Decision time is drawing nigh for all those who wish to enter Richmond County’s municipal races in the November election.

The deadline to register as a candidate is Friday at noon, and many seats on the various town councils remain open, with no one whose declared their intentions to fill them.

“If there are not enough candidates to file for all the open seats, the county’s board of elections may choose to extend the filing period for five days,” Richmond County Director of Elections Connie Kelly said Tuesday. “There wouldn’t be any further extension after those five days.”

Meanwhile, the choices citizens will have on election day from the county’s five municipalities have begun to take shape.

Two incumbents from the Town of Hoffman declared their intentions to recapture their seats Tuesday.

Mayor Jo Ann Jasper-Thomas said she will seek her fifth term. She was originally elected in 2001.

“We have a lot of projects going on in the Town of Hoffman with the widening of the highway, sewer service and, most recently, obtaining the Hoffman School,” she said. “We want to go forward with these projects in the next term.”

Thomas’s husband Terry also serves Hoffman as a councilman. They have been married for 21 years, have a daughter and attend Belford Baptist Church in Candor, where they also serve as deacon and deaconess.

“We have a very good town council, and I believe they all will run again, whether they are registered or not,” Thomas said. “I am looking forward to working with those people to prosper the Town of Hoffman.”

Incumbent Hoffman Councilman Daniel Kelly is also seeking re-election. He has served on the town council since 1981.

His intentions are to foster infrastructure development and job creation in the next term.

“We’re trying to get a sewer hook-up, streetlights and sidewalks,” Kelly said. “We’ve already started these projects, and I would like to see them through. My hope is, once we get the sewer and streetlights, we can bring some new businesses into Hoffman.”

He has worked with Moore County Public Utilities for 31 years, is the president of the Beaver Dam Community Center #1, is a master mason and represents the Town of Hoffman on Fort Bragg’s Base Realignment and Closure Regional Task Force.

Ellerbe Town Council Incumbent Jerry Meacham also filed for reelection Tuesday, but attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

Incumbent Dobbins Heights Town Council member Angeline David has been the only person to declare for the race for the town’s two empty seats. The other incumbent, Curtis Ratliff has publicly said he will not run again.

“There is so much we need to accomplish, and I hope that I can help to work toward it,” David said.

She described a long-term vision of creating a community resource center to target the youth of the community with recreational and educational opportunities like sports teams and computer classes. This type of development would instill a greater sense of leadership and citizenship in Dobbins Heights, she believes.

“If I am reelected in this upcoming term, I’ll be working toward bringing this to our community,” she said. “If it doesn’t happen in this upcoming term, I hope to at least get it started so someone else can come after me and make it happen. I know that God will make a way for us to do this.”

Incumbent Hoffman Town Councilman Lee Butler also registered Wednesday, but attempts to reach him by e-mail were unsuccessful at press time.

To date, the City of Rockingham has two candidates for mayor, incumbent Gene McLaurin and challenger Bruce Stanback, and four candidates for the three open seats on city council. The four candidates are incumbents John Hutchinson, Steve Morris and Shirley Fuller, and challenger Teressa Beavers.

Incumbent Mayor Jeff Smart is the only individual who has registered for upcoming elections in the City of Hamlet. No one has declared their intentions to run for the two open seats on Hamlet City Council.

The Town of Hoffman to date has one candidate for mayor, incumbent Jo Ann Jasper-Thomas, and two candidates, incumbent Mayor Pro-Tem Tommy Hart and incumbent Councilman Kelly, for its five open seats on the council.

The Town of Ellerbe also has one candidate for mayor, challenger Olivia Webb, and three candidates for the three open seats on its town council. The three candidates are incumbents Jerry Meacham and Evon Craven and challenger Molly Russell.

In Dobbins Heights, incumbent Angeline David is the only candidate for the town council’s two open seats.

The Richmond County Board of Elections consists of three members. There is Chairwoman Hilda Pemberton, Secretary Carlton Hawkins and Republican member Phillip Huber.