In Tuesday’s general election to fill out the Great Bend City Council, two of the four open seats were uncontested in wards 1 and 2. But, for the other two, 3 and 4, no one had filed for the openings. 

The top vote-getting write-in candidates for wards 3 and 4 can claim their respective seats should they accept the posts. There were a only a handful of early and advanced of write-in votes (89 in Ward 3 and 74 in Ward 4) posted as of 11 p.m., but they were all unassigned.

Should there be no candidates, filling the vacancies reverts to an application process through the City Council. Applications will be accepted for a set period of time.

After that, Mayor Cody Schmidt will form a special council committee to interview applicants and make a recommendation to the entire governing body. The governing body will make the final determination.

• In Ward 3, covering the southwest corner of Great Bend, and Ward 4, the southeast part of town, no one filed.

The Third Ward seat open is that currently held by Dana Dawson who is not seeking reelection. The other Ward 3 seat is held by Cory Urban.

• In the Fourth Ward, the position available is that held by Brock McPherson, who didn’t file for another term. However, McPherson had indicated he would run a write-in campaign.

The second Ward 4 seat is held by Junior Welsch.

Tuesday night’s vote tallies are only preliminary. The totals will be finalized when the Barton County Commission meets as the Board of Canvassers and canvasses the ballots next Monday morning. 

The city is governed by a mayor and council. The mayor and council acting together are the governing body, and all serve two-year terms and are elected on a non-partisan basis. 

This form of government consists of the mayor, who is elected by the city at large, and eight council members, two elected from each of the four wards (with only one from each ward being up for reelection in each election year). 

• In the other wards this year, newly minted First Ward Councilwoman Lindsey Krom-Craven ran unopposed for the post that covers northeast part of Great Bend

In March, Krom-Craven filled the unexpired term of Jessica Milsap who resigned after accepting the Great Bend Economic Development Inc. president’s position. She joins Alan Moeder, who was not up for reelection this year, in that ward.

• In the Second Ward, taking in the northwest corner of town, newcomer Kevyn Soupiset ran with no opposition to replace Barry Bowers who didn’t re-file. He joins Jolene Biggs, who was not on the ballot, in representing Ward 2.