Incumbent steps down from council
By Angie Landsverk
Nobody filed to run for one of the open seats on the Waupaca Common Council.
Jillian Petersen, the incumbent in the city’s 1st Aldermanic District, is not seeking re-election. No one else filed nomination papers by the Jan. 3 deadline.
As a result, there will be no names on the April 4 ballot for that district.
Those interested in being write-in candidates need to see Deputy City Clerk Sandy Stiebs, at city hall.
Residents in that district have until noon Friday, March 31, to file declaration of candidacy papers with Stiebs.
That would make them official registered write-in candidates, which means any votes written in for them would then be counted, she said.
“We always have write-ins but are not legally bound to count them anymore,” unless the vote is for a registered write-in candidate, Stiebs said.
Petersen is serving her second term on the common council.
She filed her Notification of Non-candidacy on Dec. 21, Stiebs said.
The deadline for incumbents, who were not planning to seek re-election, to file that notification was Dec. 23.
There are two main reasons why Petersen decided to not seek a third term on the common council.
She wants to focus on her family and her business.
“I started my own business three years ago, and it continues to grow year over year,” Petersen said.
She is a certified aromatherapist and an educator for an essential oils company.
Her business keeps her busy and her children do, too.
Petersen and her husband, Todd, have a 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old son.
“My two sons keep me busy with school and their activities,” she said.
Her position on the common council is the only area of her life that can give right now, Petersen said.
She enjoyed her tenure on the council, saying she liked learning about the city and local government and was happy to see the city’s tax rate decrease, which had been one of her goals.
Petersen is interested in a future return to the common council.
“I hope to come back and serve on the council some day,” she said. “I really did enjoy it and being involved in the community.”
Of the five Waupaca Common Council members up for re-election in the spring, Petersen is the only incumbent not seeking another term.
Seeking re-election on April 4 are incumbents Paul Hagen in the 2nd Aldermanic District, Scott Purchatzke in the 3rd Aldermanic District, Charles Whitman in the 4th Aldermanic District and Steve Hackett in the 5th Aldermanic District.
All are running unopposed.
This April will mark 21 years of service on the council for Hagen.
Purchatzke is seeking his sixth term on the council, and Whitman is running for a fifth term on the council.
Hackett is seeking his eighth term on the common council.