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*Editor’s Note: The forum begins at 5 PM, not 5:30 as previously reported. The information was incorrectly communicated to us. We apologize for the error.

By Donnelly Clare

The Stevens Point Chapter of the League of Women Voters has announced it will hold a candidate forum for area candidates on March 12.

The forum will focus on the eight candidates for the Stevens Point Public School Board as well as contested races of the Portage County Board.

City Council candidates are not being included in the public forum because none of those races are being contested.

The Portage County Board of Supervisors will see only three challenged races in April, when all 25 district seats are up for reelection.

Stan Potocki of District 11 is being challenged by newcomer Lyne Kawleski of Stevens Point. Incumbent Sam Levin and challenger Jerry Walters will square off for District 17, while Matthew J. Jacowski of Plover will challenge veteran Jerry Piesik in the 22nd District.

Districts 8 and 18 both have single candidates. Stevens Point Alderman Tony Patton is running for the District 8 seat, which is being vacated by Scott Winn, who filed non- candidacy paperwork earlier this month. Patton is also running unopposed for City Council.

District 18 Supervisor Leif Erickson also filed non-candidacy paperwork, who along with Winn cited family as their reasons for not running again. Junction City resident Larry Raikowski is running unopposed for that seat.

The Stevens Point School Board Race has eight contestants- a mix of familiar and new faces- for the four seats up for grabs in the April 1 election.

Challengers Alex Kochanowski, Terri Fink, Sam Levin, Patricia Hetzel and Trish Baker will face off with incumbent Board Members Chris Scott, Bob Larson and Jeff Presley.

The candidates with the top three vote tallies will each earn three- year terms, while the fourth highest voter-earner serves out the remainder of John Zellmer’s term, who left the board when he moved out of the district last summer.

The deadline for filing paperwork had been extended by 24 hours because district offices were closed on Tuesday due to near- record subzero temperatures. Had more than 8 candidates filed paperwork, a primary election would have been triggered to narrow down the ballot in February. Now the 8 contestants will square off on the April 1 election.

School Board President Terry Rothmann has solidified his one-and-done status, filing non-candidacy paperwork after serving a just one year on the board. Rothmann replaced the late Elmer Fournier who died in 2012.

The forum will be held at 5 PM in the Pinery Room of the Portage County Library and is open to the public.