Prescott ballot has no candidates for village president

By Tim Barnum
News Editor | news@ogemawherald.com

PRESCOTT — The Nov. 6 ballot in the village of Prescott currently includes no candidates for village president, the highest elected position on the village board.

Prescott’s current president, Mark Janowski, is not seeking re-election.

County Clerk Gary Klacking said the village has struggled with finding candidates for its governing board before.

“They’ve had trouble in the past getting people to run,” he said.

Klacking said a board member from the village contacted him about how to proceed, but he was hesitant to offer up an opinion on the matter.

“I’ve already been called by a trustee about what they should do, and I told them they should look at the charter,” he said.

“I don’t believe I should make the determination for them,” he added. “I believe, as I told one of their trustees a time ago, they should talk to their attorney.”

According to Klacking, he did look at a copy of the Prescott charter, and found one section dealing with a vacancy on the board. He said the charter says if a vacancy occurs, the remainder of the vacant office’s term should be filled within 30 days.

The village’s issue is a little different, in that Janowksi will serve out his full term before the vacancy becomes an issue, Klacking said.

“The election will be held, and then there’ll be a vacancy,” he said.

Klacking added he also referenced the state election law on the matter, which is also vague about the village’s dilemma.

“It says look at the charter,” he said.

A village resident could still file as a candidate for president as a write-in, Klacking said. Write-ins can file for the Nov. 6 election until 4 p.m. Oct. 26. As of Oct. 11, no write-in candidates had filed for the position.

Janowski told the Herald in July that the village is looking to decrease the number of trustees on its board from six to four. He said the move was to save money, and the board does not need that many members.

“We don’t need that many people to make decisions,” he told the Herald in July.

A vote of the people would be needed to decrease the size of the board. However, the matter will not be on the ballot in November, and was not on the August primary ballot.