Whidbey News-Times staff

There were surprises for Whidbey Island voters in the first couple of days of candidate Filing Week.

And it appears that some seats may have no candidates at all.

Filing week started 9 a.m. Monday and continues through 4 p.m. Friday. For a few hours Tuesday morning, candidates weren’t able to file electronically because of an outage involving Northwest Open Access Network that affected the state’s election web applications, according to the Office of the Secretary of State.

On Monday, Oak Harbor resident Erika Carnahan filed to run for the Whidbey General Hospital board seat currently held by Oak Harbor resident Nancy Fey, who was appointed to the position in 2013. Fey also filed for the seat.

Carnahan hadn’t previously announced her intention to run.

She has worked in medical administration and billing for more than 15 years. Currently employed at Rue and Primavera Rehabilitation in Oak Harbor, she also worked part-time at Whidbey General Hospital during her career.

Carnahan said she loves the hospital, but feels the administration could use restructuring to encourage more team work.

“It really is all about the patient,” Carnahan said.

Carnahan said she is running because she believes in the importance of the hospital but believes it could better serve the community.

“I firmly believe the hospital needs to be here,” Carnahan said. “I don’t want to see it fall apart. There need to be changes so the community gets the service it deserves.

“The complacency gets to be too much.”

Coupeville resident Georgia Gardner, an incumbent hospital commissioner, filed for reelection. Greenbank resident Ron Born announced last week that he is challenging her, but he hadn’t filed as of noon Tuesday.

Oak Harbor School Board has three seats up for re-election and one new candidate so far.

Both Peter Hunt and Christine Abbott filed to run again. So far no one has filed to challenge them.

Christine Cribb’s seat is also up for re-election, but she said she doesn’t plan to run again. She said her duties as executive director at the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce demand her full attention.

Robert Hallahan filed Tuesday to run for Cribb’s open seat. This is his first time running for elected office. He retired from the Navy and is now an airline pilot. He and his wife have two high-school-age children who are home-schooled and enrolled in the Running Start program, which allows high-school students to take colleges for high school and college credit.

There were no surprises for the City of Oak Harbor positions so far. Councilmen Jim Campbell and Bob Severns filed for mayor, as previously announced. Councilwoman Beth Munns and Councilman Rick Almberg filed for reelection.

Councilwoman Tara Hizon hadn’t filed by press time, but previously said she will run again.

All five seats on North Whidbey Parks and Recreation are on the ballot this year.

Current commissioner Donna Sue Holly was first to file; she didn’t file for her own seat, but for position No. 1, a four-year seat held by board chairman Sean Merrill.

Merrill said he doesn’t plan to seek reelection.

Wendy Shingleton said she also plans to file for reelection to the parks and recreation board. Dave Smith, who held position No. 5, recently resigned from his seat. Board member Steve Hoffmire didn’t return calls.

The way things are shaping up, Coupeville may see an all-female council with a female mayor starting in January.

Coupeville transplant Catherine Ballay was the first candidate to file for Coupeville Town Council on Monday.

Ballay, who moved to Coupeville from Virginia three years ago, said she decided to run after learning how much transition the council will be going through next year.

Ballay filed for Position 3, which is being vacated by Molly Hughes, who is running for mayor.

“I love Coupeville,” Ballay said. “I can see the need for business and tourism, but not too fast or out of our control.”