MEEKER I Janelle Urista, the formal Meeker Board of Education (BOE) election official, said Monday that three people, so far, have picked up petitions to become candidates for the Meeker Board.
Four seats are available for election this fall. The election is Nov. 3 and the winners will be chosen by the registered voters who choose to vote and who reside within the Meeker School District.
In order to be a qualified candidate, a person must be a registered voter and school district resident for at least 12 months prior to the election, cannot have been convicted of a sexual offense against a child, and, in a district with less than 1,000 students like Meeker, file a nomination petition signed by at least 25 verifiable eligible electors by Aug. 28.
The petitions can be obtained from Urista at the district administration building and must be returned to that office.
The school board seats up for election this year are currently held by Tom Allen, Kurt Blunt, Marnell Bradfield and Mindy Burke. All are eligible to run again as the Meeker BOE has no term limits. It is not known as of Tuesday morning who two of the three individuals are who have picked up petitions.
It is known that Dr. Bob Dorsett, the former science and math teacher at Meeker High School, is one of the petition circulators. Also, Allen and Blunt have told the Herald Times they intend to run, but have not yet taken out their petitions.
Bradfield said she has not yet decided if she will run for re-election. While Burke could not be reached for confirmation, she stated at a school board meeting in April that after nine years on the board, she would not be seeking another term.
The election is being coordinated with the Rio Blanco County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, but the point of contact and information regarding the Meeker school board election is Urista at 970-878-9040 or email [email protected].
If only four or fewer candidates have filed verifiable petitions by Aug. 28, the BOE can cancel the election. Any vacancies would be made by appointment of the existing school board. Any such appointee(s) would then serve until the next election.
