Only Kingfisher and Okarche voters will have contested municipal seats in the April 6 general election after a Hennessey candidate was disqualified.

Rachel Don Rogers, who filed for one of Hennessey’s two open four-year board of trustee seats, was disqualified in a hearing Wednesday, Feb. 10, based on the fact that she has not been registered to vote in Kingfisher County for the required six months prior to filing for office.

“Her name has been stricken (from the list of candidates),” an election board spokesperson told the Times & Free Press.

Rogers did not appear at the hearing at the Kingfisher County Election Board and did not respond to a Times & Free Press email requesting comment.

However, she posted the following on her Facebook Page Feb. 6 that she “turned on utilities” in Hennessey in June but did not realize the six-month voter registration requirement

“I want to make this very clear...this is a huge shame...I will continue to fight for the health and safety of my family and this community,” Rogers posted. “This is not the last that you will hear from me.”

The result of the successful contest means no municipal election for Hennessey voters because the two remaining candidates will assume the two open municipal seats.

Newcomer Harold Shaw will join the board with a fouryear term in April, and Keith Meek will continue on the board for a second four-year term.

Town employee Shelley Burch was the lone candidate to file for the treasurer’s job. Longtime treasurer Teresa Weber did not file for re-election.

Kati Walters was also the only candidate to file for the town clerk Walters was appointed clerk by the board in August after Town Administrator Tiffany Tillman resigned as clerk due to added duties.

The treasurer and clerk positions are also four-year terms.

Trustee Harold Shaw

Due to recent health issues Shaw, 54, said he decided to file because he has “more free time” to be on the board, and wants “to see how the town works ... and do what I can to help out,” he told the Times & FreePress in a phone interview.

He was appointed by the town board to the Hennessey Planning Board in 2017, and served in that position for two years.

Shaw has been self-employed as a wireline consultant for the past 10 years, and has worked in the oilfield for many years. He was also the promoter for the Enid Motor Speedway at one time.

He is a 1984 HHS graduate, attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Alva, for two years, and has lived in Hennessey almost all his life.

Shaw ran for the town board in 2007, but Abel Moreno won that year.

His wife, Paula (Gillette), keeps books for his consultant work, and is semi-retired now, he said. They have been married for 35 years. They have one son, Hesston, 29 (wife, Mistie, 28), and two grandchildren, Racilynn and Brinnley.

Trustee Keith Meek

Meek 44, has served on the Hennessey Board of Trustees for four years, and was first elected to the board in a fourway race in 2017.

He is a pipeline operator for Mustang Gas Products, and has worked there for 10 years. He is also a Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office reserve deputy, and was a Hennessey Police Department reserve officer for eight years before joining the Sheriff’s Office in 2016.

Meek worked at Thurmond-McGlothlin 2006-2011, and Seaboard Farms, 1997-2006.

He is a 1995 HHS graduate, and attended UCO for two years.

Meek also serves on the HennesseyEducationalSchool Foundation board of directors, and is a regular competitor in the Hennessey Friends of the Library’s annual Chili Cookoff.

He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Hennessey, and the Coronado Masonic Lodge No. 56.

His wife, Christy (Hunter), is an oncology nurse at St. Mary’s Cancer Center, Enid. Theyhave two children: Reese, eight, and Sutton, five.

Treasurer Shelley Burch

Shelley (Kelley) Burch, 47, has been a town hall clerk and the court clerk for almost eight years. She most recently was appointed deputy town clerk

This was her first time to run for public office, and said she filed for the treasurer’s post when Weber said she wasn’t going to run again. Weber never had a challenger when she ran for office.

Before joining the town staff, Burch worked at the Hennessey Public Schools for almost six years as a para professional, and as a Head Start teacher at FLDC, Enid, for three years.

She has lived in Hennessey all her life, and is a 1992 HHS graduate. She also received a certificate of education from Redlands Community College, El Reno.

She is a member of the Hennessey Police Department’s Reserve Angels and has been recognized for her community service to that group’s Christmas project, as well as fund-raisers for the schools.

Her husband, Bryan, is a Reserve Police Captain, K-9 officer, and the town’s wastewater superintendent. They have three children: Bryann Guffey, and husband Tyler, of Hennessey; Sierra Burch of Guthrie, and Ryan Burch, and wife Mikaela of Drummond, and four grandchildren: Cameron, 9; Madi, 8; Kenzi, 8, and Holden, 2.

Town Clerk Kati Walters

Kati (Wymore) Walters was appointed town clerk in August by the board at the recommendation of the town administrator.

Walters, 31, has worked at town hall for three years, and continues as accounts payable and payroll clerk

She started as a part-time Hennessey police dispatcher in February 2014 and worked there for three years before her transfer to town hall.

She graduated from HHS in 2008, and is married to Jackie Walters. She has one step-son, Cameron, nine years old.

She has worked at townhall for the past three years, and will continue as the accounts payable and payroll clerk She also helps with Reserve Angel projects.

Walters has attended Oklahoma Municipal League seminars for the past three years.

Hennessey correspondent Barb Walter contributed to this story. Watch future editions for photos and bios of other area municipal candidates elected or re-elected without opposition.