Matthew Wocelka not allowed on ballot

BY KEVIN BONESKE

REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER

This spring’s Rhinelander City Council race for alderman in District 4 is now down to two candidates on the ballot after one of the three candidates who registered to run had circulated nomination papers before Dec. 1, said city clerk Val Foley.

Candidates running for office this spring were allowed to begin circulating nomination papers Dec. 1 and had until Jan. 2 to file. Though the incumbent alderman, Tom Kelly, and challenger Kyle Rogers filed the required paperwork, Foley said another challenger, Matthew Wocelka, has been denied a spot on the ballot.

“The basis for this disqualification is because 23 of the 30 signatures you submitted on the nomination papers are dated prior to the Dec. 1, 2017 circulation date,” Foley said in a letter to Wocelka, who didn’t have the minimum of 20 valid signatures needed to be placed on the ballot.

As a result, Foley said there will be no District 4 primary Feb. 20, in which three or more candidates would have to appear on the ballot to narrow the field to two candidates. She noted Kelly and Rogers will now be on the April 3 spring general election ballot, while Wocelka could run as a write-in candidate.