Residents who want to run for office have until July 26 to file nominating petitions

By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer, and
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.
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, Treasurer Jake Singer and Secretary Steve Drakos are up for election.
Drakos and Singer have turned in their petitions seeking re-election, and as of Tuesday morning three others had turned in nominating petitions and will be on the ballot: Thomas F. Daniels, Amie Gamache and Heather Sinawi.
“As a school board member, you should be proud that you’re running for school board. If you don’t win, you still get to put your voice out there while you’re running, while you’re being interviewed, while you’re talking to your neighbors, while you’re talking to your children,” said Drakos, who filed to run for re-election last week. “Run. Show that you care and if you don’t win, guess what, you run again. Statistically, when you run the second time, you win. You have nothing to lose by running, it just shows that you care. Don’t be intimidated by anybody. Do it. People will gossip, they always do but you have to learn to get a little thick skin.”
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.
“We need all sorts of people on the school board,” Drakos said, adding that those who have invested in the community – parents, grandparents, those who don’t have children – are taxpayers who want good schools and for children to be educated and happy.
“The more people that run, the better for everybody,” Drakos said. “Our schools are more important than some of those paid political jobs. Our schools are our children, the future of our nation, our state and Lake Orion.”
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 held by council President Ken Van Portfliet and council members Teresa Rutt, Doug Hobbs and Brad Mathisen. All have indicated that they are seeking re-election and at least one resident is gathering signatures to run.
Rutt said she encourages residents to get involved in local government, either by running for office, applying to join village committees or volunteering.
“I tell people all the time that local politics is one of the best places to get involved because you can make an actual difference. Sometimes we think with national politics or even state politics that my voice isn’t important, my voice isn’t heard. But in local politics, it absolutely is.
“So, whether that be running for council yourself, whether it be showing up at meetings, getting involved on a committee it is one of the most important things you can do to get involved in your local community,” she said.
Rutt, who is finishing her first term on the council, got her start in local government by joining the village’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.
“I started on the parks committee and then sought to run for council because I care about this community and I’m also a firm believer that if you’re going to go around and complain about things then you should be able to get involved, and if you’re not willing to get involved then that’s on you.”
And whether someone chooses to run for office or just attend and speak at meetings, Rutt said making their voices heard is important for the council to function in accordance with the will of the residents.
“The more voices we hear, the more representation we get from our community. Rather than having three voices, or five voices or the seven voices on council, the more voices we hear the better we can represent the needs, the desires of the community,” Rutt said.
Village council 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.
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.