According to staff at the Town Hall, this year’s municipal election campaign is getting off to an unusually slow start. As of Thursday evening, only five candidates had filed to run for any of Shepherdstown’s seven elected offices. One of those candidates is incumbent mayor Jim Auxer, who filed yesterday. The municipal filing period ends at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon.

Municipal clerk Amy Boyd, who has handled all candidate filings for Shepherdstown since 1999, wonders where all the candidates are. “This is extremely quiet compared to the other ones,” said Boyd in an interview yesterday. One candidate has filed to run for Mayor, one for Town Recorder, and only three people have filed to run for five at-large Town Council seats.

Further complicating matters is the number of incumbent officials who say they do not plan to run again. Councilmen Stuart Wallace, Tom Martin, Jim Ford and Howard Mills have all told The Chronicle that they will not be seeking new terms.

Boyd says that the election will proceed as usual, even if there are vacancies on the ballot. People can still file as a write-in candidate until the end of the month. Post-election, any vacancies would be filled by appointment after the upcoming election.

Boyd says she will be working late today, staying at her post until 4:30 p.m. in the hope of serving any local politico interested in seeking elected office.

A more in-depth look at Mayor Jim Auxer’s decision to run again will appear later today.