Ballots in a handful of south-metro cities and school districts will be crowded this fall, with some races attracting long lists of candidates before last week's filing deadline.
One hot spot is the Farmington School District, where controversy over whether and when the district should hire teachers to reduce class sizes motivated some of the seven candidates running for school board seats.
One of those, Tera Lee, is a pastor and mother of four Farmington students who has pressed the board to trim administrative costs and put the money toward teachers. Lee said she believes in "keeping the money in the classroom as much as possible."
In South St. Paul, three out of four school board incumbents will face opposition. The three challengers -- Rich Dippel, Lisa Rother and Amy Williams -- are planning a fundraiser together, said Dippel.
In one of the more hotly contested city races, eight candidates will compete for two Lakeville City Council seats, and Council Member Mark Bellows will run against Mayor Holly Dahl.
The two have clashed during public meetings, including an exchange in December when Bellows shouted at Dahl over his concerns about an increase in Lakeville's tax levy.
Meanwhile, Sharon LaComb's decision not to seek reelection drew quite a crowd for a vacant city council seat in Apple Valley, where 10 candidates are vying for two jobs. Former mayor Gary Humphrey and retired Apple Valley Police Capt. Merle Lohse are among the candidates.
Following is a list of who's running for what (an "i" denotes an incumbent). Some races were set in the Aug. 10 primary.
Races where candidates are running unopposed are not listed.
CITIES
Apple Valley: Mayor, Mary Hamann-Roland (i) and Ryan Richard Moe; council (elect 2), John Bergman (i), Marian Brown, Dave Brueshoff, Clint Hooppaw, Gary L. Humphrey, Ikram Huq, Merle Lohse, Thomas Sheridan O'Keefe, Nicholas Stepka, Erik Younger.
Belle Plaine: Mayor, Cary G. Coop, Timothy Lies (i); council (elect 3): Paul Chard, Tom Meger, Alejandro Moreno, Tim O'Laughlin (i), Michael Pingalore, Scott Schneider.
Burnsville: Council (elect 2), Charlie Crichton (i), Dan Kealey (i), Paul F. Mudge, Greg Tomlinson.
Eagan: Mayor, Joey M. Browner, Mike Maguire (i); council (elect 2), Paul Bakken (i), Gary Hansen (i), John Charles Weiser, Bill White.
Elko New Market: Mayor, John T. Glynn, Laura Piehl, Jason Ponsonby (i); council (elect 2), Bob Crawford, Tony Gabriel, Blake Percival, Jack Shawn, Brad Smith, Ken Sulich.
Farmington: Council (elect 2), Jason E. Bartholomay, Christy Jo Fogarty (i), Lenny Hall, Don Hayes, David Pritzlaff, Jerry "Digger" Ristow, Steve Wilson (i).
Inver Grove Heights: Mayor, Tom Bartholomew, George Tourville (i); council (elect 2), Jeff Dahn, Dennis Madden (i), Jim Mueller, Rosemary Piekarski Krech (i).
Jordan: Council (elect 3): Thom Boncher, Gene Flynn, Jeremy Goebel (i), Jeff Gutzmer, David E. Hanson (i), Jeanne M. Marnoff (i), Joe Thill.
Lakeville: Mayor, Mark Bellows, Holly Dahl (i); council (elect 2), Dan Athmann, Marc Bourdeaux, Joseph Crawford, Karl Drotning, Jack Evans, Colleen Ratzlaff Labeau, Matt Little, Kevin Miller (i).
Mendota Heights: Mayor, Sandra Krebsbach, Jill Smith; council (elect 2), Ultan Duggan (i), Sally Lorberbaum, Liz Petschel.
New Prague: Mayor, Kristin Guerrette, Duane J. Jirik, Chuck Nickolay; council (elect 2), David B. Bruzek, Andrea D. Burkhardsmeier, Shawn Ryan, Pat Scripture.
Northfield: Council member at large (elect 1), Norman Butler, Rhonda Pownell (i); council, Ward 4 (elect 1), Patrick Ganey, Dale B. Gehring.
Prior Lake: Council (elect 2): Kathryn Curielli-Underwood, Jeff Evens, Ken Hedberg (i), Vanessa Soukup.
Rosemount: Mayor, William Droste (i), Kurt Hansen; council (elect 2), Mark DeBettignies (i), Tim Judy, Joe Kurle, Kim Shoe-Corrigan (i).
South St. Paul: Council (elect 3), Micky Gutzmann (i), Don Madland, Todd Podgorski, Lucky "Tiger Jack" Rosenbloom, Marilyn Rothecker (i), Tom Q. Seaberg (i).
Sunfish Lake: Mayor, Judy MacManus, Richard Williams; council (elect 2), Pamela Bennett, Paul Burke, Tom Hendrickson, Michael Hovey, Joanne Wahlstrom.
West St. Paul: Mayor, Mary Jane Duchene, John Zanmiller (i); council (Ward 1, elect 1), Patrick H. Armon, Ed Hansen.
SCHOOL BOARDS
Burnsville (elect 4): Peter Beckel, Dan Luth (i), Gail Morrison (i), Jim Schmid, Paula Teiken.
Cannon Falls (elect 3): Curt Beissel, Mike Dalton, Pat Dougherty (i), Robert W. Siebenaler, Bill Thompson (i).
Farmington (elect 3): Ron Groves, Carol Kappes, Rebecca Keeler, Tera (Schmitz) Lee, Melissa Sauser, Brian Treakle, Veronica Walter (i).
Lakeville (elect 3): Roz Peterson (i), Randy Pronschinske, Jim Skelly (i), Michelle Volk (i).
Northfield (elect 3): Mike Berthelsen (i), John L. Fossum, Kari Nelson (i), Julie Pritchard (i), Greg Schultz.
Prior Lake (elect 4): Erin Haust, Eric Pratt (i), Stacey Ruelle, Rhonda Seefeld, Todd Sorensen, Richard Wolf.
South St. Paul: Board member at large (elect 1), Rich Dippel, Wendy Woods Felton (i); Ward 2 (elect 1), Bruce Hagerty (i), Lisa (Veith) Rother; Ward 3 (elect 1), Shelly D. Forester (i), Amy W. Williams.
