‘Please, I need a clerk!’ No candidates for almost 500 positions on Michigan ballots
As a real estate agent, Tish Mallory is applied to crisscrossing the country roads of Seville Township in mid-Michigan's Gratiot County looking to match homes with buyers.
As a real estate agent, Tish Mallory is applied to crisscrossing the country roads of Seville Township in mid-Michigan's Gratiot County looking to match homes with buyers.
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But this summer, she drove those same roads looking for something more elusive: someone, anyone, willing to run for township clerk, a job that pays $12, 960 a year and often comes with a fair amount of abuse from residents.
"I asked several people who said 'no, '" before the deadline to obtain names on the November ballot, stated Mallory, the rural township's supervisor.
"We have an appointed clerk now who I had to beg, " Mallory remarked. "'Please, I need a clerk!'".
Notably, a Bridge Michigan analysis of ballots in communities throughout Michigan identified at least 478 elected races with no candidate or too few candidates running – threatening to leave close to 1-in-10 offices vacant out of the more than 5, 400 local elected positions on the ballot throughout Michigan Nov. 3.
Taken together, the developments around 'Please, I need a clerk!' No candidates for almost 500 positions on point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.
