Dear editor,
We congratulate the swearing in of our new mayor, Matt Gordon, and the re-election of councilmen Matt Wetrich and Dave Sloan. Now that our mayor’s council seat is open, the next person who will fill this vacancy will serve for the remainder of his two-year term. It is in the opinion of those signed below that the council will make a wise choice and appoint Sean Sebourn to fill this vacancy.
Sean Sebourn ran in the November 2019 race along with Wetrich & Sloan once he garnered 150 signatures on his petition – five times more than the incumbents turned in. He was the second candidate to file for the city council race, symbolizing that he was not running against any one specifically of the two incumbents and wanted to be chosen by the people and speak on their behalf. Though he lost his race, he EARNED 457 votes – only 37 less votes than that of Craig Berry, in the mayor’s race. The voter turnout showed that over 25 percent of the voters support Sebourn and his ambitions for Jefferson.
Sean also performed very well at the town hall forum. What impressed us the most was that Sean came prepared, spoke on those issues referring to his own convictions, beliefs and based off of the many conversations he had while door knocking. Sean’s hard work is proven by the 650 doors he knocked, finding out what the people of Jefferson really want in a candidate for city council. On the day of the election, Sean reached 450 homes, reminding us to get out the vote. He showed his interest in serving this past spring. Sean attended meetings, answered questions in all three newspapers and on the radio.
There has been speculation that the city council may skip having our new mayor, Matt Gordon, appoint a worthy candidate to fill the vacancy he left on the council. There’s talk that they may go force a special election and waste another $3,000! Why the waste? There’s no word or public announcement of anyone else interested in filling the vacancy. Just like the case with Matt Wetrich in 2017, when there was no one interested in his ward’s open seat, he was appointed by the council and then was placed on the next election’s ballot.
If there is anyone interested to fill this vacancy other than Sean, we ask that you go public now. State your reason on why you’re interested and if you would like to be appointed or if you want to force an election at the cost of $3,000 to the city. Finally, we would like to hear why you’re choosing to run against Sean now instead of running in November.
If no one makes an announcement prior to the first city council meeting in 2020, we strongly suggest the council appoint Sean Sebourn to fill this vacant seat. It just makes sense and saves us money, it’s a win-win.
We the undersigned believe that Sean Sebourn is the best choice to be appointed. He is the one willing and ready to do the job in 2020. He did the hard work in November, earned 457 votes and invested in his race. If an election is forced, we will work hard at bringing more voters to the polls to show our support for Sean.
Respectfully submitted,
Kurt Meinecke
Mariane Carlson
Linda Thede
Autumn Larson
John & Dan Woodford
Angela Milakovich
Jason Cerveny
Randy & Phyllis Bunkers
Chad & Vicky Olson
Tina & Chad McCollom
Shardae Hadley
Billie Jo Hovick
Emily Fisher
Marc Walker
Amelia Carman
Jake & Jeana Keller
Cindy & Dan Wise
Raye & Denice Emmick
Jack Williams
