as a board member for the Division of Agriculture, the Matanuska Maid Creamery and the Alaska State Fair Association.
Specific to the southern Kenai Peninsula, the borough ballot includes the borough assembly representative for Homer and 11 service area board positions.
Bill Smith currently represents Homer on the eight-member assembly, but is no longer eligible to run for re-election because of term limits. One candidate is running for that office.
Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly District 8 — Homer: Kelly Cooper. In 2011, Cooper came in second to Smith in a three-way race for the District 8 seat. The third candidate was Bryan Zak, a current member of the Homer City Council.
Southern peninsula service area board candidates include:
Anchor Point Fire and Emergency Medical Service Area, Seat A: No candidates filed;
Anchor Point Fire and Emergency Medical Service Area, Seat E: Conrad Woodhead;
Kachemak Emergency Service Area Board, Seat A: Milli Martin;
Kachemak Emergency Service Area Board, Seat B: David Bachrach;
Kachemak Emergency Service Area Board, Seat D: Buck Jones;
Seldovia Recreational Service Area Board, Seat B: No candidates filed;
Seldovia Recreational Service Area Board, Seat E: No candidates filed;
South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board, Seat D: Roberta Highland;
South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board, Seat E: Judith Lund;
South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board, Seat F: Marie Walli;
South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area Board, Seat G: Clyde T. Boyer, Jr.
There are three propositions on the borough ballot:
• Shall the borough exercise limited animal control powers and should there be a mill rate of 0.02 on properties outside cities to pay for related services?
• Shall the borough conduct elections by mail?
• Shall the boundaries of the South Kenai Peninsula Hospital Service Area be expanded?
For more information on the municipal election, visit:
• cityofhomer-ak.gov/cityclerk/2014-elections or call 235-3130;
• borough.kenai.ak.us/assembly-clerk/elections or call 907-714-2160 or 800-478-4441, est. 2160.
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mkibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.
