The list of candidates for Petersburg’s 2023 municipal election is in — and it’s long. KFSK’s Shelby Herbert has the rundown on the residents who are running for 20 open seats. 

It’s thirty minutes out from the filing deadline, and it’s mostly all quiet at the municipal building. 

Kayley Thorsen is working the front desk. She says she’s processed a few last-minute applicants — but folks have been sneaking in throughout the month. 

“We’ve been pretty steady with people coming in,” said Thorsen. “It’s nice out and most people around town doing bills and stuff like that. So that’s been my main busyness — but we’ve had a few people turn in some candidacy paperwork.”

In Petersburg, many aspiring borough officials have held their cards close — refusing to announce their intentions until after the deadline to file has passed. However, their relative silence camouflages their numbers.

Debbie Thompson is the Borough Clerk, and she’s supervising the municipal election. As the window to file for candidacy closed, she said she’s pretty thrilled about the high level of participation this year. 

“Every seat has a candidate, and some are contested,” said Thompson. “So we have a really great turnout this year and it’s exciting. It’ll be a good election.”

Without any further ado: here is the final list of candidates for Petersburg’s upcoming municipal election.

The competition is fierce for the Public Safety Advisory Board, with five residents running for two seats. Their names are: Stanley Hjort, Jacob Slaven, Russel Thynes, Tony Vinson, and Mark Tuccilo. 

And four candidates for the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board: Ambre Burrell, Adam Caster, Gregg Kowalski, and Sunny Rice. 

There are five for the Library Board: Mary Ellen Anderson, Tina Buschmann, Marilyn Menish-Meucci, Lizzie Thompson, and JoAnn Thynes.

Over to the Harbor Board: there are three positions on the table, each lasting three years. And three people have put their name in the hat. Bob Martin chairs the board; he’s running for reelection. Joel Randrup and former board member Scott Roberge are also in the mix.

There’s one three-year term on Petersburg’s School Board. Katie Holmlund, the board’s sitting vice president, is running for it unopposed. 

There are two three-year terms and one one-year term opening up on the Hospital Board. The terms of Hospital Board President Jerod Cook and Secretary Marlene Cushing are expiring. They’re both running for reelection. The new contenders are: Mika Hasbrouk, Don Koenigs, and Jim Roberts. 

Three people are up for three seats on the Planning Commission: Marietta Davis, Chris Fry, and Heather O’Neil. 

And, finally: for the Borough Assembly, the seats of members Jeff Meucci and Dave Kensinger are up for reelection. A term on the Borough Assembly lasts three years. It’s also the only office on the list that includes any kind of compensation, at $150 per regular meeting. But assembly members don’t get paid for any special meetings or work sessions they have to attend.

This year’s new contenders are: Rick Perkins, Rob Schwartz, and former assembly member Jeigh Stanton Gregor. 

Jeff Meucci will run for reelection. Dave Kensinger will not. 

That’s all for this year’s candidates. But Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson says she’s still looking for volunteers to lend a hand on election day. 

“You can be a registrar — they will make sure that the person wanting to vote is a registered voter and have them sign the log and then hand them a ballot,” said Thompson. “You can be by the black box, which is the ballot reader and just stand there to make sure everything goes well when people come and bring their ballots and stick it into the reader, be there to help if anything goes wrong. And then there’s a floater to help people who have questions, or maybe are not on the list.”

Candidates have until 4:30 p.m. on Friday, August 25th to withdraw from the race. The next municipal election is Tuesday, October 3rd.