Filing deadline nears in towns
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By Aileen Streng
Published: February 22, 2008
“The drop-dead deadline is March 4 at 7 p.m., but we suggest getting in their paperwork well before that, so we can check to make sure they are not missing something,” said Diana Dutton, administrative elections manager for the Prince William County Board of Elections.
As of this week, only 10 candidates have filled the necessary paperwork with election officials to have their names places on the ballots for the May 6 elections in Dumfries, Haymarket, Occoquan and Quantico.
The offices of mayor and all the seats on the town councils of Haymarket, Occoquan and Quantico are up for grabs.
In Dumfries, three seats will be open on the Dumfries Town Council.
While one candidate each has filed for the position of mayor in Haymarket, Occoquan and Quantico, far fewer have thrown their names in for seats on those town councils — two in Quantico, one in Haymarket and none in Occoquan.
“People are very last-minute in doing this sort of thing,” Dutton said. “Maybe they just haven’t gotten around to bringing their papers in.”
Unlike the other towns, it appears interest in running for office in Dumfries is greater with five people already submitting at least some of the required paperwork for the three open council seats.
Getting their names on the ballot, however, is more difficult in Dumfries than in the three smaller towns.
Since Dumfries has more than 1,500 registered voters, candidates are required by state law to get signatures from 125 registered voters to get their names on the ballot.
Since each signature has to be verified, Dutton said, election officials need to be given enough time to do so.
“If you bring [the petitions] in early, then we can check them and make sure you have enough,” Dutton said. “If you bring them in late and we run out of time, you are in trouble. The last day is too late to be going back out and trying to get more signatures.”
Dumfries
The 2,212 registered voters in Dumfries will be asked to vote for three members of the Dumfries Town Council.
Unlike the three other smaller towns in the county, Dumfries staggers the four-year terms of its six
council members and its mayor.
The office of mayor is not up for a vote this year. However the seats of incumbents Brenda Via, Stephanie Bradley and Rafael Lopez will be voted on in May.
Via is the only incumbent who has submitted paperwork to election officials. Lopez announced last fall that he would not seek another term.
Four newcomers, however, have submitted all or most of the paperwork and petitions. They are Dorothea Barr, Nancy H. West, Sean Robinson and William J. Toney.
Haymarket
Haymarket’s 678 registered voters will be choosing their mayor and the six members of the Haymarket Town
Council.
Incumbent Mayor Pamela Stutz has filed for reelection, as has incumbent Town Councilman John C. Cole.
Cole was under a much tighter deadline to file his election paperwork since he left this month for a six-month deployment to Iraq as a civilian employee of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Aside from Cole, the other Haymarket Town Council members are Natasha Sikorsky, Sheila Jarboe, Robert Weir, Oswald Vazquez and Susan Shuryn.
Occoquan
The 584 registered voters in Occoquan also will be deciding their mayor and the five members of the Occoquan Town Council.
The only official candidate thus far is incumbent Occoquan Mayor Earnest “Earnie” Porta.
The current members of the Occoquan Town Council are James N. Walbert, Ken Brunsvold, Barry G. Dean, Pamela A. Konwin and Leo A. Smith Jr.
Quantico
The 272 registered voters in Quantico also will be heading to the polls in May to choose their town leaders.
Incumbent mayor Albert “Al” Gasser has not yet filed to run again. However, Quantico Town Councilmember and Vice Mayor Iris R. Tharpe is interested in the job of mayor and has filed for that office.
Aside from Tharpe, the current members of Quantico Town Council include Russell V. Kuhns, Mitchel P. Raftelis, Mary Lou DiMarzio and William J.
Unrine.
DiMarzio has filed for reelection. Newcomer Virginia L. Macfarlan also has filed for a seat on the five-member Quantico council.
While there is only a little over a week left to file, Dutton encourages residents to consider running for a town
office.
“We want people to participate,” she said. “That’s one of our missions: to get people involved in the elections.”
Information about running for any town office, including getting copies of the necessary paperwork, can be obtained by calling the Prince William Voter Registration and Electoral Board office at 703-792-6470 or by going to the office at 9252 Lee Ave.,
Manassas.
Additional information can be obtained from the Virginia Board of Elections at 800-552-9745 or at its Web site, http://www.sbe.state.va.us.
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