No candidates, no problem

Modesty has long kept anyone from running for city office in the Clayton County towns of Elkport, Garber, Osterdock and Millville.

When voters go to the polls on Nov. 3, the municipal portion of those towns' ballots will be blank, and voters will write in the names of the towns' next mayor and city council members, just as they have for at least the past 34 years, said Clayton County Auditor Dennis Freitag.

While other East Iowa towns have blank ballots - Stout, Delaware, Guernsey, Balltown, Bassett and New Liberty among them - write-in democracy seems to flourish along the Turkey River.

The lack of announced candidates does not, however, signify a lack of civic responsibility or a minimal need for governance.

Even though no one actively seeks the offices, “a lot of times the same people serve term after term,” said Freitag. And even though the towns are small - all with populations of fewer than 100 people - frequent and severe flooding provides plenty of important work.

Since the massive Turkey and Volga River floods of May 2004, both Elkport and Garber have been through government buyout programs that have swamped city officials in meetings and red tape.

“After the floods, with all the paperwork and legwork, it's almost been like a full-time job,” said Elkport City Council member Dianne Bolsinger.

While Elkport proper was nearly obliterated by that flood, its population has been bolstered by the recent discovery that the Tickletown housing addition, with 28 residents, was actually incorporated into the town in 1937.

Dianne Bolsinger and her husband, Elkport Mayor Roger Bolsinger - both engaged in building a new community center and converting the remains of the old one into a flood-proof picnic shelter - said they will serve again if elected.

So too will Carl Borrett, mayor of Osterdock for the past eight years. “But only if the people want me. I don't go out and ask for votes,” he said.

“If I get the votes, I will probably take it,” said Jim Hankes, 60, who is completing his second term as mayor of Millville.

Less certain is Harold Aulwes, mayor of Garber for the past eight years, who said he is still considering whether he would serve another term if voters write him in.

“I've been trying to get out. I have taken the town through four floods. I don't know how many meetings I've been to. It's a good thing I'm retired,” said Aulwes, 75.

The city council in Millville does not meet every month, according to Hankes, who, before his tenure as mayor, had served on the council all but two years since the 1970s.

“There's not much going on. There's not much to do and not much to talk about” in a town of 25 residents, he said.

Of those 25, only about 10 vote, “so you could get elected with two or three votes,” Hankes said.

Borrett, 73, who has also served 18 years on the Osterdock City Council, said he likes the write-in system, with its inherent lack of campaigning.

With everyone knowing everyone else, name recognition is not a consideration, “and we don't have to make any promises we can't keep,” he said.

Embodying the community spirit that characterizes the Turkey River towns, Borrett said, “If they vote me in, fine. If they don't, I will help out anyway.”