Koldeway won’t seek re-election in BASD

By Jennifer Eisenbart

EDITOR

After a controversial three years, Burlington Area School District School Board member Roger Koldeway will not seek re-election.

Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline to file election papers came and went without Koldeway turning in his. Since Koldeway also did not file papers of non-candidacy, the deadline for potential candidates was extended to Friday. However, no one else filed.

Koldeway and Phil Ketterhagen were both elected in the spring of 2012 following a tumultuous budget process the preceding fall that saw electors – led by the fiscal conservative group WeVote Burlington – initially vote down the proposed budget, and then approve it a month later.

Koldeway and Ketterhagen ran opposite Susan Kessler and John Anderson – who was then the School Board President – and unseated them.

In the three years since, Koldeway’s wife, Julie, ran for the School Board, but did not earn a seat. Larry Anderson and Jim Bousman were both elected in that race.

Last December, David Thompson – who took over as Board President – chose not to seek re-election. Bill Campbell, the incumbent, was re-elected and appointed Board President, and newcomer Todd Terry filled the other open spot on the board.

Attempts to reach Roger Koldeway for comment on Tuesday were unsuccessful. Previous attempts to find out whether or not he would run were answered with “no comment.”

Ketterhagen will face three challengers – Kevin Bird, Barry Schmaling and Jim Berndt. Berndt ran last spring for School Board. Schmaling is a citizen representative with the board and Bird has been active in the community as a member of service organizations and youth sports.

City of Burlington

There will be just one true race for the four available City of Burlington Common Council seats.

In the Second District, Peter Hintz, the incumbent, will face a challenge from Bob Grandi.

However, in the First District, Alderman Bob Prailes announced in December that he would not seek re-election – and no one filed papers to run for the open seat by Tuesday’s deadline.

Write-in candidates could end up filling the spot, or the city would have to appoint someone to serve.

Jon Schultz (Third District) and Todd Bauman (Fourth District) will run unopposed.

Town of Burlington

There were no surprises with the Town Board filings Tuesday, as all three incumbents turned in papers – but no challengers did.

Town Chairman Ralph Rice and Supervisors Rich Isaacson and Tyson Fettes will be running unopposed.