BENSON -- Voters in Benson will have a decisions to make Tuesday as three seats on the City Council will be up for grabs.
Polls at the Benson Armory will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
For two of the three council races, incumbents are seeking re-election, but one City Council seat will guarantee a newcomer to Benson politics by January 2008. That seat was vacated by Lee Westrum in May, according to information from the Benson City Office.
Westrum, who was Benson High School's principal, resigned from his seat because he was hired as the Benson School District's superintendent and thought it would be a conflict of interest. The council decided to leave his seat empty because of the upcoming election.
Vying for the open councilor seat are political newcomers Mike Fugleberg and Anne Johnson. The open seat would be for a two-year term -- what remains of Westrum's original four-year term.
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Three candidates will also be running for two full-term councilor seats. Incumbents Sue Fitz and Bob Claussen will try to retain their places on the council while challenger Benjamin Hess tries to unseat one of them for a four-year term. Fitz has occupied her seat for three terms while Claussen has occupied his for two.
Mayor Paul Kittelson is unopposed in his bid for re-election. He is seeking his seventh term as mayor. Kittelson was first elected as mayor in 1995.
According to Tribune archives, only the incumbents ran for office in Benson's 2005 election and only 10.5 percent of the city's registered voters participated.
