Thurston County Auditor’s Office posts candidates at close of filing week
* 2 candidates vie for Yelm mayor for the 1st time in 12 years: Foster & DePinto.
* 3 council seats have no challenger: Curry, Stillwell, Wood,
* With uncontested seats still at issue here, there will be no debate on these 3 candidates’ stands, except for Stillwell who well-enunciated his views in the 2015 election to fill that vacated seat.
* Council Pos. 1 was appointed in 2016, will run in 2017 without a challenger: Curry.
* Council Pos. 3 has a Pos. 7 incumbent vs. a new candidate: Hendrickson, Colt.
* Council Pos. 4 and 5 have no challengers: Stilwell, Wood.
* Council Pos. 7 holder now running for Pos. 3, leaving 2 new Pos. 7 candidates, Blair, Kaminski.
* The council will definitely have a new mind joining, in the Pos. 7 winner.


– At the close of Filing Week last Friday (May 19) at 5pm, two Yelm trends emerged:
A. some refreshing new faces have emerged to run for Yelm City Council,
B. The mayor’s seat has 2 candidates, which WILL garner debates on issues,
C. 3 incumbents have no challenger to engender their public discourse,
D. Current Pos. 7 Councilor Hendrickson obviously had prior knowledge that his current Pos. 3 colleague Councilor Littlefield was not going to run, so instead of defending his seat against previously-announced new-comer James Blair, he moved to file as a candidate for Pos. 3, yet now has a new opponent for that seat in Cody Colt. Hendrickson is finally going to have his 11+ year record challenged, which is in the public’s interest.
E. Kamisnki has been a long-time public servant on the Yelm Planning Commission.
Read more from the Thurston County Auditor’s Office.


– Cindy Teixeira Nisqually Valley News (NVN) Correspondent’s astute observation
Teixeira filed this in the NVN online and print editions May 18, 19:
“With few contested races, those who filed this week and face no opponent don’t have to do anything but show up to take the oath after the election.”
Read more
Editor’s Note: That IS a frequent sad state of affairs for our city government’s election cycle.


– Bottom Line:
I acknowledge anyone wishing to serve the public’s interest. Running a campaign with a challenger and then serving the public is not for the faint-hearted or thin-skinned.

– Yelm Candidates (those with public sites listing their stands are hotlinked)
Mayor of Yelm
Current Interim Mayor JW Foster
Current Pos. 6 Councilor Joe DePinto

Pos. 1
Current Pos. 1 Interim Councilor EJ Curry

Pos. 3
Current Pos. 7 Councilor Russ Hendrickson
New Challenger Cody Colt

Pos. 4
Current Pos. 4 Councilor Tad Stillwell

Pos. 5
Current Pos. 5 Tracey Wood

Pos. 7
New Challenger James Blair
New Challenger Terry Kaminski