DALTON, Ga. — Dalton City Council member Denise Wood will not be seeking a fourth term on the council.

“I’ve gotten an offer from an engineering firm in metro Atlanta to work part time,” she said. “It would be two or three days a week down there. They didn’t tell me I couldn’t run for reelection, but it would be very difficult to do the role the way I have always done it while working down there.”

Wood retired earlier this year as vice president for corporate environmental services for Mohawk Industries.

Wood, who was the first woman elected to the City Council, said she will “work as diligently as ever” as a member of the council for the rest of her term.

“As the senior member of the council, I feel like I provide a leadership role,” she said. “I will continue to do that until I hand over the reins in January.”

Wood endorsed former Dalton State College athletic director Derek Waugh, the only person who qualified for the Ward 1 post she holds.

“I spoke to Derek (Friday) morning, and he is pretty much on track with my beliefs for being a member of the City Council, which would be leadership, transparency and looking out for the taxpayer’s dollars,” she said. “We will meet again during his campaign, and I will do what I can to make sure there is a smooth transition.”

When qualifying closed on Friday, incumbent council member Tyree Goodlett was the only person to qualify for the Ward 3 seat. Mayor Dennis Mock qualified to seek reelection and former mayor David Pennington qualified to challenge him.

On Friday, Pablo Perez qualified for reelection to the Dalton Board of Education. Attorneys David Blackburn and Sam Sanders previously qualified for that seat.

Fernando Paniagua qualified on Friday for the the seat currently held by Rick Fromm, who announced he would not seek reelection. Jody McClurg previously qualified for that seat.

Tulley Johnson qualified for reelection to the school board and will be unopposed in November.

• Two of the three seats on the Varnell City Council up for election this fall will be contested. No one qualified on Friday, the last day of qualifying.

Seat 5 incumbent Bob Roche and Richard Lowe, a Shaw Industries retiree, both qualified on Thursday. Seat 3 incumbent David Owens and Sandy Pangle qualified on Wednesday. Seat 4 incumbent Clyde Williams qualified on Wednesday.

• Tunnel Hill will not need to have an election for its two City Council seats. Post 2 incumbent Jim Griffin and Post 1 incumbent Dennis Hammontree were the only individuals to qualify when qualifying ended there on Wednesday.

• Chatsworth: No one qualified on Friday. Earlier this week, councilman K.W. Gong qualified to run for mayor, stepping down from the City Council. Mayor Tyson Haynes had announced he was not seeking reelection.

Incumbent councilmen Jeff Cloer (Post 3) and Fred Welch (Post 4) qualified on Wednesday. Because only one person qualified in each race, Chatsworth will not have to have an election for those posts.

The city will have a special election to fill the remainder of Gong’s term on the council, which ends in December of 2021. The special election will be in November. The qualifying dates for the special election haven’t been set but will be in September.

• There will be one contested race for the Eton City Council. On Friday, the final day of qualifying, incumbent Jim Bartley qualified for the Post 3 seat. Hank Ford, an irrigation specialist with Keller Outdoors, qualified for that seat on Thursday.

Incumbent Joan Dooley qualified earlier this week for the Post 4 seat and is unopposed.

• Qualifying for two seats on the Cohutta Town Council is Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the office of the city clerk in the Town Hall. The seats held by J. Shane Kornberg and Shelia Rose are up for election. There is a $75 qualifying fee.