The plaza outside Albany City Hall in July 2023, which, thankfully, was not an election year.
Two members of the Albany City Council are not seeking re-election this year, which is not exactly a surprise.
Election politics is not usually part of my beat. But I haven’t read or heard anything about this since the filing deadline came and went. I want at least to provide a heads-up to changes coming on the council roster when new members take office in 2025.
Matilda Novak is not running again in Ward 1 after serving one four-year term. And in Ward 2, Ray Kopczynski is making good on his pledge when he was elected last time not to seek a successive term.
The filing deadline for Albany council was Aug. 20. The last day to withdraw as a candidate is Aug. 30.
In Ward 1, three candidates filed: Trevor Lee, Novak’s appointment to the city budget committee and a manager of big electrical projects for Cherry City Electric; Courtney Stubbs, an Albany real estate agent any d mamber of the Community Development Commission; and Michael Thomson, a former Albany School Board member and recent appointment to the city budget committee.
In Ward 2, there are two candidates: Carolyn McLeod, a city Arts Commission member and Linn County delegate to the state Democratic Central Committee; and Kevin Kreitman, the city manager of Millersburg and a former Albany fire chief.
In Ward 3, Councilwoman Marilyn Smith is seeking her second term. A former newspaper reporter, she retired after working many years in the Albany city manager’s office.
Smith has one opponent, Bryan Munson, an engineer who ran for council two years ago and is making another try.
Mayor Alex Johnson II, elected mayor in 2020 and now serving his second two-year term, has no opponent for re-election.
The general election will end Nov. 5. It starts two or three weeks before when ballots are mailed.
Some of the Albany candidates have campaign sites on Facebook or elsewhere online. If you want, you can find out more about them there. (hh)
Outside the Albany City Council chambers one afternoon in August 2022.
Hello Hasso….I’m pretty sure Michael Thomson was first appointed to the Budget Committee in 2011 and served for a good 10 years, during the tough times coming out of the Great Recession. He was on another committee prior.
Sharon! We need you back to get things back into order!
Thank you MarK. That ship has sailed. Plus the campaign world is too brutal anymore.
Sharon, he was also one of the Woke supporting folks on the school board.
And he was the one member of the school board who looked out for our pocketbooks! As you know Rich, social issues are not core city services. Both parties have their social issues they support. 99 percent of the city agenda items are over core services. That’s who I support.
evidently Hasso did not like my reply, He voted for the debacle of 50 million for the making of two stage systems and no real world help for the 75 percent of the population that does not finish College… hardly saving people money and he was fine with giving a last minute raise to a superintendent that it was obvious was going to be fired…
Evidently I hit the send button too soon, I only sent half the message so there wasn’t enough intelligent thought to print. :)
Career/technical spaces and opportunities expanded when I was on the board.
Have no clue what the “two stages debacle was”
Note Hasso’s column – at the end:
https://hh-today.com/albany-council-starts-2021-just-one-surprise/
I’m the surprise — as I was in 2014…
Backstory…
In late spring of 2011, my predecessor Ralph Reid passed away. After interviewing by council, I was appointed to fill out his term. I ran for full term in 2014 & won. However, see photo attached where I announced I would not be running again the following term (2018) and had the picture on the dais.
I did a self-imposed term limits and sat out for two years. 2020 election came around and there was an open-seat (Bill Coburn decided to not run). I ran – and was elected. I re-used the picture from above and stated same – I was doing another self-imposed term limits and wasn’t going to run again the following term and also had it on the dais in Jan. 2021 for our 1st meeting. Many folks seem to question my veracity in saying I’m doing that, but here we are again. :-)
“Why” you ask…
Standard answer: “While I may seriously disagree with some of their positions, there’s too many good people who should have the opportunity to step into the arena rather than my hogging the position with the power of incumbency…” (And that is huge IMHO.)
Sooo… I’ll sit out another couple of years, take look again and if I’m still ambulatory and don’t drool too much – who knows what may happen. :-)
So, Ray, are you running for the Council every 2 years or so until the Grim Reaper comes calling at your door?
