Two throw hat into the ring for council seats

(4/13) At the April 11 Town Council meeting, nominations were received to fill the two seats on the Town Council currently held by Commissioners Dana Crum and John Cutshall.

Crum reluctantly announced that she would not be seeking re-election, opting to spend more time with her family. Crum, who is finishing up her first term, said that when she was nominated, she was "pregnant with her first child and never gave the time commitment that being on the town council required. But with a three year old now running around the house, I just don’t have the time, and it’s not fair to him, or the town."

Cutshall however, made it clear that he would look forward to being nominated to sever another term, and Commissioner Jessie Case rose to the occasion and made the necessary nomination. Case said: "John is a great guy, and a great commissioner. He loves the town, has a rich knowledge of the town history, and more importantly, a level head. In many ways, he’s the bedrock of the Town Council and we are all better off with him on it."

Cutshall said he never thought about not running: "I love this town. I’ve lived here all my life and one of these days they are going to carry me out of here in a box. I’m retired, so I have all the time in the world to serve the town. I love taking care of the town and serving the people."

While not running herself, Crum nominated Ben Marshall, to serve on the council. Crum said, Marshall, who currently heading the Woodsboro skate park initiative, "would be [the] logical replacement for her on the council," especially given that he would presumably assume her responsibilities on the town’s Parks & Recreation Committee.

Subsequent to the nominating ‘convention,’ former Mayor Bill Rittelmeyer said he went home, and after discussing with his wife and getting her support, decided to run as a write-in candidate. "I hadn't thought about putting my name in prior to the meeting and hadn't discussed it with my wife. So, I wasn't in a position to accept a nomination at the meeting.

"I served 10+ years as a Commissioner and four years as Burgess and am well qualified to run for an open seat," Rittelmeyer said. "I will be asking people to write in ‘William P. Rittelmeyer’ (spelling and middle initial are important) for the second open council seat. I would be honored to serve the citizen of Woodsboro again if they think I am worthy of the position."

Unlike other municipalities, Woodsboro uses a nominating process to ‘vet’ candidates for town council. A candidate can nominate themselves, or have someone else nominate them; all that is necessary to get one’s name placed on the ballot is someone to ‘second’ the nomination.

Burgess Barnes pointed out that while the purpose of the nominating process was to identify the names to be put on the ballet, it was still possible for a person to run a write-in campaign, "if very possible," he said, "given the usual low turnout, to win a seat on the council with just a handful of votes."

Commissioners are paid $3,000 per year.

The town’s election is scheduled for Saturday, May 13.