chh@heraldsun.com; 419-6654
HILLSBOROUGH -- With the time frame for filing candidacy papers winding down, several more candidates in Orange and Chatham counties went to their respective boards of election on Tuesday to submit their campaign paperwork.
Key election dates are the same in both counties. The filing period ends at noon Friday. The primary election is on May 4, though absentee ballots can be obtained March 15, and one-stop early voting begins April 15. If necessary, a second primary will be June 22.
In Orange County, Donna Dean Coffey, 50, the former Orange County budget director, has filed for election to the Orange County Board of Education.
Coffey, who retired over the summer, is the sixth candidate to file for election to four school board seats.
The other candidates are William Atherton, Brenda W. Stephens, Anne Medenblik, Laura Nicholson and incumbent Debbie Piscitelli.
Meanwhile, in Chatham County, Larry Meadows of Siler City filed Tuesday to run as a Republican for sheriff. Incumbent Richard Webster previously filed for re-election as a Democrat.
Meadows, a 14-year veteran of the Siler City Police Department who worked 10 years with the Davie County Sheriff's Department, said he would be a working sheriff, not a political figure, and he would find ways to use what he considers wasted tax dollars to provide more training to the young deputies in the Sheriff's Office.
"I feel like we need to bring law enforcement back into the county," he said, and to "give citizens the protection and help and safety they expect from the Sheriff's Department.
Walter Petty, a Republican from Siler City, on Tuesday filed for election to the County Commissioner District 5 seat.
Petty is the second candidate to file for election to the seat. The other is Democrat Carl E. Thompson Sr. of Bear Creek.
Also, Pam Stewart, a Republican from Pittsboro, filed for election to the County Commissioner District 4 seat. Stewart joins Democrat Tom Vanderbeck, also of Pittsboro, in the race.
In the non-partisan school board District 4 race, Gary Leonard of Bennett has joined Deb McManus of Siler City in the race for two seats. Leonard is currently in the seat. He was appointed Feb. 8 to fill out the unexpired term of Gerald Totten, who died.
