Philomath residents interested in serving the city as mayor or city councilor have until Tuesday, Aug. 13 to submit paperwork and get their names on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. The election will include mayor and three council seats.
Mayor Chas Jones has filed to retain the position but will have a challenger in current councilor Christopher McMorran. Jones has served as mayor since 2020 after first being elected to the City Council in 2018. McMorran had the most votes among nine City Council candidates in the 2022 general election.
Ruth Causey, Diane Crocker and McMorran were elected to two-year seats in the last election while Jessica Andrade, Matt Lehman and Teresa Nielson won four-year terms.
As of Wednesday, there were three candidates for the three council vacancies — Crocker, Spencer Irwin and Brent Kaseman.
Positions are nonpartisan, unpaid volunteer positions with four-year terms that begin Jan. 1 of next year. Council positions are elected at-large, meaning candidates may reside in any area within the city limits.
Mayor and City Council candidates must meet two qualifications to run for the office. First, candidates must be considered to be a “qualified elector” within the meaning of Oregon’s state constitution, and second, must be a resident of Philomath during the 12 months immediately preceding the election.
In addition, no citizen can run for the offices of mayor and city council in the same election. Continuous service on the council, which includes mayor, is limited to three four-year terms. Appointees are considered to have served a full term if they were in the seat for two-plus years. An appointed partial term of less than two years does not count against the continuous term limit.
Those interested in running are encouraged to make an appointment with Ruth Post, city elections official, to determine if qualifications and residency requirements are met and to learn more about the expectations of serving on the City Council.
For more information, go online to the city’s website at www.ci.philomath.or.us/elections.