Nicole Aimone, Editor-in-Chief
The village of Plain and village of Spring Green each met Jan. 13 to hold their caucuses, to determine which candidates will appear on the April 2021 election for their boards.
The village of Plain met in-person to fill three village trustee seats up for grabs in the spring. The three seats are currently filled by Melissa Marx, Brian Bray and Andrew Kraemer.
The caucus began with the electors nominating names for Village President. The electors are comprised of citizens of the village present at the meeting, and included members of the board as they are residents of the village, each filling out a slip of paper with names of those they wished to nominate.
The slips were then read aloud by John Ruhland, village resident and village public works director.
Rutland was responsible for distributing, collecting and reading the electors ballots as the board-appointed teller, per the operations of the caucus.
Ray Ring was the only person nominated to appear on the ballot for village president. Ring is currently serving in the role.
Following taking nominations for village president, the electors present took names to fill the three trustee seats up for election, follow the same process. The process allows for electors to nominate any number of names in the first round of voting.
A second round of voting occurs then if more than six names are nominated, in order to get the final six nominations to appear on the ballot. The village did not have to move to a second round of voting, with the first round providing only six names.
“This was like the first time ever we haven’t had a second round,” said Village Clerk Sheila Carver.
The names appearing on the ballot for trustee positions in April include, Kelly Yanke, Mike Bernards, Carl Appert, Brian Bray, Melissa Marx and Andrew Kraemer.
The Village of Spring Green held its caucus via Zoom, with its nominations seeing challenges for the first time in over a decade, according to Village Clerk Wendy Crary.
Over 20 participants cast their vote for names to appear on the village’s spring ballot. With Zoom came some adjustments, including using Zoom private messages, calls and text messages between electors and the clerk.
Robin Reid was the only person nominated for Village President.
The six names appearing on the Spring Green spring 2021 ballot include: Jennifer Snow, Dave Chapman, David Saperstein, Deb Miller, Clem Gilitzer, and Jeannie McCarville. These candidates are up to fill three trustee seats.
Patrick Hagen was also nominated, meaning the electors had to vote to determine which six names will appear on the ballot.
“We’re making history here, it’s never happened that I am aware of, at least in the 19 years I’ve worked for the village,” said Crary.
The election for trustee seats in both the village of Plain and village of Spring Green will take place April 6