Friday, July 3, 2009

Joan "Bicycle Joanie" Nelson announced this week she would be entering this November's Marathon City Council race.

Nelson is the first non-incumbent challenger in the race, joining incumbents Mayor Mike Cinque and Vice Mayor Don Vasil in the candidate pool. This is hardly Nelson's first foray into the political arena. In the past she has run for a variety of elected positions and has been in just about all of the Marathon City Council races of years past, despite never winning.

"I feel that I have a different perspective than most of the other people that are sitting on City Council," Nelson told the Free Press on Wednesday. "I'm really standing up for the little guy."

In the past, Nelson has been a fixture at City Council meetings, speaking on a variety of topics. However, her one hot button issue is the wastewater project. Marathon is in the middle of installing an $80 million central sewer system, with part of the cost being dealt to the local property owners.

"It is going to wipe out the last remnant of affordable housing," Nelson said. "I think it is all wrong."

Nelson said she planned to continue her grass-roots approach to campaigning, although she acknowledged it is difficult to win a seat on the City Council without financial help.

"Hopefully I can go around and help people that are having problems," Nelson said.

Nelson's last attempt to win an elected position was the 2008 Marathon City Council race, where she finished sixth out of eight candidates. This year there are two seats up for grabs in the at-large election.

Last year was the first time the city held its municipal elections in November, and record numbers turned out at the polls. Those numbers were bolstered by a heavy ballot that featured races for president, congress and a slew of county positions. This November, only the Marathon council race will be on the local ballot.

Prospective candidates have until July 7 to gather the necessary 57 signatures required to enter the race. If a candidate does not wish to gather petitions, they can pay their way on the ballot with a fee of $720 that is due by Aug. 11.

The two-year terms on the Marathon City Council pay $18,000 annually. Council members are allowed to serve three consecutive terms before being termed out of office.