Filing deadline is Thursday for city council elections

Filing for city council positions in Flathead County’s three incorporated cities ends Thursday with a few slots to fill in each city.

The only contested race so far is a three-way race for Kalispell’s Ward 3 council seat held by Rod Kuntz.

Kuntz has filed to retain his Ward 3 seat.

Kuntz was appointed in August 2014 to fill out the remainder of Randy Kenyon’s term after Kenyon moved to the North Fork area. He was one of 11 applicants for the vacancy. Kuntz is a salesman at Don K Subaru in Whitefish.

Kuntz will be challenged by Christopher M.C. Cunningham and Karlene Osorio-Khor.

Cunningham, 26, is a Minnesota native. He has lived in the Kalispell area since 1998 and recently moved to the downtown area. Cunningham is employed at ImagineIF Libraries as a materials handler. He has a political science degree from American Military University, an online institution.

Khor ran for a Ward 3 council seat in 2013 but was defeated by longtime incumbent Jim Atkinson. She is a member and manager of a limited liability corporation that owns property on Main Street in Kalispell.

Khor is an active civic leader who has pushed for downtown revitalization, worked on a committee to save Central School from demolition and has been involved in a grassroots effort to solve parking and litter problems in the Flathead High School neighborhood.

Kalispell Ward 1 incumbent Kari Gabriel has filed for re-election and is the lone candidate to date in that ward.

In Ward 4, incumbent Phil Guiffrida also is the only candidate to file.

As of Tuesday afternoon there were no candidates posted on the county election website for the Ward 2 council seat held by Wayne Saverud.

In Whitefish, Mayor John Muhlfeld is so far unopposed in his bid for a second four-year term. Prior to being elected mayor in November 2011, Muhlfeld served six years on the City Council.

Whitefish council incumbents Richard Hildner, a retired school teacher, and Frank Sweeney, a Whitefish attorney, are both unopposed in their bids for a second four-year term. Both were first elected in 2011 but Sweeney was appointed to the council in 2009 before later losing his bid for re-election that year.

Whitefish council member John Anderson recently resigned from his position, which is up for election this year. Former council member Sarah Fitzgerald was appointed to fill out Anderson’s term through December, but will not seek re-election to the position.

Council candidates are sparse in Columbia Falls.

Incumbent Darin Fisher has filed for re-election and so far is the only candidate for three expiring terms. Columbia Falls has two other council openings for seats held by Julie Plevel and Doug Karper.

Prospective candidates can file at the Flathead County Election Department, 800 S. Main St. in Kalispell.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.