Re-read my last sentence above… Time will tell.
This looks to be bad news. Novak and Newton-Azorr appear to be the only sane Council members and to lose Novak does not auger well for Albany.
Get ready for sky high utility bills with their un-approved surcharges. Taxation without representation. California here we come!
If you’re looking to house the homeless… there should be plenty to go around!
…That is – once they get done pricing more folks out of their homes.
City Hall’s desire to raise your cost of living even further at this time is beyond tone deaf…it’s beyond callous and insensitive…
…And to think that the mayor is running un-opposed….WOW! As I said “California, here we come!
Maybe you should have put the keyboard down and filed to run?
You wish. However I do not possess the needed characteristics for political office.
And I just don’t have the stomach for it, but maybe you do?
Also, it seems unfortunate that Hasso chose not to report on this until the deadline for filing had passed.
An example of journalism helping to increase public awareness – after the fact.
I probably don’t wish? In general I think Albany is doing about as well as any other larger city in Oregon. Not perfect and I don’t agree with every decision. I don’t see a need to run because I don’t see the dramatic hellscape the dozen or so regular commenters on this blog seem to. But I suppose sounding off on here for a few people is a lot easier on the stomach.
Hellscape is a bit over dramatic.
More like a slow growing cancer eating away at living standards and especially the lower middle class, who can least afford the never ending gov’t spending.
Above a certain income level it be annoying. Below that level such as retirees on a fixed income is another thing.
They always on about helping the homeless….
How ’bout not creating mo? Huh? How’d that be homie?
ok “Wild Bill” I’ll pass on being your “homie” What year is this? Homie? Really?
You’re constantly harping about “taxation without representation”. I don’t think you know what that means. Our city councilors ARE our representatives. We elect them, and they can tax us. It’s very simple. You may not like the taxes/surcharges, but they are put in place by elected representatives.
Wild Bill… Why have you not run for Mayor? You seem to have all the answers.
Oh good grief.
Another libertarian.
Go have coffee with Mr G and complain about everything any government entity does.
Tell us when you will support anything from the City.
It is too bad we only have a choice of people that have an agenda by working for the city and/or jobs that may pull their decisions away from prioritizing the majority of the citizens that live here. We thought that Ms. Novak was running instead of Ms. Smith. We will miss her. We need city council members who listen and respect the people. It would be a huge relief to know that we were no longer invisible.
chris j you had the choice to run to “represent the majority”? I’m pretty sure the filing fee was $5. Why didn’t you care enough to run? Oh, right…….
If you would like to see who these candidates are getting their money from, check out the Oregon Secretary of State website at https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/GotoSearchByName.do Enter the first and last name and check the “Candidate” box. I’m interested in seeing if the Realtors are behind a candidate or the Albany Chamber of Commerce PAC. I want to know whether developers are pushing for a candidate to win.
MC, You have to be joking lol if you think just anyone has a chance. Why do you think Mr. Olsen is not a council member anymore and Ms. Novak is not running again? Not to mention no one even trying for the city Mayor. The people need someone with some money, power and clout with a conscience to step up and defend us. The city doesn’t even return phone calls from anyone with my address.
So your solution is to give up without even trying? Takes $5 to file if memory serves so money can’t be the issue. Seems to me like power and clout would come from earned respect, intelligence, reason, and the ability to build consensus with a diverse group of people, but what do I know. As far as no one returning your calls that hasn’t been my experience but if it’s true that’s not cool, but something tells me that it’s probably a hole you dug yourself?
MC, Please do not comment on things you know nothing about. It is lucky for you to have
better experiences than the unfortunate who do not. $5 bucks is just a filing fee and if you had any knowledge about political appointments concerning who you are, you would not state such things. My kiddos know exactly how the system works and they may be younger than you. You need to suffer some pain, loss and injustice under your belt to understand what reality is and stop judging others experiences.
