Candidates scarce for some local elections

Mar. 30—After the 2020 general election had record turnout across the country, municipalities around Effingham County are gearing up for an election on Tuesday, April 6, to vote on everything from school boards to village presidents.

This consolidated election has 110 races across the county with more than 200 candidates. But 82% of them are uncontested, meaning that whoever is running is essentially guaranteed to win.

For some villages and school boards, the problem is even worse: No one is on the ballot. Nine percent of the races in Effingham County this election have no one running. Effingham Unit 40 and Altamont Unit 10 School Boards will have an empty seat after the election, leaving the boards to appoint someone to fill the seat.

In Watson, the race for village president has no one running. Duane Sapp, a longtime figure of village politics, is stepping down.

"I've been involved in the village for 30 years," said Sapp, who was a village trustee for 15 years before becoming village president. He can't remember a time when no one ran for the position.

Sapp said finding people to be interested in local government can be a challenge.

"It's a big challenge for any small town," Sapp said. "People want things, but don't want to get involved."

For village presidents, the politics of the position can scare some people away. Being the figurehead for the town government, people often direct their complaints to you.

"It's not a bad job, but you need thick skin," Sapp said.

Village governments, even in small communities like Watson, are responsible for a variety of things, including making sure drinking water is safe, maintaining roads, and planning for the future of the community through things like economic development.

For Watson, like many communities, the powers that be — in this case the village board — will need to appoint someone to fill the position.

"There's one or two members on the board who might be interested," Sapp said.

Sapp is stepping down after three decades to spend time with his grandchildren and to escape some of the stress of the job.

Montrose is facing a similar problem, but ramped up. No one is running for any position in village government. The county's records show that village president, village clerk and three village trustee positions are all up for election.

"You more or less have to beg people to volunteer their time," said current Montrose Village Clerk Margaret Maxwell-Utter. "Volunteering isn't a thing that's getting pushed"

Similar to Sapp's observations about Watson, Maxwell-Utter has noticed a lack of civic engagement in Montrose, which she attributes to a decline in volunteerism in the community.

"They really don't come unless it directly affects them," she said.

Maxwell-Utter also isn't sure that the structure of election filings fits the needs for a community like Montrose, particularly while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect life.

"With such a small municipality, an election in April was not at the front of mind in December," Maxwell-Utter said. She added that the requirement that candidates fill out a petition was difficult to do this autumn while many were still avoiding social gatherings due to the pandemic.

"You couldn't really go to church and get your friends to sign it," she said.

When asked what the village is going to do with no one running, Maxwell-Utter said they would do what many are doing: appointments. Even then, finding people can be a challenge.

"We have others that could serve on the board who have already served, but they don't want to," she said.

One way the village has gotten around this, according to Maxwell-Utter, has been to change some positions, including the village clerk, to appointed positions rather than elected positions.

Maxwell-Utter believes the position being listed on the ballot was a clerical error. The Effingham County Clerk could not be reached for comment.

The elections the Effingham County Clerk's Office show as not having any candidates are: Montrose village president, village clerk and village trustees; Watson village president; Bishop/Lucas multi-township assessor; Union/Watson multi-township assessor; Summit Township assessor; Banner Township highway commissioner; one seat on the Jasper Community School District Unit 1 Board; three seats on the Beecher City Community Unit School District 20 board; and three seats on on the Regional Board of Education, which includes Effingham.

Andrew Adams can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or andrew.adams@effinghamdailynews.com