Tim Ryan, tryan@shawanoleader.com
A Caroline man who filed last month to run against County Board Chairman Jerry Erdmann in the spring election was notified shortly before the filing deadline Tuesday that he was running in the wrong district.
Ronald Grunewald had expected to be a candidate for the District 22 seat held by Erdmann, but he was informed about 3 p.m. Tuesday that his home address was in District 19.
The filing deadline for the April 1 election was 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The confusion apparently stems from the redistricted map of County Board seats approved by the board after the 2010 Census.
District 22 covers the towns of Seneca and Morris and Ward 2 of the town of Grant. It borders Ward 1 of the town of Grant, which is located in District 19.
Though the color-coded map clearly shows the district boundaries — with District 22 in blue and District 19 in pink — a tiny portion of District 19 pink juts out into the blue of District 22 south of the Embarrass River and north of County Road G.
The pink patch is partly obscured by the line representing Elm Street, where Grunewald lives.
Grunewald, who moved to the district in July, said he had turned in some 50 signatures from District 22 residents in support of his nomination — 30 more than he needed.
“People were excited” about his candidacy, he said, and he was preparing campaign signs.
Grunewald said he was stunned to get the call from the county clerk’s office.
“I took out papers in the second week of December, and nobody said anything,” he said, even though he listed his address when he got his papers.
Grunewald said the map he was given at that time was not as detailed as the “blown-up” version sent to him when the clerk’s office notified him of the mistake.
“The map doesn’t look like (District 19) comes into Caroline,” he said. “I’m 100 feet from the right district.”
Grunewald said it “seems awfully convenient” that he was notified of the mistake just two hours before the filing deadline. He said there were others who might have been interested in running against Erdmann if he had not filed.
“This took the wind out of our sails,” he said. “We could have had somebody else run.”
Grunewald said he wouldn’t have been interested in running in District 19, represented by Vice Chairman Arlyn Tober.
“I don’t want to run against someone I like,” he said.
Grunewald said there is nothing to be done about the situation.
“I don’t see how I could contest it,” he said. “I’m in the wrong district.”
County Clerk Rosemary Rueckert said she only learned about the problem Tuesday afternoon, when someone brought it to her attention. That prompted a closer look, she said.
Rueckert said she called Grunewald within 10 minutes of discovering the error.
Ultimately, Rueckert said, Grunewald should have been aware of which district he was in.
“He was given a map and a legal description,” she said. “He had a copy of everything. … If you look at the description, it’s pretty clear where the boundary is.”