More openings than candidates in most special districts

By Nathan Oster

Monday, Aug. 29 was the final day for candidates to file for special district seats that will be on the ballot in the November general election.

Here’s the final list of filers that was provided by the Big Horn County Clerk’s office.

School Board

 Four seats on the Big Horn County School District No. 3 board of trustees will be up for grabs this year, including those now held by Michelle Brown, Ted Menke, Lynette Murray and Bill Robertson.

Robertson and Murray filed for new four-year terms, but Brown and Menke did not, meaning there will be more open seats than candidates on ballot.

The terms of Pam Flitner, Bette Rae Jones and Todd Dalin expire in 2024.

Hospital Board

For South Big Horn County Hospital District, three of the five seats are expiring this year. Two of them carry four-year terms, the third a two-year term.

Those whose terms are ending include Connie Werbelow and Mary Watts, both of whom were elected in 2018, as well as Jeff Petty, who was chosen to replace Michael McColloch who resigned.

Only two candidates — Petty and Janet E. Evans — filed for four-year terms.  No one filed for the two-year term.

Ken Nelson and Paul Thur each have two years remaining on their terms.

Rural Health Board  

A five-person board leads Big Horn County Rural Health District 1, which oversees ambulance services in south Big Horn County.  

The terms of Russ Fowler, Laura Huber and Chairman Ken Nelson are expiring this year. Huber and Fowler filed for re-election, but Nelson did not.

Anna Preciado and Deb Rathbun each have two years remaining.

Senior Center Board

Two of the five seats on the South Big Horn County Senior Citizens Service District board are up this year.  

Those seats are currently held by Tom Goton and Barbara Anne Greene.  Greene and Kasie Stewart filed for four-year terms, but Goton did not.

Holdovers whose terms run through 2024 include Walt Rivers, Diane Nuttall and Kristi Bonnell-Phillips.

Fire Districts

Tim Metro filed for a four-year term and Barbara Anne Greene filed for a two-year term on the Fire District No. 2 board.

Conservation Districts

For South Big Horn Conservation District, the four-year terms of George Kelso, Jan Johnson and Howard Wildman are up this year.  Johnson holds the lone urban seat on the board, Kelso holds one of three rural seats and Wildman holds an at-large seat.

Kelso and Wildman filed for re-election, but Johnson did not. As a result, there will not be a candidate on the ballot for the four-year urban seat.

The terms of the other two rural board members, Linda Hamilton and Walter Hibbert, expire in 2024. 

Cemetery Districts

While most special districts have more openings than candidates, that’s not going to be the case for south Big Horn County’s cemetery district boards.

Here are the filers for those races:

Burlington: Albert Henderson, Jacob Davidson, Kimberly Rasmussen

Emblem: George Kelso, Chris Edwards, Janet Kummerfeldt

Hyattville: Guy Tharp, Kelli L. Mercer, Kelly Darling (for four-year terms) and June Booth (for a two-year term)

Otto: Sherri C. Hartman, Judy Winters, Camilla Hancock

South Central: M. Scott McColloch