A former member of the Waupaca Common Council is running again for a seat on it.
Chuck Whitman filed nomination papers on Jan. 6 to be a candidate in the city’s 4th Aldermanic District.
John Lockwood currently holds that seat and is not seeking re-election in the spring.
The deadline to file nomination papers for the April 7 election was 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Whitman is running unopposed in the election as no one else filed nomination papers by the deadline.
He last served on the council nine years ago.
Whitman represented the 4th Aldermanic District on the common council for three consecutive terms, beginning in April of 2000, and did not seek re-election in 2006.
When asked why he decided to run again, Whitman said, “Mr. Lockwood asked me if I would take his spot. He got too busy with his family and his job. I was planning on running again in the next couple years. The opportunity was here, so I thought I’d try again. I need something to do.”
His “need something to do” remark is related to the fact that he retired last June.
Whitman worked for the Waupaca County Highway Department 37 years.
The Waupaca native said he began working for the department right out of high school.
He continues to be a member of the Waupaca Fire Department and has been one about 35 years.
Whitman and his wife Cindy have two children and four grandchildren and are neighbors of the Lockwood family.
“John talked to me a while back and said, ‘When you’re retired, you should run again,'” Whitman said.
Now Whitman is.
In Waupaca’s other four aldermanic districts, all the incumbents are seeking re-election and are running unopposed in the spring election.
Jillian Petersen is the candidate in the 1st Aldermanic District, and she is seeking her second term on the council.
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, she and her husband Todd moved to Waupaca nine years ago and have two young sons.
Paul Hagen is seeking re-election in the city’s 2nd Aldermanic District.
This April will mark 19 years of service on the council for him.
A native of Menominee, Michigan, Hagen moved to Waupaca in 1991.
He and his wife Linda have two children.
In the 3rd Aldermanic District, Scott Purchatzke is seeking his fifth term on the council.
He was first elected to the council in 2007.
Purchatzke grew up in the Weyauwega area and has lived in the Third Ward for 42 years.
He and his wife Becky have two sons.
Steve Hackett is the candidate in Waupaca’s 5th Aldermanic District.
He was first elected to the council in 2003 and is seeking his seventh term.
Born in Chicago, Hackett and his wife Judy moved to Waupaca in 1978 and had five children.
Retired from the U.S. Postal Service, he continues to work in the Waupaca School District as educational support staff.