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Gold Hill vote literally will be fill in the ____ By Buffy Pollock GOLD HILL � When Gold Hill voters get their ballots for the Nov. 7 election, they�ll find blanks instead of candidates for the five open city positions. A snafu at City Hall means that not even the one councilman who filed for re-election, or the mayor who wanted to, will be on the ballot. The result? Anybody elected to Gold Hill office this fall will have to do it with a write-in campaign. "Looks like they will all be write-in," said City Recorder Tony Paxton. The city advertised a Sept. 7 filing deadline, based on a calendar published by the League of Oregon Cities. The actual date for candidates to file for the November election was Aug. 29. "I shouldn�t have gone by that," said Paxton. "I should have checked the secretary of state�s calendar." Mayor Tim Rodham learned about the error as he was gathering signatures and preparing to file for re-election by the Sept. 7 deadline. "I�m really disappointed about having to (be) a write-in candidate, but I guess it�s my only option now," he said. Rodham said, however, he was more troubled by the lack of candidates interested in city office. "Getting the wrong deadline doesn�t account for more people not drawing any papers," he said. The lack of interested candidates may indicate that Gold Hill citizens are happy with the way things are going, he said. "I think people sense things are starting to mellow out here and get better," he said. On the ballot this fall will be the mayor�s two-year term and the four-year city council seats of Scott Eilifson, Bernadine Howard and Elizabeth "Betsy" Hettum. Eilifson is seeking re-election; Hettum resigned last month and Howard is not running again. Additionally, Municipal Court Judge Calvin Eary�s term expires. Eary said he wants to be re-elected, but didn�t realize he had to file. He said he intends to organize a write-in campaign. Eilifson, the councilman whose filing papers were rejected as too late, said he�s not too worried about the error. He�s putting together a write-in effort. "It was just an oversight," he said. "The way I see it is, if people are going to vote for me, they�ll do it whether my name shows up on the ballot or not. "My only worry is whether or not they can spell it," he joked. Eilifson, a member of the Gold Hill Can Do community group, works in the wholesale lumber business. He said he wants to remain a part of the good things happening in the city. "Gold Hill�s brighter days are ahead of us," he said. Also in Gold Hill, a special Sept. 19 mail election now underway asks voters to confirm the appointment of a new city council member. Michael Hicks was appointed in May to replace Councilwoman Lisa Alexander, who resigned, through 2002. By city law, voters get the chance to promptly decide on council appointees. "We have a really good council going on right now," Hick said. "We�re trying to do some good things for the city. Most importantly, I think we all want to get people on the council that want to do the job. We have a lot of turnover." Hicks, an electrician for Timber Products and a member of Gold Hill Can Do, says Gold Hill needs its own police department again, to replace the one the city disbanded. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA