With a deadline of Aug. 16, candidates continue to pull petitions to seek offices for the Lakeland Nov. 6 election. Zachary Coleman pulled a petition Friday (5.18.18) to run for Lakeland School Board (LSB). Mike Cunningham pulled a petition Friday to run for Lakeland Mayor.
Mr. Coleman is a student at the University of Memphis School of Law. He has studied education law and written a paper concerning volunteer requirements in charter schools.
Mr. Cunningham has been at FedEx 35 years in long term projects and large event planning. He was previous president of the Bolton Civic Association.
The petitions pulled/candidate list is normally updated the next business day after a petition is pulled/filed. However, Linda Phillips, administrator of elections for the Shelby County Election Commission (SCEC), told Lakeland Currents she is away from the office for family issues and doesn’t expect to return until May 30 when updates could resume.
Genine Taylor, voter and candidate services manager at SCEC, provided information about Mr. Cunningham this morning (5.21.18). Ms. Taylor said she expects the website to be updated this week but Lakeland Currents will continue to call SCEC for daily updates. In addition, the computer system at SCEC was down this morning.
Lakeland Currents cannot confirm candidates who have picked up or filed petitions without the updated list or contact from the particular candidate or candidates.
In addition to Mr. Coleman, those seeking positions on the LSB are Kevin Floyd, current LSB chair, Laura Harrison, current LSB vice chair and Deborah Thomas, a former teacher, now an independent educational assessment contractor.
The other three candidates who have pulled petitions for the BOC (Board of Commissioners) to date are Wyatt Bunker, current Lakeland Mayor, seeking relection as Mayor; Michele Dial, an assistant principal with Bartlett City Schools and Jeremy Burnett, a dean at Southwest Tennessee Community College, both seeking BOC seats.
There are six seats total up for grabs: three on the BOC, three on the LSB.
The six open positions were filled in 2013: Mayor Wyatt Bunker; Commissioner Clark Plunk; Commissioner Sherri Gallick (who resigned and was replaced by Matt Wright); School Board Members Kevin Floyd, Laura Harrison and Kelley Hale. All have served longer than the typical four years because the BOC voted to move the September 2017 regular election to the next general election which will be Nov. 6, 2018. Officials felt the voter turnout would be greater if attached to a state and federal contest.
Two current elected officials are not contenders for their seats: Kelley Hale, LSB, and Matt Wright, BOC.
Commissioner Clark Plunk told Lakeland Currents he has not decided whether or not he will seek reelection.
The qualifying deadline to file is noon Aug. 16. The withdrawal deadline is noon Aug. 23. Early voting is Oct. 17-Nov. 1 with the actual election Nov. 6.
Lakeland Currents will bring its readers information on all candidates before early voting starts.
Members of the BOC not up for reelection this year are Josh Roman and Wesley Wright, who was elected a year ago to fill the seat vacated by Mrs. Dial.
LSB members Teresa Henry and Geoff Hicks are not up for reelection.
