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Seven Candidates Vie for Vacant Council Seat

Seven candidates have thrown their hats in the ring to fill the recently vacated Ward III City Council seat prior to today’s noon deadline.

All applicants have been verified by the Election’s Office to meet the necessary criteria and include Gillette residents Laura Chapman, Norman Curtis, Thea Guseman, Shaun Hottell, Cassie Mason, Regan Pickrel and William Shedden.

The city put out a call for applicants on June 18 following the resignation of Councilman Shay Lundvall earlier this month. Lundvall resigned in the wake of controversy surrounding Facebook posts he had “liked” from his personal page that Mayor Louise Carter-King and other members of  council deemed objectionable when brought to their attention by two women living out of state.

Lundvall has since capitulated his initial claim that the resignation had not been voluntary, telling County 17 in an abrupt phone call Friday that he had apologized for what he had done and had resigned for it already and otherwise had no further comment.
However, he had previously expressed plans to run for his open seat in November on his “Re-Elect Shay Lundvall for Gillette City Council Ward 3” Facebook page.
In the meantime, one of the above seven candidates will be selected to serve the interim term to expire Jan. 5, 2021.
The city is still ironing out the next steps in the process of filling the seat, according to Communications Manager Geno Palazzari, who said that in past instances the council has held a public forum to allow the candidates to be interviewed.
“Then the council deliberates and chooses a candidate that will be formally voted in at a future regular meeting of the Gillette City Council,” Palazzari said, though he was not able to offer any additional details or confirm that the process will follow that of former years.
Either way, it appears the council will be selecting their choice of candidate from the above-mentioned seven applicants.
This story will be updated as more details are released.

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