Council election picks up another candidate

Another candidate has thrown their name into the mix for this year’s Whitefish City Council election.

Whitefish business owner Jennifer Frandsen formally filed this week to run for one of three open council seats. The terms of current councilors Chris Hyatt, Phil Mitchell and Bill Kahle are ending this year. None of the three are planning to run for re-election.

Filing for city elections closes on Thursday, June 27.

Frandsen is active with organizing the downtown Tuesday Farmers Market and is on the board of the local nonprofit Youth Image Project.

She is an owner at the Old Town Creative website development company based in the Railway District. Old Town is responsible for creating the Whitefish Visitor Bureau website. They also work with companies across the globe, and recently were honored for a website they developed for the Norwegian energy company Statoil.

“I love Whitefish and our community,” Frandsen said about entering into the city election. “I want to continue to contribute to this community. It takes a lot of volunteers and I want to be one of those volunteers.”

Life Noel is the only other candidate to formally file for the election, as of Thursday. Noel serves on the city park board, weed control advisory committee, and pedestrian and bicycle path advisory committee. He unsuccessfully ran for council in the 2011 election.

All of the council terms are volunteer positions held for four years. Candidates must be registered voters within the city of Whitefish and city residents for at least 60 days preceding the election.

The four-year term for Municipal Judge Bradley Johnson also expires at the end of the year. Johnson was first elected city judge in 1985 and later was elected municipal judge when the city changed to a municipal court system in 2009.

He has filed for re-election.

Mail-in ballots will be used for the upcoming city elections to be held in November.