Orion voters will find 14 candidates on the ballot later this year vying for the township board’s seven seats, but it is two names not on the list getting the attention.
Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk and Clerk Jill Bastian have opted not to seek reelection. The pair are the longest serving members on the current board.
Bastian announced her decision a couple of months ago, and Dywasuk followed suit last week, just prior to last Tuesday’s filing deadline for the Aug. 5 primary election.
The battle for Dywasuk’s seat includes current Trustee Matthew Gibb, David Hodges and Daniel Myslakowski.
Hodges, the lone Democrat in the field, had also filed for trustee, but withdrew officially last Friday from that race. He and one of the other two candidates will advance to November’s general election, but the other offices are likely to be decided in the primary.
Candidates for the clerk’s position include Justin Dunaskiss and Penny Shults.
Sandra Dyl, a member of the planning commission, will challenge incumbent Treasurer Alice Young.
And the list of trustee candidates, from which voters select four representatives, includes incumbents Neal Porter and John Steimel, Lake Orion Village Councilmen Michael Toth and Ken Van Portfliet, former Supervisor and Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel, Planning Commission Member Mark Crane, and Sandy Walker.
Current Trustee John Garlicki decided against seeking a second term.
Also on the August ballot will be fire, police and safety path millage renewals and all six seats on the library board.
Like the township board, the library board carries a four-year term. The only candidates to file for that board include current members Mary Anne Thorndycraft (president), Mary Pergeau (vice president), James J. Abramczyk (secretary), James Phillips (treasurer) and trustees Thomas Traurig and Kathy Palmer.