Alderman John Lockwood is running as a write-in candidate this April in the city’s 4th Aldermanic District.
“The paperwork has been submitted to be a formal write-in candidate. I encourage members of Wards 4 and 6 to write my name in on the ballot,” he said.
Lockwood is running as a write-in because his nomination papers were not filed by the 5 p.m. deadline on Jan. 4. “Due to an administrative error, my paperwork didn’t get filed in a timely manner,” he said.
No one filed nomination papers in that district. This means, in the 4th District, there will not be any names on the ballot in the April 5 election.
Voters in that district will have to write in the name of who they want their representative on the Common Council to be.
Lockwood was appointed to the Common Council in the fall of 2008 to fill a vacant seat on it. In April 2009, he was elected to his first two-year term on the council.
When asked why he is running for re-election, he said, “I want to continue to be a part of the Waupaca community, to ensure its health and growth. I enjoy being a part of that process.”
The biggest challenge he sees the city facing this year is its budget. “The good news is we are able to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, referring to the fact that in 2013, the city’s debt will drop off. “Then, we can focus on the larger projects that we need to do.”
Lockwood was born and raised in Waupaca and is a graduate of Waupaca High School and of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He is the new manager of consumer banking at First State Bank in Waupaca. He and his wife, Rachel, have one son.
He encourages those who have questions about city government, things the city has done or about changes to contact him.