“Chris J” You don’t know anything about me, or the amount of pain, loss, or injustice I have encountered in my life, but just because you are older does not mean you know more or less than I do about running for office or any other subject because you don’t know me. Im sorry you have experienced enough of each that you feel that your time is better spent at the keyboard on this blog talking in circles to the same dozen or so people because “the system.” So your reality is not mine and here we are.
MC, you don’t know anything about anyone else on the blog either but that doesn’t stop you from making judgment. Your time would be better spent elsewhere than bashing people on this blog according to your your own advice lol.
Matthew……most people know the political game when running for office. You are correct $5 is super cheap, but it takes thousands of dollars to run a campaign. It isn’t worth someone’s time. You don’t stand a chance in our town anymore in winning unless you can spend at least $20-30k. Then you are up against the realtor’s big PAC who spend loads of money to buy their pro-growth candidates. The Chamber of Commerce also.
The grass roots campaign candidates have been mowed over since the realtors got involved. They don’t care about our pocket books. They are a little click group and only care about selling more houses and paving over Oregon. They were not active two years ago in Albany races, but they are gearing up already for this election. Until we get campaign contribution limits in Albany, then you’ll have a slim chance in winning unless you are one of those PAC’s puppets. Voters need to look at who endorses a candidate before they vote. Also look closely at those campaign mailers.
Thank you, Sharon, for the information. I appreciate it, and Hasso or any of his male followers are not going to give us the information that you just did. Thanks.
You are welcome!
Candidate Courtney Stubbs voter registration is 1715 Trudell Ct,se which is in Ward 3.
Albany OR City Charter Section 13 Qualifications of Officers.
No person shall be eligible for an elective office of the City unless at the time of election the person is a qualified elector within the meaning of the state constitution and has resided within the city limits during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the election, and in the ward the person represents for a period of ninety (90) days. The council shall be final judge of the qualifications and election of its own members, subject, however, to review by a court of competent jurisdiction. (Ord. 5741, 6-23-201
So I don’t think she is eligible to run in Ward 1
When does the government follow the rules? Not anymore. The rules only apply to us peons.
I asked City Clerk Allison Liesse about the Stubbs address issue. She replied: “I talked to Ms. Stubbs, who had moved to the Ellsworth address, but hadn’t as yet updated her voter’s registration. I also talked to Lydia Plukchi at the State Elections Office, who said she believes we have followed our policy and procedures correctly.”
The property owner confirmed to me verbally the candidate has been a renter at that address for several months.
Thank you Mr. Cordier,
How is it that someone who lives in Ward 3 is even permitted to file to run in Ward 1??
If she moved to Ward 1 from Ward 3, she’d better have lived here for at least 90 days before filing.
And if she is legitimately in Ward 1, then how can she have been here long enough to know (much less fairly represent) the interests of those who live in Ward 1?
Trevor Lee has my full endorsement.
He is a good man, a working man who has long lived in Ward 1, raising his family here. He Knows this area, and the challenges we face — especially in North Albany!
I hope you’ll join me in voting for Trevor Lee.
Ms. Novak, please re-read Mr. Cordier’s earlier post again. The ward residency requirement is at least 90 days prior to the election, not prior to filing as you posted. That means she could have moved into Ward 1 two weeks before the filing date of August 20 and qualified. I’m sure that as a current city council member you weren’t purposefully trying to spread misinformation, but perhaps you should be more careful in your reading before you comment. Thank you for your service to the community. It is a big sacrifice to serve in any public office. I will be supporting Michael Thomson for the seat.
Not supporting or forgetting the GAPS debacle.
Get real.
Thank you Ms. Stuart,
I’m afraid I misread the post by Mr. Cordier, and I appreciate your correction here.
Kind regards.
Forgive me again,
I’ve been greatly preoccupied with some personal business, and completely neglected to thank those who said kind things with regard to me and/or my service on the Council.
Your words do my heart good.
With gratitude,
Matilda
Forgive me again,
I’ve been greatly preoccupied with some personal business, and completely neglected to thank those who said kind things with regard to me and/or my service on the Council.
Thank you,
With all my heart….