This story will appear in tomorrow’s Herald:
SANFORD — With just five days left in the filing period, the three incumbents who haven’t filed for re-election in the upcoming primary and general elections still won’t say what their plans are for 2008.
Lee County Commissioners Bob Brown and John Quiggle and Lee County Board of Education member John Bonardi are the only three incumbents in Lee County whose terms are coming to an end — and haven’t re-filed.
Brown, a first-term Democrat who is chairman of the Board of Commissioners, said Saturday that he wasn’t ready to declare publicly what he plans to do.
“When I make a decision, I’ll announce it,” he said.
Brown holds one of the three at-large seats on the county board. To date, four Democrats (Wade Childress, Richard Hayes and incumbents Jerry Lemmond and Ed Paschal) and three Republicans (former Commissioner Herb Hincks, Andre Knecht and Larry “Doc” Oldham) have filed for the at-large seats.
Republican John Quiggle, who represents the county’s 2nd District, is another incumbent commissioner who hasn’t made a statement about whether he plans to seek another term. The former member of the Lee County Board of Education was appointed in January to fill the unexpired term of Commissioner Kirk Smith by members of the board over the objections of the Lee County Republican Party, who had recommended Carolina Trace resident Harry Undy for the role.
Undy was one of the first candidates to file for election when the filing period began.
Additionally, Democrat Amy Dalrymple filed for election to the seat this week.
Quiggle did not return a call seeking comment about his plans on Saturday, but he told The Herald in January that he hadn’t made up his mind yet about whether to seek election to the seat or not.
On the Lee County Board of Education, incumbent John Bonardi hasn’t filed to seek a second term and hasn’t publicly stated whether he plans to.
Bonardi’s seat is one of four that are up for election. The other seats are held by Chairman Bill Tatum, Lynn H. Smith, and Shawn Williams, all of whom have filed for re-election.
Cameron Sharpe, a former Lee County probation officer, has also filed to seek one of the seats.
All the school board members are elected on an at-large basis.
The filing period remains open until Friday at 5 p.m. The primary election, at which the school board races will be decided, is set for May 6.
