Dresden is seeking Assessor's job
HARTINGTON — A Hartington woman seeks the county assessor position as she filed for election.
Long-time Cedar County Assessor's office employee Becky Dresden filed last week with the Cedar County Clerk’s Office, while Incumbent Jeff Curry has not filed.
The clock is ticking for Curry and anyone else currently holding office to make their final decision about whether to seek election.
Incumbents have until 5 p.m. Tuesday to file for office. Those considered incumbents include anyone holding an office currently regardless of what office they are seeking, said County Clerk Dave Dowling.
For example, a school board member filing for a spot on a village board is still considered an incumbent filing for office even though they have not served on the village board previously. The fact that they are a school board member makes them an incumbent, he said.
Those up for re-election this year but not yet filing include:
- Hartington Mayor Mark Becker
- Hartington City Council members Cody Christensen, and Brad Peitz
- Hartington-Newcastle School Board members Jason Dendinger and Ian Lange
- Wynot School Board members Laurie Schulte and Justin Hans
So far, there’s only one contested race and that’s for the District 1 County Commission spot.
Former District 3 Cedar County Commissioner Dick Donner is facing off against current Commissioner Chris Tramp. Tramp defeated Terry Foxhoven in 2018 for the seat, which serves northern Cedar County residents.
Donner now lives near Aten. He was first elected as a District 3 Commissioner in 1998 when he lived in Hartington.
Those that are new to seeking public office have a little more time - until March 1 - to file for election.
Filing fees must be paid to the city or village clerk. That receipt is then turned into the county clerk’s office.
The filing fee equals 1 percent of the annual salary of the position the individual is seeking. Many school board and some council members are not paid so there’s no filing fee associated, Dowling said.
Some village board contests will only be seen on the general election ballot this fall - Fordyce, Belden, St. Helena, Coleridge, Magnet and Wynot. The incumbent filing deadline for any of those village board spots is July 15 and any new candidates, Aug. 1.