By Jim Newell
Review Editor
ORION TWP. — Residents in the Village of Lake Orion and Orion Township still have time to file nominating petitions if they would like to run for the Lake Orion Village Council or the Lake Orion Community Schools Board of Education.
The deadline for both is 4 p.m. July 26. Both the school board and village council elections are non-partisan and candidates will be on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot.
The procedures for filing for the positions, however, are slightly different.

Village of Lake Orion
Village Council
There are four seats up for election this year. The top three vote-getters in the November election win four-year terms on the council and the fourth place candidate earns a two-year term.
The seats up for election are currently occupied by council President Ken Van Portfliet and council members Teresa Rutt, Doug Hobbs and Brad Mathisen.
Candidates can pick up and return election petitions from the Orion Township Clerk Penny Shults’s office in the Orion Township Municipal Complex, 2323 Joslyn Rd.
Van Portfliet said he has always encouraged residents who have questions or concerns about the village to get involved, including running for office.
To be eligible for public office in the Village of Lake Orion, candidates must be of legal age, a registered voter in the village, must not be in default to the village or has been convicted of a felony.
Candidates must file a petition with “signed by not less than 25 nor more than 50 registered electors to the village,” the nominating petition information states.
Visit the Orion Township Clerk’s Office or contact Clerk Penny Shults at 248-391-0304 for more information.

Lake Orion Community Schools
Board of Education
There are three seats up for election, each for a four-year term on the school board. School board President Jim Weidman, Secretary Jake Singer and Board Member Steve Drakos are up for election.
School board candidates must pick up and file their petitions with the Oakland County Clerk’s Office Election Division, not the Orion Township clerk.
The county Election Division is open by appointment only. Candidates should call 248-858-0563 to make an appointment or for more information on filing petitions.
The Elections Division is in the Oakland County Courthouse, 1200 North Telegraph Rd., Dept. 417, in Pontiac.
Candidates can file nominating petitions with a minimum of 40 signatures (maximum of 100) from qualified and registered electors living in the Lake Orion school district.
Candidates may pay a $100 non-refundable filing fee in lieu of petition signatures. Candidates will also have to file an affidavit of identity.