Filing Period Closes: City Council Ballots Emerge

The filing date for local city council races has passed, creating clarity and some surprises around what the upcoming Council ballots will look like.

Excelsior will, for the first time in recent memory, have an uncontested election for Mayor and the two Council seats. Nick Ruehl is the lone mayoral candidate. Greg Miller and Mary Jo Fulkerson are running for the two open Council seats. This is a major change from the past two (at least) elections, when multiple candidates ran in what ended up to be very close elections.

Paula Skrede is the lone candidate for Deephaven Mayor, while Keith Kask and John Wheaton are running for the two open Council seats.

Greenwood will have some contests in November. Deb Kind and Bob Quam are running for Mayor, and William Rose, Kelsey Page, and Lake Bechtell will vie for two 4-year Council terms. Tom Fletcher will run unopposed for the two year term.

In Shorewood, Dick Woodruff, Bob Edmundson, and Scott Zerby will run for the two open Council seats in the newly reformatted at-large system. Chris Lizee will be the lone Mayoral candidate.

William Labelle is the lone Mayoral candidate in Tonka Bay, while Gerry De La Vega and Anthony Marceau are running for the two open Council seats.

There you have it -- 18 people running for 15 open seats. A big departure from two years ago when, with the SLMPD funding issue looming, the seats were much more hotly contested.

Local Elections at a Glance: Greenwood

Greenwood's council seats are normally up for election every four years, and the mayoral seat is open for election every two years. This year, due to a vacancy, there is also a two-year Council seat available.

Open Seats: Four. Two councilmembers (two 4-year terms and one 2-year term for council) and the two 2-year term for Mayor.

Candidate Filing Deadline: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 5pm

More Info: Greewood City Offices, at phone number 952-474-6633.

Major Issues, incumbents announcing re-election plans, etc.: The massing ordinance (a.k.a. McMansion issue) is likely to be visible in 2009 even as the current council is putting new regulations in place.

Local Elections at a Glance: Deephaven

Deephaven's council seats are up for election every four years, but the mayoral seat is open for election every two years.

Open Seats: Three. Two councilmembers (two 4-year terms for council) and the two 2-year term for Mayor.

Candidate Filing Deadline: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 5pm More Info:
www.cityofdeephaven.org

Major Issues, incumbents announcing re-election plans, etc.: Tell us what you're hearing in the comments area!

Local Elections at a Glance: Tonka Bay

Tonka Bay's council seats are up for elections every four years, but the mayoral seat is open for election every two years.

Open Seats: Three. Two councilmembers (two 4-year terms for council) and the two 2-year term for Mayor.

Candidate Filing Deadline: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 5pm More Info: http://www.cityoftonkabay.net/

Major Issues, incumbents announcing re-election plans, etc.: Tonka Bay offers a link to see who has filed for the election. As of Aug 27, William Labelle had filed for Mayor, and Gerry De La Vega had filed for Council.
Tell us what you think the major Council issues will be for the 2008 - 2010 Council.

Local Elections at a Glance: Excelsior

Excelsior's council seats are up every four years, but the mayoral seat is open for re-election every two years.

Open Seats: Three. Two councilmembers (two 4-year terms for council)and the two 2-year term for Mayor.

Candidate Filing Deadline: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 5pm

More Info: 952-474-5233 - Excelsior City Offices.

Major Issues, incumbents announcing re-election plans, etc.: Nick Ruehl announced in the Sun Sailor his intent to run for a third Mayoral term. Among others, development of downtown (specifically, renewal of the Pizza Hut building) promise to be major issues.

Local Elections at a Glance: Shorewood

(This is the first in a series of pieces regarding the upcoming November 4 local elections. For each South Lake municipality, we will outline the open seats, candidate registration deadline, and any other relevant information).

After a brief, four-year "ward" system of City Council elections, Shorewood will return to an at-large approach where the entire city population can vote for any of the candidates regardless of precinct.

Open Seats: All. Four councilmembers (two 2-year terms and two 4-year terms) and the 2-year mayoral post.

Candidate Filing Deadline: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 5pm

More Info: Shorewood's election page

Major Issues, incumbents announcing re-election plans, etc.: You tell us! Post a comment and dialogue with your neighbors.

Pavilion Proposal Rejected

The proposal for a pavilion on the Excelsior lakefront has been rejected by the city council. This is following a very lively public debate over the past four months, and examination by several Excelsior commissions.

A full story can be found here: http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2008/05/02/news/ex01cncl.txt

Look for an editorial to come soon, but for now we'll keep it to just the facts.