Two years ago, a slew of candidates filed to run for school boards, hospital boards and other volunteer positions on the general election ballot. But things were much sleepier this time around.

When the filing period closed Monday evening, significantly fewer folks had thrown their hats into the ring for 54 available posts based in Park County.

While the November 2022 election initially drew 87 candidates and featured 29 contested races for the unpaid positions, this year’s ballots are set to feature 58 candidates and only eight contested races. First Deputy Park County Clerk Hans Odde said it’s the lowest interest in special district races he could recall in recent memory.

School boards

Still, local voters will still have some decisions to make — including for the Powell school board, where five candidates are seeking three available seats.

Current Park County School District 1 trustees Kim Dillivan and Tracy Morris are each seeking third terms, while Andy Rose, Ben Borcher and Zac Opps are seeking to join the board. Meanwhile, Trustee Laura Riley opted not to seek reelection.

The Powell school board’s section of the ballot will be significantly smaller than it was in 2022, when 11 candidates — including Opps — filed for four available positions.

The Cody school board race, meanwhile, is set to be unusually quiet. Unlike the spirited campaign season of two years ago, when seven candidates filed, incumbent Trustee Sheri Schutzman and newcomers Mary Sims, Annalea Avery and Larry Gerber are running unopposed for four available seats.

The election will shake up the Park County School District 6 Board, as three trustees — Jessica Case, Tom Keegan and Stefanie Bell — decided not to run again; Bell is departing the Cody board with 24 years of service.

In Meeteetse, meanwhile, incumbent Park County School District 16 trustees Angie Johnson and Duaine Hagen and newcomer Elizabeth Coggins were the only ones to file for the three available seats. (Trustee Kevin Cooley didn’t seek reelection.)

Northwest College

As for the Northwest College Board of Trustees, Cody area voters will have to make some choices, as incumbents Tara Kuipers and Bob Newsome are being challenged by Ted Smith with subdistrict B.

However, there’s no competition for the other three seats up for grabs on the NWC board. 

With no other candidates in the running, incumbents Mark Wurzel and R.J. Kost are poised to continue representing the Powell area.

Kost was appointed to the board late last year, following former Trustee Dusty Spomer’s resignation, and he’s seeking to complete the remainder of Spomer’s term.

As for Wurzel, he’s seeking another four-year term in subdistrict A. The physician first joined the board in 2015.

Similarly, Shane Ogden, the Meeteetse Schools superintendent, is the only one seeking the Meeteetse area seat (subdistrict C). It’s currently occupied by Larry Todd, who isn’t running.

Hospital boards

The 2022 election was voters’ first following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the races for seats on the Powell and West Park Hospital boards drew a higher number of candidates. But interest appears to have waned this year, with no contested races.

On the Powell Hospital District Board, trustees Bonnie Katz and Chris Cox are seeking reelection and Morris is seeking to join them on the hospital board while continuing her school board service. Morris is poised to replace Trustee Syd Thompson, who isn’t seeking another term.

Incumbent Shelley Hill is also asking Powell area voters to keep her on as a trustee. Hill was elected to the board in 2022, but had to be removed and then reappointed after her voter registration lapsed in 2023. She is unopposed as she seeks to serve the final two years of her original term.

Over in the West Park Hospital District, there are similarly three candidates for three seats. Trustee Ty Nelson is seeking reelection as a Cody area representative, Rich Petersen is seeking to replace outgoing Trustee Glenn Nielson as an at-large member and Angie Johnson is looking to replace outgoing Trustee Lennox Baker in the Meeteetse area.

Fire districts

There’s also not a lot of heat in the races to oversee Park County’s fire districts.

Within the Powell fire district, longtime Director Roger Easum is being challenged in district No. 2 by Matt McCaslin, a Powell police lieutenant, but the rest of the races are uncontested.

Powell fire district Director Scott Heny is unopposed in his bid to continue representing district No. 4; incumbent directors Ray Lozier and Bob Coe and newcomer Matthew Chowning have no opponents in the Cody district; and directors Brodie Serres and Dave Hoffert are set to cruise to reelection on the Meeteetse and Clark fire boards, respectively.

Cemetery districts

The Powell area is also the exception in an otherwise dead race for local cemetery district boards: Four candidates — incumbents Bill Metzler and Syd Thompson and newcomers Fred Muffley and Jennifer Lohrenz — are seeking three seats while Trustee Ben Keller is not seeking reelection.

As for the Cody area, Riverside Cemetery District trustees Tara Hart and Gary Williams are seeking reelection, with Park County Coroner Cody Gortmaker poised to replace outgoing Trustee Chan Richard.

Within the Meeteetse Cemetery District, trustees Ronee Hogg, Brodie Serres and Janice Myers (two-year term) are all seeking to stay on the board while Elizabeth “Casey” Scott stands to take over for departing Trustee Scott Coale.

In Clark, meanwhile, Bennett Butte Cemetery District trustees Rose Cox, Rick Gorniak, Samuel Kuntz and Toddy Bentley (two-year term) are all asking voters to stay on the board.

Conservation/museum districts

Conservation districts tend to be one of the lower-profile arms of local governments, and none of the districts’ races are contested this year.

Powell-Clark Fork Conservation District Supervisor Abby Shuler and Neil Christofferson are seeking reelection as rural representatives and Adam Stromberger wants to continue filling an unexpired at-large position.

Over in the Cody Conservation District, John Tanaka and Richard B. Jones both filed for reelection as rural representatives while an unexpired, two-year at-large term will need to be filled by write-in votes or appointment after drawing no candidates; Supervisor Joe Kondelis opted not to seek reelection.

In the Meeteetse Conservation District, rural supervisors Matt Burkart and Joe Thomas both filed for reelection.

Meanwhile, the Meeteetse Museum District is set to get three new trustees in Ashton Shepperson, Joe Winkler and Marie Kluesner, as incumbents Jim Allen, Larry Todd and Lili Turnell opted not to seek reelection.

The general election is set for Nov. 5, with absentee and early voting beginning Oct. 8.