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Evansville City Council could add new member

EVANSVILLE — Two new residents will join the Evansville City Council, and a third new face is needed to fill an empty seat.

Nobody has filed to run for the open seat in District 3, which covers the northern part of the city, after incumbent Tony Wyse decided not to seek re-election.

A resident can register to run as a write-in, and if he or she receives the most votes, that person would fill the seat, City Clerk Judy Walton said. A person does not need to register, however, to run as a write-in candidate, she said.

If a winning write-in candidate does not want the seat, the council would seek applications and appoint someone, she said.

"We do want to find someone for the job," she said.

District 4 incumbent Todd Culbertson also is not seeking re-election, and Dennis Wessels resigned from his District 4 seat late last year. Two candidates have filed to run for those spots: Ben Ladick, 337 S. Madison St., is seeking the two-year term, while Joshua Manring, 56 Portland Drive, is seeking the one-year term.

Ladick is a member of the city's park board.

Manring could join the council as soon as Tuesday. Because Wessels' seat is vacant now and Manring was the only person who applied to run for the remaining one year of the term, the council will consider appointing him at Tuesday's council meeting, Mayor Sandy Decker said.

That's what happened last year when former council member Janis Ringhand resigned in November 2010. Because only one resident—Cheryl Fuchs—applied to run in the April 2011 election, the council appointed her to the position in January 2011.

Decker said Manring was willing to start early, so if the council approves his appointment, it would be effective immediately.

The city could also see new leadership this year. Administrator Dan Wietecha told the council last month he plans to seek a new job with greater challenges in the coming year.

Here's what the April ballot in Evansville will include:

-- Mayor: Incumbent Sandy Decker, 143 W. Main St.

-- District 1: Incumbent Mason Braunschweig, 590 W. Main St.

-- District 2: Incumbent Cheryl Fuchs, 409 S. First St.

-- District 3: Nobody

-- District 4 (Two-year term): Ben Ladick, 337 S. Madison St.

-- District 4 (One-year term): Joshua Manring, 56 Portland Drive

-- Municipal Judge: Incumbent Tom Alisankus

The Evansville School Board will have a contested race for two seats.

Marshall J. Reese, 12219 W. Townsend Road, Janesville, is running, as are both incumbents: Tina Rossmiller, 413 S. Madison St., Evansville, and Sharon Skinner, 424 S. First St., Evansville.

The district faces a $1.6 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year, and the board is in the midst of hiring a new superintendent to replace Heidi Carvin, who is retiring in June.