Qualifying for 4 council races on this fall’s Dickson ballot begins Friday, deadline June 20

Qualifying petitions for this fall’s Dickson municipal election can be picked up starting Friday. One Dickson City Council seat from each of the city’s four wards will be filled in the Sept. 26 election. Qualifying begins Friday with a deadline for petitions to be turned in at noon June 20. The four seats to be filled in this fall’s election are currently held by Mike Legg in the First Ward, Joey Turbeville in the Second Ward, Bird Armstrong in the Third Ward and Michael Outlaw in the Fourth Ward. Turbeville was appointed by the council in January 2012 to complete the term of Richard Arnold, who resigned after 30 total years on the council following his retirement from his position with the Tennessee Secretary of State’s Publications Division. Vice Mayor Legg is the longest-tenured member of the council having served since 1989. Armstrong and Outlaw were both elected to their first terms four years ago, both unseating incumbents. Less than 11 percent of the city’s registered voters turned out in 2009 for the last municipal election without the mayor’s office on the ballot. Only 14.6 percent turned out two years ago for four contested council races and an uncontested mayoral race. The Dickson County Election Commission has briefly discussed the possibility of having one central voting location on election day instead of polling places in each ward, but no final decision has been made.