MONROE - On the city ballot April 17, residents will be staring at blank spaces where the names of incumbents Charles Koch and Tom Miller would have been.
"Life's too short to spend in meetings," Miller said, adding that he was stepping down after six years on the Monroe Common Council to spend more time with family. "Between this and Main Street and other stuff, I go to meetings about every night."
Miller said he will most miss representing the people of Monroe and "fighting for the public." He was involved in city issues before being elected to the council, when he advocated for the installation of the Honey Creek Skate Park with the Monroe Area Skate Enthusiasts over 10 years ago.
Koch informed Monroe Common Council members of his retirement from their ranks in late December and said he has enjoyed his time working with the city over the last 52 years but felt that it was time to leave.
The deadline to file nomination papers with City Clerk Carol Stamm was 5 p.m. Tuesday. Stamm said Mayor Louis Armstrong and Aldermen Michael Boyce, Rob Schilt and Richard Thoman all intend to run for their current seats.
As for the two open spots on the ballot for alderperson-at-large, they will remain vacant, open to write-in candidates. On Tuesday evening, Stamm said no write-in hopefuls had declared their candidacy, but the deadline to do so is not until noon March 30. One person has inquired about running as a write-in, but has not officially filed papers with the city.
"There seems to be more interest in past years than this one," Stamm said.
Even if a resident chooses to run after the March 30 deadline, they can campaign to have voters fill their name in on election day. In 2017, Schilt won his seat with a declaration made via Facebook less than 24 hours before the election began. He received 66 votes out of 273 write-ins for five open seats on the council. Incumbents received the majority of 3,171 total votes.
Because of one open seat, a number of people were written in as viable candidates for council representative, like Donna Douglas, executive director of the National Historic Cheesemaking Center, who had 55 votes, and former councilman Thurston Hanson, who received 34 votes.
The same type of election could occur in April. Stamm said write-ins who receive the most and second-most votes, whether they run by declaring candidacy or wait until final hours to encourage voters to pencil their name in, may end up on the city council.
During a council meeting Tuesday, Stamm said there will be no need for a local February primary to narrow down the number of candidates on the ballot, though one will likely take place for voters to choose between Wisconsin Supreme Court justice candidates.
"Life's too short to spend in meetings," Miller said, adding that he was stepping down after six years on the Monroe Common Council to spend more time with family. "Between this and Main Street and other stuff, I go to meetings about every night."
Miller said he will most miss representing the people of Monroe and "fighting for the public." He was involved in city issues before being elected to the council, when he advocated for the installation of the Honey Creek Skate Park with the Monroe Area Skate Enthusiasts over 10 years ago.
Koch informed Monroe Common Council members of his retirement from their ranks in late December and said he has enjoyed his time working with the city over the last 52 years but felt that it was time to leave.
The deadline to file nomination papers with City Clerk Carol Stamm was 5 p.m. Tuesday. Stamm said Mayor Louis Armstrong and Aldermen Michael Boyce, Rob Schilt and Richard Thoman all intend to run for their current seats.
As for the two open spots on the ballot for alderperson-at-large, they will remain vacant, open to write-in candidates. On Tuesday evening, Stamm said no write-in hopefuls had declared their candidacy, but the deadline to do so is not until noon March 30. One person has inquired about running as a write-in, but has not officially filed papers with the city.
"There seems to be more interest in past years than this one," Stamm said.
Even if a resident chooses to run after the March 30 deadline, they can campaign to have voters fill their name in on election day. In 2017, Schilt won his seat with a declaration made via Facebook less than 24 hours before the election began. He received 66 votes out of 273 write-ins for five open seats on the council. Incumbents received the majority of 3,171 total votes.
Because of one open seat, a number of people were written in as viable candidates for council representative, like Donna Douglas, executive director of the National Historic Cheesemaking Center, who had 55 votes, and former councilman Thurston Hanson, who received 34 votes.
The same type of election could occur in April. Stamm said write-ins who receive the most and second-most votes, whether they run by declaring candidacy or wait until final hours to encourage voters to pencil their name in, may end up on the city council.
During a council meeting Tuesday, Stamm said there will be no need for a local February primary to narrow down the number of candidates on the ballot, though one will likely take place for voters to choose between Wisconsin Supreme Court justice candidates.