The ballots are set and with the general election just two months away, voters will need to start thinking about who they want to fill open school board positions, as well as open city commission and council positions.

Locally, five seats on the Prairie Hills USD No. 113 Board of Education and three seats on the Sabetha City Commission are up for election this November.

On the USD No. 113 Board of Education, Positions One, Three, Four (unexpired term), Five and Seven are open.

Position One includes the part of the school district located in Hamlin, Morrill and Walnut townships in Brown County, and Berwick Township in Nemaha County. Position One currently is held by James Scoby, and he has re-filed for the position. He is running unopposed.

Position Three includes the part of the school district lying within the city limits of Sabetha, beginning at the west city limit on Main Street, then east on Main Street to Old Highway 75, then southerly and westerly following the city limits to the place of beginning. Position Three currently is held by Kathy Lippert, and she has re-filed for the position. She is running unopposed.

Position Four is an unexpired term. The position includes the area south of Highway 36. Anissa Bloom resigned from this position in March 2023. On Wednesday, May 31, Andrea Lagos of Wetmore filed for this position.

Position Five includes the part of the school district in Nemaha County, beginning at the northwest corner of Section 2-12-1, then south three miles, then east two miles, then south 2-1/2 miles to the district boundaries — thus including all property located in Washington, Gilman, Rock Creek and Adams townships, which is within the school district, excluding the City of Sabetha. Position Five is currently held by Leslie Scoby, who has filed for re-election, but she filed for Position Seven. Todd Grimes of Sabetha and Ross Mosteller of Seneca have filed for Position Five.

Position Seven is the board’s at-large member and can be any person residing within the school district. Position Seven currently is held by Sabetha resident Kent Saylor, and he did not re-file for the position. Leslie Scoby of Sabetha and Ann Shaughnessy of Axtell have filed for Position Seven. Shaughnessy was previously on the board.

On the Sabetha City Commission, three positions are open — Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, currently held by Nick Aberle; Commissioner of Utilities, currently held by Norman Schmitt; and Commissioner of Streets, currently held by Julie Lancaster-Burenheide. Aberle has refiled for his position. Burenheide and Schmitt did not re-file. However, Jason Enneking has filed for the Commissioner of Utilities position, and Megan Bunck and Joshua Burger both have filed for the Commissioner of Streets position.

Other cities and open positions in the readership area include the following: City of Bern, three council members; City of Goff, mayor and five council members; City of Oneida, mayor and five council members; City of Wetmore, mayor and five council members; City of Seneca, mayor, treasurer and three council members; City of Morrill, mayor and five council members; and City of Fairview, three council members.

In Brown County, Kenneth Beckner has filed for mayor in Morrill, and Chad Youde, Linda Wymer and Gage Becker have filed for Morrill council member positions. On the Fairview council, Charlie Kramer and Sierra Renner have filed for re-election. Bridget Harvey did not file for re-election.

In Nemaha County, Patrick Allen has filed for the mayor, and Joyce Russell, Shawn Branson, Wanda Branson, Angelia Steiner and Carol A. Winkler have filed for the five council positions in Oneida.

For the City of Bern, Jacob Kaster, Carla Meyer and Randy A. Summers have filed for council positions.

For the City of Goff, no one has filed for mayor, and Michelle Flewelling, Michele Malloy and Dennis Rice filed for three of the five council positions.

For the City of Wetmore, Miles Hanzlicek has filed for mayor, and Michelle Cochran, Bruce Dee Fund, Ed Nott, Dean Osterhaus and Tyler Osterhaus have filed for the five open council positions.

For the City of Seneca, filings are as follows: for mayor, Joe Mitchell; for treasurer, Kathy O’Brien; for Ward One council member, Ray Shinn; for Ward Two council member, Steven Bennett; and for Ward Three council member, Michael Stallbaumer.

Other school board positions open in the readership area include the following: Nemaha Central USD No. 115, Positions One, Three, Five and Seven; and Hiawatha USD No. 415, Positions One, Two, Three and Seven.

On the USD No. 115 Board, filings are as follows: Position One, Amy Sudbeck; Position Three, Amy Huerter; Position Five, Tory Jost; and Position Seven, Owen R. Zinke and Kris Anderson.

On the USD No. 415 Board, filings are as follows: Position One, Ryan Patton; Position Two, Mitchell Brown and Richard Schilling; Position Three, Ian Schuetz; and Position Seven, Griff Howard.

Important Dates

October 17 – Last day to register to vote for the General Election

October 18 – First day advance voting ballots are mailed and first day of in-person advance voting (if testing is complete)

November 7 – General Election

Anyone with questions concerning the voting process should contact the Nemaha County Clerk’s office at 785-336-2170, or the Brown County Clerk’s Office at 785-742-2581.

Disorganization Petition

The Herald reached out to the Nemaha County Election Office to ask about the petition to disorganize USD No. 113, which circulated around the district earlier this year. According to DeAnn Koch and Mary Kay Schultejans, the petition had not been submitted by Thursday, Aug. 31.