Municipal elections end on November 2
Ballots for five contested races are due this week for the Blanding and Monticello city municipal elections.
An official candidate withdrawal from the only contested Bluff race means the election is canceled for the town.
San Juan County Clerk’s office mailed out ballots for municipal elections on October 4.
Community members have until November 1 to drop off their ballots in the mail or they can drop them off at a ballot box located at the Blanding City Office or the County Administration building in Monticello through election day on November 2.
Residents of Monticello and Blanding who are not registered to vote can cast provisional ballots at poll locations on election day, Tuesday, November 2.
Polling places in Blanding and Monticello will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election day.
There are six candidates for three seats on the Blanding City Council. Profiles of the candidates appeared in the October 6 issue of the San Juan Record. They are also available online at SJRNews.com.
Two seats are for standard four-year terms and one is for a two-year term. The seats are currently held by Robert Turk, Cheryl Bowers, and Kellen Nielson.
Four candidates are running for the two seats with four-year terms. They include Shawn Begay, incumbent Cheryl Bowers, Erik Merlin Grover, and Paul Murdock.
One Blanding City Council seat is up for a two-year term after the seat was vacated in January when Logan Shumway stepped down from the council. The City Council selected Kellen Nielson as his replacement through the end of the year.
Who fills the remaining two years on the term will be decided by Blanding residents, with voters choosing between Nielson and Colby Monson.
Blanding will also have a new Mayor next year, since current Mayor Joe B. Lyman is not seeking re-election.
One candidate is on the ballot for the office of Mayor, current council member Logan Monson.
Since Monson is running unopposed in the middle of his current city council term, the new city council will appoint his council replacement in January 2022 to fulfill the remaining two years of his term.
There are two seats up for election on the Monticello City Council. They are currently held by Bayley Hedglin and George Rice.
Four candidates for the two seats on the city council include Ammon Boswell, Kevin Dunn, incumbent George Rice, and Mandy Wigginton.
Profiles for these candidates were printed in the October 13 issue of the San Juan Record and can be found online at SJRNews.com.
In Monticello, Mayor Tim Young did not seek re-election. Current city council member Bayley Hedglin is the only person to file for Mayor. Hedglin will become the first female mayor of Monticello.
In the town of Bluff, there are two council seats up for election. However, incumbents Linda Sosa and Luanne Hook were the only two to register and will retain their seats without challenge for another term.
Mayor Ann Leppanen will also retain her role as Mayor after challenger Steve Helgerson resigned from the race after the ballots had been mailed.