Voters will have a lot of decisions to make as a flurry of filings in the last week for city government and school board positions set up competitive races in Baldwin City and Eudora, including a top of the ticket race in Baldwin City.

Current Baldwin City Councilman Brian Cramer filed Thursday to run for mayor, setting up a contest with incumbent Mayor Casey Simoneau, who filed in April for another four-year term. Cramer was elected in 2017 to the Baldwin City Council.

The filing came as candidates for city elected offices and school board positions filed in advance of Tuesday’s noon deadline. Primaries, if necessary, will be Aug. 3 and the general election will be Nov. 2.

Cramer said he wants to continue the work he has done since moving to Baldwin City eight years ago with his wife, Bonnie Cramer. A stay-at-home dad with two young children, Cramer said his community engagement started seven years ago. His volunteerism came to include the Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce, Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission, Lumberyard Arts Center, Baldwin City Public Library and Baldwin City Recreation Commission and Douglas County E-Community, which has provided start-up funding for business in the county and Baldwin City.

As a member of the City Council’s community development subcommittee, he was asked to take the lead in the development of the new Sullivan Square downtown park and planning last year’s sesquicentennial activities. Cramer said he tapped into the partnerships and relationships he made from his volunteer work to complete those tasks, and his goal if elected mayor is for the city to make use of the energy and talent of those volunteer groups and others.

Cramer points to the city’s ongoing strategic planning process as an effort ripe for citizen involvement. The strategic planning process started a year ago with the City Council having three retreats on the subject. With subsequent work, the planning process is now to the point the City Council is ready to ask residents to comment and contribute but momentum seems to have slowed, he said.

“It’s not going as fast as I’d like,” he said.”I think we need better planning. Sometimes it seems like we just throw spaghetti against the wall.”

Meanwhile, Lance Handley and incumbent Jolene Born have filed for the two open seats on the Eudora City Commission. Their filing, with that of Tim Reazin’s filing in April, assures there will be a November general election with the three candidates vying for the two open seats. The Eudora City Commission elects one of its five members as mayor, and Reazin has been elected to that post since 2015.

As of Friday, incumbent Susan Pitts and Jerry Smith are the only candidates who have filed for the two open seats on the Baldwin City Council. Pitts was first elected in 2017. Smith ran unsuccessfully for the council seat in 2019, finishing fifth among seven candidates running for three open seats.

Lecompton City Councilman Tim McNish and Mayor Jimmy Wilkins also have filed for reelections to their respective offices and faced no opposition as of Friday.

There has been more candidate interest in the Baldwin City school board races. Victoria Yardley and incumbent Shelly Schiffelbein have filed for the District 2, Position 5 seat, and Steve Lyons and incumbent Chris Perry have filed for the District 3, Position 6 seat. Incumbent Phillip Harvey has filed for another four-year term in his District 1, Position 4 seat and is so far unopposed.

There will also be two contested races for Eudora school board seats. Four candidates have filed for the three seats on the ballot with terms that will end in January 2026. They are incumbents Joe Hurla, Mike Kelso and Eric Votaw and challenger Heather Whalen.

As was reported last month, Samantha Arredondo has filed to run for the remaining two years left on the term of the seat she was appointed two years ago. Joining her on the ballot for that seat is Claire Harding.

It is doubtful any primaries with be necessary for the Baldwin City, Eudora or Lecompton races. To force a primary, more than three times the number of candidates must file for a seat or seats. For example, seven candidates would have to file for the two expiring Eudora City Commission seats on this years ballot or 10 candidates file for the three seats on the Eudora school board that expire in 2026 to force primaries.