Primary Filing Opens Today

Today marks the opening of the 2024 Primary Election filing period with a deadline of May 31 for candidates in all partisan and nonpartisan primary races.

A complete listing of all offices can be found in the 2024 Primary Proclamation on page B6 of this week’s Saratoga Sun. A few of those offices include three seats on the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC), three on the Saratoga Town Council, two on the Encampment Town Council and three on the Riverside Town Council.

Board of Carbon County Commissioners

The three seats which will appear on the primary, and general, election ballot are currently held by Commissioner John Espy, Commissioner Garrett Irene and Chairwoman Sue Jones. Earlier this year, Irene was appointed to the seat after it was vacated by the resignation of former commissioner Byron Barkhurst.

Barkhurst had been elected on a two year unexpired term in the 2018 election and was elected to a four year term in 2020. Espy and Jones were also elected to their four year terms in 2020. Both have been serving on the BOCCC since 2012.

Saratoga Town Council

The upcoming vacancies on the Saratoga Town Council may be confusing to those who haven’t been paying close attention to the past few years due primarily to resignations. Two of the seats which will appear on the ballot are for four year terms while the other is for a two-year unexpired term.

One of the seats up for a full four year term is currently held by Councilmember Mike Cooley. Cooley was elected to a two-year unexpired term in 2022. That seat was momentarily held by Creed James, who was elected to the Saratoga Town Council in 2020 and was appointed to fill the mayoral vacancy left by the resignation of John Zeiger. D’Ron Campbell was appointed to that vacancy and then ran for mayor in 2022 against Chuck Davis.

The other seat up for a full four year term is held by Councilmember Kathy Beck. Beck was appointed to her seat in 2022 following the resignation of Ben Spaulding. Spaulding had been elected to a four year term in 2020 alongside James.

The two-year unexpired term appearing on the ballot is for the seat held by the late Jacob Fluty. At the May 6 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Bub Barkhurst was appointed to the vacancy for the remainder of the year.

Encampment Town Council

Encampment Town Council has two four-year terms which will be appearing on the ballot. One seat is currently held by Councilmember Stas Banach, who was elected in 2020. The other is currently held by Councilmember Susan Munson.

Munson was appointed to the seat earlier this year to fill a vacancy left by the death of Bill Craig. Craig was first elected to the Encampment Town Council in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020.

Riverside Town Council

The small town of Riverside has three seats which will appear on the primary ballot this year. Two of the seats are four year terms and one is a two-year unexpired term.

The two-year unexpired term is for the seat currently held by Lisa Lorenz, who was appointed to the position last year after the resignation of the late Fred Lorenz. The two four year terms are held by Mark Helwick and Linda Brown. Helwick was elected to the seat in 2020 for a four year term. Brown was appointed to the seat following the resignation of Dean Webb.

How To File

Those wanting to file to run for a municipal office must do so with their town clerk. The fee is $25. To file for a county office, the fee is $100 and must be done through the Carbon County Clerk’s Office.