CHAFFEE CITY, SCHOOL ELECTIONS ABSENT OF CONTESTS

CHAFFEE -- With only five days remaining until the filing deadline, there still are no races in the Chaffee aldermanic or Chaffee school board elections.

Most filing activity since Jan. 5 has been in Jackson, where there is a mayor's race and races in aldermanic wards 1 and 3, and races for three seats on the school board.

Five-term Chaffee school board member and board President Philip Dame said Tuesday he will retire from the board in April, having serving the school district for 15 years. "I believe in term limits," Dame quipped. "It's time for me to step down and let someone new come on the board."

Dame was elected to the school board in 1978. He has served most of that time as its president. He was a member of the board during the construction of the new elementary and junior- and senior-high schools.

Dame said one of his proudest achievements as a member of the board was to bring the school district's budget back in balance.

The latest candidate to file for Chaffee school board is board member James H. Chronister, who is completing his first term on the board.

Chronister, 56, of 402 Yoakum, is a retired sales and marketing manager for the Frisco and the Burlington Northern railroads. He retired from the railroad in 1988 and returned to Chaffee with his wife, Irmgard.

Chronister is a graduate of Chaffee High School. He received his bachelor-of-science degree in business and sociology from Southwest Missouri State University at Springfield.

"I decided to run for school board after retiring from the railroad and returning to Chaffee," he said. "Until now I did not have the opportunity to become involved in community affairs.

"During my first term in office, I was very pleased to be a member of the setting school board that had selected three very fine administrators for our district - Superintendent Wayne Pressley, High School Principal Bill Biggerstaff, and Elliott Elementary School Principal Jay Moore. They, along with our teachers and support staff, make up a tremendous team for the Chaffee school system. Our school district was at a turning point, and I think we have made a good turn and are on a fine road."

Chronister said he wants to continue to serve on the school board to help the district prepare for phase three of its building program. The project will include demolition of the old Chaffee High School building and construction on the same site of a new home-economics, shop and band rooms. The addition will attach to the east end of the junior- and senior-high school.

"I also feel, with the current and future economic conditions in the state and the nation, that we must start looking at pooling our resources here and in other nearby communities," Chronister said. "The possibility exists in the not-to-distant future that the issue of consolidation or enlargement with other school districts may come up again simply as a matter of economics and the school tax situation. The school board must be alert to this possibility and be prepared to discuss it when the time comes."

Besides Chronister, candidates for the three seats that will be filled in April are Tom Davenport and Randy Dooley.

None of the four incumbent alderman who have filed for re-election has opposition. They are Ward 1 Alderman Bill Cannon, Ward 2 Alderman Ed Gauthier, Ward 3 Alderman Danny Finley, and Ward 4 Alderman and mayor pro tem Tom Cunningham.

In Jackson, 12-term Mayor Carlton Meyer is opposed by Ward 1 Alderman Paul Sander, who did not seek re-election to his seat on the board of aldermen.

Two candidates have filed for Sander's Ward 1 seat: Vicki Abernathy and David Hitt.

In Ward 2, Alderman Kevin Sawyer remains unopposed in his bid for another two-year term.

A newcomer, Dave Reiminger, has filed for the one-year unexpired term of Ward 2 Alderman Phil Johnston, who is stepping down in April. He has resigned from the board, but was appointed by the mayor to continue to serve as Ward 2 alderman until his successor is elected.

In Ward 3, incumbent Valerie Tuschhoff and Robert "Butch" Wright are the only candidates to file for the seat.

Alderman Jack Piepenbrok is the only candidate to file in Ward 4.

No candidates have filed against Jackson City Collector Beverly Nelson.

Seven candidates, including the two incumbents, have filed for the three seats that will be filled on the Jackson school board.

Legislation approved last year by the General Assembly will enlarge all school boards by one member in April.

Besides incumbents Darrell Hanschen and T. Wayne Lewis, other Jackson school board candidates are: Mark Martin, Kelle A. Lane, David L. Seabaugh, Vicky McDowell, and Wendy Hayes. Most have said they are running for the third seat on the board, and not against the incumbents.

Candidates for Jackson municipal and school board offices may file at city hall or the school superintendent's office on South Oklahoma. Chaffee candidates may file at city hall or at the superintendent's office in the high school building.

The deadline to file for municipal or school board offices is Feb. 2.