PORT TOWNSEND — Only two positions are contested so far out of the 54 offices open in Jefferson County for the Nov. 7 general election.
As of Monday with the start of candidate filing, three people have filed for the Jefferson County Public Hospital District No. 2, position 1 post.
The position is currently held by Anthony DeLeo, who has served on the commission for more than 40 years, according to the Jefferson Healthcare Hospital Commission website.
Bruce J. McComas, Bernie Donanberg and Cheri Van Hoover all filed as candidates Monday for the hospital commission position 1.
Van Hoover announced her intentions to register as a candidate in late April and said in an interview that she feels her background in health care makes her a good fit for the position.
Van Hoover worked as a counselor at a crisis intervention facility for six years before going back to school to get her master’s degree at Stony Brook University in New York.
According to Van Hoover, she worked for a variety of private practice, health maintenance, outpatient and inpatient facilities in the San Francisco Bay area as a certified nurse midwife.
Van Hoover most recently worked for Clallam Family Planning and the Sequim Planned Parenthood before it closed in December.
McComas, who filed as a candidate Monday morning, is the former general manager of the Port Townsend Paper Co.
He was named citizen of the year in 2008 by the Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce for his work in founding the East Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity, Port Townsend Educational Foundation and Jefferson County Community Foundation, of which he is still a board ambassador.
McComas ran uncontested for a seat on the Port Townsend School Board in 1993.
Donanberg also filed his candidacy Monday. Donanberg retired in 2014 after a more than 20-year career as a mental health clinician and mental health administrator.
Donanberg said Monday he felt his experience in the mental health industry would make him an asset to the hospital commission, which is currently working on a merger with Discovery Behavioral Healthcare, formerly Jefferson Mental Health, because they are required by state law to provided mental health care.
Donanberg, who has lived in Port Townsend for 42 years, worked a variety of jobs for Jefferson Mental Health including as program director from 2000 to 2003 and as clinical director from 2008 to 2011.
The only other contested race is for the Sequim School District director for district 2.
Dan Nelson of Sequim filed Monday, as did Brian Kuh, who is currently the director at large for District 4 for the Sequim School District. His four-year term in that position ends this December.
As of Monday two people have filed for two of the three Port Townsend City Council seats that will be up for election.
Pamela Adams filed to run for position 5, which she currently holds, and Ariel Speser filed for position 2, which is currently held by Deputy Mayor Catherine Robinson. Robinson did not file for re-election Monday.
The Port of Port Townsend commission has two positions up for election this year. As of Monday Keith Beck filed for the district 3 position, which is currently held by Peter Hanke; and Bill Putney filed for district 2, which is currently held by Brad Clinefelter.
Of the three Quilcene School District positions up for election this year only one has a candidate.
Cindy Pollard filed Monday for the director district 2 position.
In the Chimacum School District, Mike Gould filed for re-election as director district 3. Chimacum School District director districts 1, 2 and 5 are all up for election as well.
In the Port Townsend School District, Jennifer James-Wilson filed for re-election for the director district 2 position. District 1 is also up for election this year.
David Johnson, commissioner position 3 for East Jefferson Fire-Rescue District, filed for re-election, as did Herb Beck, commissioner position 3 for Quilcene Fire Rescue district.
Bob Pontius filed for commissioner position 1 for the Port Ludlow Fire district; and Ronald Garrison filed for commissioner district 1 for Brinnon Fire district.
Filing for a race that as of Monday is uncontested was Sequim Area Fire District No. 3 commissioner, Steven Chinn.
Two Sequim School Board positions, two Quillayute Valley School Board positions, three Fire District No. 1 seats and one Fire District No. 3 seat are on both the Clallam County and Jefferson County ballots.
Those districts are populated by residents from both counties.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.