Churchill County candidate filing ends Friday

Filing for local candidates has been slow with only three days remaining, said Erin Montavo, Churchill County’s deputy clerk/treasurer.

Those running for office in Churchill County may file at the Clerk’s/Treasurer’s Office on 155 N. Taylor St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Friday.

The election year in Churchill County will be light with three openings for school board and two each for county commission and the Mosquito, Vector and Weed Abatement Board.

The school-board positions are currently held by Ron Evans, Greg Koenig and Kathryn Whitaker, who was appointed to the seat vacated by Steve Nunn.

Bus Scharmann and Carl Erquiaga are the current commissioners in Districts 1 and 3, respectively. They filed for re-election on the first day of filing and are joined by Bill Slentz, who filed for District 3.

Only two positions are up for election in the Mosquito, Vector and Weed Abatement Board, Sheldon Chip and Marion Jonte, who was appointed last year to a seat vacated by Ron Rudden.

Jonte filed his candidacy last week for the Mosquito, Vector and Weed Abatement Board.

He was appointed to the position in 2015 after Rudden resigned.

Jonte has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo. He worked in healthcare as a medical technologist and X-ray technician for 27 years;

For eight years Jonte served on the school board in Ajo, Ariz., and while living in Ajo, he developed a corporation of 145 members in Ajo. He had a board of directors for the corporation that built a water company to bring domestic water to 545 acres of home sites.

Jonte was the Republican precinct chairman of Pima County in Ajo for 12 years. Jonte ran his own insurance business for 25 years, 13 of which were in Fallon; he was a member of the Silver State Invitational Rodeo Committee for more than 10 years.

Jonte has lived in Fallon for 31 years and feels he knows the community quite well.

Kathryn Whitaker was selected almost one year ago to replace Trustee Steven Nunn, who had resigned for personal reasons.

Whitaker was a member of the Churchill County School District’s Budget Committee before her appointment. As a member of the Budget Committee for three years, Whitaker said she spent hours learning about the operations of the school district and the process for formulating budgets.

Prior to her appointment in April, Whitaker said the biggest impact on the school district’s budget has been the charter school, Oasis Academy; yet, she said a positive aspect about Oasis is that it provides competition for the school district.

Whitaker said she understands the frustrations both the school board and public encounter with the budget. Whitaker said in 2015, for example, school boards must deal with the Legislature until both the Assembly and Senate approve the budget for K-12 schools.

Three candidates filed for Assembly District 38, which represents Churchill County and most of Lyon County. Independent Wendy Cochran, of Silver Springs and Independent American Justin Smith of Fallon will try to unseat incumbent Republican Robin Titus of Wellington.

Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., Thursday filed for his third full two-year term representing Congressional District 2.

The district covers western Nevada including his hometown Carson City as well as most of northern rural Nevada.

Amodei faces two Democratic challengers so far: Chip Evans of Reno and Rick Shepherd. Evans, a longtime member of the Washoe Democratic Central Committee, has the endorsement of Sen. Harry Reid.

Three-term Republican Rep. Joe Heck, Congressional District 3, filed paperwork Monday in Las Vegas to run for U.S. Senate, a seat being vacated by the retiring Harry Reid. Catherine Cortez Masto, a former two-term Nevada attorney general, filed Tuesday on the Democratic side for the same seat.