Dorchester Times: Want To Run For Local Office? Here's A Reminder

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Want To Run For Local Office? Here's A Reminder

Editor's Note: The following is a re-print of a story the Times ran on June 25 of last summer.

***

Every so often, we at the Times receive a question from readers asking which of Dorchester's elected officials will be up for re-election in 2008. Also, some readers have left comments encouraging residents with complaints to run for office themselves.

For those interested, the following local officials have terms ending next year. It is not yet known if these public servants will seek re-election in 2008. (The publishing of this information is neither an endorsement of current officials, nor is it an endorsement of any challenger.)

Dorchester School Board:

Ron Kahle
Lori Pracheil
Bill Boller

Dorchester Village Board:

Alan Slepicka
Dean Pracheil

Those seeking election or re-election for either the school or city board must file by July 15, 2008.

Candidates for local races will appear on only the general election ballots in November -- not on the primary election ballots in May.

Those seek election or re-election must submit the proper paperwork to the Saline County Clerk and Elections Commissioner. Filing papers for both the school board and city board are available at City Hall in Dorchester, as well the Saline County Courthouse.

Additional information can be obtained by calling (402) 821-2374 or e-mailing clerk@saline.nacone.org.

16 comments:

AnonymousFebruary 14, 2008 at 8:18 PM
Brent Zoubek would be a good choice for the village board for sure. We need a little "shake up" to try and get our town moving ahead.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 15, 2008 at 8:50 AM
Run, Brent, Run! Get a pave-the-streets movement going.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 15, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Another good person for the job might be Doug or Kelly Feeken. I agree that we need some new blood in the organization.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 16, 2008 at 11:21 PM
We need to get some new blood on the city council that wants to improve our town. We need to start improving this town and that starts with paving the streets! What does it take to get paving put on the ballot? Let the entire town decide and not the 5 memebers of the city council! What changes have we seen this city make in the last year? City employees are still driving around or smoking outside all day and roads are NOT being maintained. Why can't our city employees be looking in to the grants that our town can apply for to help us get our streets paved! We constantly see in the paper the raises that are being given to our city employees, where is this money coming from? Why do these people deserve these raises? How is Dorchester as a community benefiting from this? Don't you think our tax dollars could be better spent? The only improvement this town has seen this year is the new school... and that was definitely NOT any thanks to the city... it was a big thanks to local volunteers that do not want to see this town die. We are in the perfect location for people to move here. We are close enough to Lincoln, but still able to have a small community and small school environment. Why wouldn't people want to move here... oh wait, if you are not from here and just drive through this town... that will tell us all!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 17, 2008 at 2:33 PM
I think that Bill Velder should run.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 17, 2008 at 2:36 PM
I think that Lyle Weber is a good canidate.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 17, 2008 at 6:34 PM
I think that instead of getting on here and complaining about what the city does you should shut up and run for the town board youself. QUIT hideing behind ur anonymous name and start make a differance!!!!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 18, 2008 at 9:35 AM
I just had someone who doesnt live here but comes here on a daily basis that this town in so "primitive". I think that is a good way to describe the looks of this town. Take a look at all of the surrounding communities and even communities much smaller than Dorchester and you will find that they seem to take more pride in their communities appearance.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 18, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Primitive is a subjective label used to imply that one thing is less "sophisticated" or less "advanced" than some other thing. Being a comparative word it is also relative in nature.
Primitive culture: one that lacks major signs of economic development or modernity.

For more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitive
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 18, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Some of us who have lived here our whole lives and see the way our town has gone downhill, want to do something. The only problem is that I can't run because I don't live within the city limits. If there is a committee to look into different ways of improving our town, I would gladly be on it. If the "town council" will let me!!! There have to be grants out there somewhere that will help out the town. I'm with the earlier blogger. If the employees that we have would work a little harder at their job, instead of smoking cigs and driving around, we might have so many grants that we wouldn't know what to do with them all.
ReplyDelete
Replies
Village DwellerFebruary 18, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Regarding the remark that Dorchester is "primitive," we couldn't disagree more.

Of course, every small town has its high points and low points. Dorchester's main street -- especially the west side of downtown -- has some buildings that are in need repair. Because a town's business section is typically the first aspect noticed by visitors and citizens alike, we are hopeful that Dorchester's vacant buildings can be inhabited by businesses or organizations (perhaps DACA?) in the coming months. Town board members could be helpful in providing incentives to meet such a goal.

However, we want to stress this: any community that supports a $4 million renovation of its school is far from primitive. It fact, we would go as far as to say that Dorchester and its residents are rather progressive and foreward-looking.

Thanks to the town's proximity from large employment hubs, the future is bright. And we believe our town will see additional improvements stem from the new school and reinvigorated hometown pride.

Let the naysayers watch from the sidelines.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 18, 2008 at 1:31 PM
I too want to see Velder, Weber or Zoubek run for city board. I would help any one of them campaign.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 18, 2008 at 7:21 PM
I think Brent Zoubek would be a good canidate for the school board.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 20, 2008 at 6:44 PM
I think Cynical Richard should run for both the school board and town board!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 21, 2008 at 9:05 AM
Cynical Richard rocks! At least he has the guts to say what needs to be said.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMarch 5, 2008 at 4:47 PM
If anyone sees Bill Velder, they should let him know that he would be a great leader for the village. He's not so sure that he would get elected. I for one would vote for him in a heartbeat. Let's show him our support and maybe he will throw his hat in the ring!!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Village Dweller checks all reader comments to determine if they are appropriate for print.

Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."