FREMONT, Neb.—A Fremont man who says the mayor turned his back on people by hastily voting against a proposed ordinance targeting illegal immigration has decided to run for mayor.
Wesley Homes has filed an affidavit with the Dodge County Clerk’s Office to run as a write-in candidate against incumbent “Skip” Edwards.
Edwards cast the deciding vote late Tuesday night against a proposal that would have banned renting to, harboring and hiring illegal immigrants.
Homes, 72, spoke in favor of the ordinance to members of the council earlier in the night. But he left before council members voted to suspend the rules and place it to a vote of the council immediately, rather than at a later meeting, as was planned.
“I believe the mayor and some of the council members turned their backs on the people of Fremont,” Homes said. “Something so important should have been gone over very carefully.”
Homes said he never considered running for mayor before Wednesday morning, when he realized the issue had already been settled.
“Several of us were thinking it would be completed Aug. 26 left early. Now that this has been done in haste, we have a mess,” Homes said. “We all know that we have a problem with illegal type of immigration. We need to put a task force in place that can look at both sides of this issue. This is an important issue that’s going to have to be dealt with. When you have this type of problem, it needs to be looked at carefully.”
Dodge County Clerk Fred Mytty said anyone has until 10 days before an election to file an affidavit to be a write-in candidate for a partisan position, like Fremont mayor or city council.
The election is Nov. 2, and Edwards, a Democrat, is the only candidate on the ballot, according to an election notice on the Dodge County Web site.
Homes is a registered Republican. He said he’s retired after working as an investigator for various agencies in Oregon. Before that, he said, he was a Fremont police officer for 15 years.
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Information from: Fremont Tribune,
