Election filing period ends Friday at 5 p.m.

The filing period for the November election draws to a close Friday at 5 p.m. A number of possible candidates in the hotly contested healthcare and water district races are waiting until the last minute to file papers.

The election features only a handful of races of local import. They include two Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) seats in Division I (Sleepy Hollow, Oak Manor, Marinda Oaks, part of San Anselmo, and Terra Linda) and Division III (San Anselmo, Fairfax, San Geronimo Valley), as well as three seats on the Marin Health District board, for which the seats are not divided geographically.

Four of the five seats on the MMWD board are up for election this fall, including that of Jack Gibson in Division I and David Behar in Division III. Both have taken out papers to run for re-election, but neither has filed with the Registrar of Voters.

Both the elections are expected to be hotly contested, with the issue of a desalination plant being a controversial topic in town.

In Division I, both Robert Charles Karfiol and Fairfax Planning Commissioner Peter Lacques have taken out papers, but have not yet filed them.

In Division III, possible challengers to the incumbent include J. Stuart Ryan of Ross and former Fairfax Councilman Frank Egger. Both have taken out paper, but not yet filed with the Registrar's Office. Despite the fact that Egger, who has been a vocal critic of the desalination plant, has a Frank Egger for Marin Water Board website, he says he hasn't yet decided.

The Marin Healthcare District board, which ushered in a new era with the termination of Sutter Health as the operator of Marin General Hospital, will also be a contentious race. The move ended the hospital's tumultuous, 5-year relationship with Sutter.

Three seats on the five-member district board are up Nov. 2, and each of the three incumbents intends to run for re-election, they said. Robert Charles Karfiol is the only person who has so far taken out papers to run against the incumbents.

"There's more work to be done," said incumbent Jamie Clever. "The best firewall of all to protect the hospital from the at times crazy politics on the district board is to have a tradition of good people running for office."

Board Chairman Larry Bedard said he anticipates a smooth transition and looks forward to taking to the voters a bond measure needed to finance construction of a new, earthquake-safe hospital building. The district must complete the project by 2015, and intends to take a $250 million general obligation bond to voters in 2011. The bond will have to get two-thirds approval of voters in the healthcare district, which includes all of Marin except Novato.

"The board election and the bond issue will be one in the same in many ways," Clever said.

Upon the June 30 transition from Sutter, the district board appointed 11 people to the Marin General Hospital Corp.'s board of directors, including four Mill Valley residents: David Hill, Ann Kaom Paul Kirincic and Timothy Sowerby.

The deadline to submit paperwork to run on Nov. 2 is Aug. 6 at 5pm. In seats where the incumbent chooses not to run again, the filing period will be extended to Aug. 11. The deadline for voters to register to vote in the Nov. 2 election is Oct. 18.

Prospective candidates can obtain nomination papers at the Marin County Registrar of Voters, Room 121, Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903.