First candidates file for city council elections

Glacier High School government teacher Richard Hildner is the first candidate to file for a City Council seat in Whitefish.

Hildner has been an active participant in Whitefish City Council meetings through the years and most recently helped coordinate the referendum issue that will allow Whitefish city voters to decide this fall whether to keep or throw out a revised interlocal agreement for joint city-county governance of Whitefish’s two-mile “doughnut” area.

The terms of Whitefish council members Ryan Friel, John Muhlfeld and Turner Askew expire at the end of the year, as will Mayor Mike Jenson’s term.

No one has filed for mayor yet in Whitefish.

In the Kalispell City Council election, a contested race already has developed in Ward 2, where incumbent Wayne Saverud has filed for re-election and will be challenged by Chad Graham.

Kari Gabriel has filed for re-election in Ward 1 and Walter Keathley has filed in Ward 3.

Keathley worked for several years as a mortician in Tennessee, where he grew up, and is now pursuing a degree in secondary education at the University of Great Falls through Flathead Valley Community College.

Duane Larson’s council seat in Ward 4 also is up for election.

No one has filed yet in Columbia Falls, where the terms of council members Harvey Reikofski, Julie Plevel and Doug Karper expire at the end of the year.

Prospective candidates have until 5 p.m. on June 30 to file at the Flathead County Election Department. The general election is Nov. 8.

City elections are nonpartisan.