Albany City Hall showed no sign at 5 p.m. Monday that filing for city offices had just closed.
Monday was the last day to file for elective offices in the Albany city government, and there was no last-minute rush to sign up.
One man, Matthew Prudell, did sign up earlier in the day, becoming the fourth candidate to challenge veteran Councilman Dick Olsen, who is running for another four-year term, his seventh.
Olsen has been on the council for Ward 1 without interruption since he was elected in 1998. Before that he was mayor once, for two years in 1979 and ’80. I would have expected him to make his current term his last. But evidently not.
All in all, there are now 12 candidates, two for mayor and the rest for three seats on the council.
Bessie Johnson in Ward 3 is the other longtime council member to seek another term. She has been in office since 2002.
In Ward 2, there’s an open seat on the council. Stacey Bartholomew was appointed to fill a vacancy. She has diligently attended meetings but said little and is not seeking election to the seat.
Alex Johnson is looking for his second two-year term as mayor. It was a surprise to me that he drew an opponent, a man named William Tally who lives in North Albany and lists himself as retired and his occupational background as “N/A.”
The candidates all filled out city forms. But the forms say very little about each except for their address, occupation and education, including degrees if any.
For a summary of which candidates have filed for which Albany offices, you can go to the city website here.
Other than the incumbents, I know or have met — as far as I recall — only two of the candidates, both running for the position held by Olsen. They are Greg Hamann, president of Linn-Benton Community college for 10 years until 2020, and Stephanie Newton, chair of the city’s Human Relations Commission.
Expect some of the candidates to open websites to promote themselves. I found one, for Ramycia McGhee in Ward 3. Among other things the site features a photo of the candidate with Gov. Kate Brown.
Her website, though, is a work in progress. Under “policing & crime,” there’s a dummy text supposed to look like Latin: “Ne fugit essent persequeris sed. Qui dico dicam sadipscing no. Ius posse omnes eleifend ne, no sea amet oblique. Mea in wisi utinam facilisi. Eu omnes nonumes reformidans sit, et eam aperiam pertinacia.”
Hard to disagree with that.
Once the local campaign begins, I expect there will be plenty of chances for voters to learn what the candidates are for and what they’re against. (hh)
Hasso – many thanks for continuing to stay on top of what’s happening in Albany. Good to know about all the candidates.
People have pictures with Governor Brown including our own state representative Shelly Boshart and probably even Greg Hamann. Great “gotcha” Hasso. https://www.oregonlive.com/resizer/QNczyJhqWbjlymqCuEj6uCGxxpU=/1280×0/smart/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-advancelocal.s3.amazonaws.com/public/AMTAWFHWINHDBDI2USYM6Q4R4A.jpg
I just clicked on your link to the Boshart-Brown photo. Thanks for the link.
There is one question: do you know who is the more-pained person in the photo? From the thinly disguised grimacing-grins, one assumes Brown is thinking to herself…”Get me outta here.” Boshart, on the other hand, is saying: “This picture better never become public information. Given my constituency, I might as well have done a selfie with Joseph Stalin.”
This picture is a great reminder that any politician will come running if there’s a camera involved.
They say a picture tells a story. Whenever politically opposed persons are forced together in unwanted conviviality, oftentimes what isn’t being said is far more important than all the chatter and niceties. Please see here for a clear example:
https://archive.org/details/mutually-assured-destruction
The Democrat Herald (rag) should be embarrassed (if only they cared). As usual, at LEAST a day late with news (nothing about the city council candidates). When I did a web search for “Albany Oregon city council candidates”, the only links were to Hasso’s website. I hope the staff at the rag understand why subscriptions are so low.
Hasso, thanx for the candidate news! I was hoping those who have responded to this topic had entered the race.
The money trail tells the story.
There are hardly any restrictions on campaign funding in Oregon but candidates do have to disclose campaign finances.
Via the Secretary of State “Orestar” website you can follow who is funding our candidates.
Damn. Wish I had know ole Betsy was up, would have tossed my ring in the hat.