Butch Schaefer: 'I will not be seeking re-election'

Photo by George L. Winship, Editor

Butch Schaefer displays his plaque and thanks supporters for helping him successfully complete his most recent two-year term as Mayor Anderson, a term that ended Jan. 5, 2010, with the election of Norma Comnick as Mayor.

A nearly 16-year veteran of Anderson's City Council, William "Butch" Schaefer announced Tuesday evening, "I will not be seeking re-election. It is time that I retire."

Primed and waiting for the announcement, Mayor Norma Comnick quickly and firmly moved council business on to the next agenda item without allowing anyone else to comment during the council's 7 p.m. meeting that was broadcast live on public access Channel 11.

Council terms for Schaefer and Keith Webster will each expire in January. Due to Schaefer's decision, the filing deadline for anyone else interested in running for election to a four-year term on the council will be extended until 5 p.m. Aug. 11, said Anna Rodriguez, an Elections Specialist II working in the Shasta County Clerk's office.Contacted after work Wednesday, Schaefer, a Shasta County Deputy Marshal since 1999 with more than 23 years of service in the Marshal's office, said the needs of his family helped dictate his decision.

"I have a teen-age son, Evan, who needs some attention. I want to get him on the right road," Schaefer said.

And although his parents are in good physical condition and health right now, they may need his assistance "if anything happens" as they get older, he added.

"I have made my decision and I am very comfortable with it," Schaefer said, noting he has accomplished much of what he set out to do when first elected to the council in 1993.

"There was nothing going on here at that time. Our mills had shut down and people interested in developing property were being told, 'We don't want you in Anderson,'" Schaefer recalled.

At some later time, several years from now, Schaefer said he may run for public office once again.

"I don't feel that I'm done, but I do feel that I have succeeded," he said, commenting that he may yet seek to serve on the Shasta County Fair Board, the Anderson Fire Board, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors or maybe even another term on the Anderson City Council.

Meanwhile, Schaefer will stay busy as a raceway official for NASCAR. Schaefer was recently named the top technical inspector for the NASCAR K and N Pro Series classes, formally known as the NASCAR West Coast Series. Thursday he will take an early-morning flight to Indianapolis for an event, and later in August will visit Kalispell, Mont., and Colorado on behalf of the auto race circuit.