Prospective candidates for the Camp Verde Town Council have a week to pull paperwork and collect enough signatures to run.
Anyone with an intention to run for office must have his or her paper work, with the needed amount of signatures, returned to town hall by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8.
As of press time, there were only three people who had pulled paperwork to run for a council seat, and only two for the position of mayor.
There are four seats open for next year’s elections — three council seats and the mayor’s seat, which, despite previous council argument that it is an equal position, remains a separate race with a two-year term as the prize. Regular council members serve four-year terms.
The mix of open seats comes after a virtual musical chairs of resigning candidates were replaced over the past three years.
Norma Garrison, who has served a four-year term, has said she is not running again.
Pete Roulette, a local real estate agent who now serves on the council after his election in 2009, hasn’t yet pulled papers.
Carol German is running to keep her seat on council after serving part of a term she was elected to after the council tried to reorganize.
Resident and current Camp Verde Planning and Zoning Commissioner Alan Buchanan is also running for office. Buchanan ran in 2007 and was defeated.
Another Camp Verde resident, Bruce George, is running for a seat; he could not be reached by press time.
As it stands, there may be three people running for three open council seats. The only contested race thus far is the one for the mayor’s office, currently contested between incumbent Bob Burnside and local event organizer Steve Goetting.
German, who also used to serve on planning and zoning, said she was motivated in part by the town’s ability to enforce its codes.
German said she feels like there is still work to be done as an elected leader.
“I feel that we’re getting something going,” German said. “There’s a lot of energy and we need to look forward to the things that we can actually accomplish.”
German said she has no ulterior motives in running for re-election. She just wants to look out for her constituents.
“I really want to make sure we see professionalism in our government,” German said. “We really have to have the community at heart.”
Buchanan said his three years on planning and zoning have provided insights that make him a candidate people in Camp Verde can depend on.
“It’s made me a lot more aware of the problems faced by the town,” Buchanan said.
As a planning and zoning board member, and a liaison to the now defunct design review board, Buchanan said he’s learned a lot about how government works, especially when his experience in construction and business is taken into account.
Buchanan has experience in owning his own businesses, and thinks it translates well into a government position. He also feels he could work well with the town’s current employees.
“I know the town is working with a skeleton staff,” Buchanan said, “But I think they do an excellent job.”
The election is set for Tuesday, March 8.
