Deadline for city election filing Monday

With just one business day left to file for city elections, candidates have filed for all the open City Council seats in Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls.

Filing ends at 5 p.m. Monday, June 19.

A three-way race is set up in Kalispell’s Ward 3, where Kyle Waterman has filed along with incumbent Jim Atkinson and Karlene Osorio-Khor. Waterman moved to Kalispell in 2014 and has 15 years of experience in nonprofit management. He is active with Kalispell Daybreak Rotary and Intermountain Children’s Services. He also serves on Flathead Electric’s Roundup for Safety board.

Osario-Khor ran unsuccessfully against Atkinson in 2013. She applied to fill Randy Kenyon’s seat in 2014 but lost that bid when Rod Kuntz was selected from a slate of 11 applicants.

In 2015 Osario-Khor ran unsuccessfully against Kuntz for the Ward 3 slot. She has served on several local government boards, including the Kalispell Planning Board and the city’s Impact Fee Committee.

Atkinson is retired. He worked as a teacher for many years and is a former director of the Flathead County Agency on Aging, where he still coordinates the senior mobile home repair program.

The Kalispell council has eight council members — two from each ward.

Kalispell council members seeking re-election include Sandy Carlson, Ward 1; Chad Graham, Ward 2; and Tim Kleusner, Ward 4.

Kleusner is being challenged in his ward by Sid Daoud, who filed late this week. Daoud is a former infrastructure analyst and a former Plum Creek Timber Co. employee, according to his Facebook page.

Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson and Municipal Judge Lori Adams also have filed for re-election and so far are unopposed.

In Whitefish, council incumbents Andy Feury and Pam Barberis have filed for re-election. Barberis was first elected to the council in 2013. Feury served on the council from 1991 to 1998 and was Whitefish mayor from 2000 to 2007, when he resigned early from his term to focus on his business interests in China. Feury jumped back into local politics when he was elected to the council in 2013.

Whitefish council member Jen Frandsen told the Whitefish Pilot she will not seek re-election.

Melissa Hartman, who unsuccessfully ran for a Montana District 3 Senate seat last year, has filed for a Whitefish council seat.

The main event in Whitefish’s election is a three-way race for the municipal judge position being vacated by retiring Bradley Johnson. Thomas Tornow, Kristi L. Curtis and William Hileman Jr. have all filed for municipal judge.

Columbia Falls has a contested race for mayor. Mayor Don Barnhart is being challenged by John H. Rallis. No information about Rallis was immediately available.

Barnhart has served as mayor since 2009.

Jenny Lovering is seeking re-election to serve a second four-year term. Incumbent Mike Shepard also has filed for re-election. Shepard has served on the council for nearly 20 years and is completing his fifth four-year term.

Stephen J. Duffy, a Columbia Falls Planning Board member, has filed for a council seat.

As of Friday afternoon, Columbia Falls council member Dave Petersen, who is completing his 10th year, had not filed for re-election.

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