ONTARIO – Six residents will run for seats on the Ontario City Council in November.
Incumbent city councilor’s John Kirby and Eddie Melendrez along with city residents Michale Braden, Ramon Palomo, Adrianna Contreras and Martin Hernandez all qualified for the November election this week.
Incumbent Sam Baker, however, did not turn in signatures to be certified to run again. The deadline to be certified for the November election is Tuesday, Aug. 27.
To qualify to run, a prospective candidate must fill out an application form. Once the information is confirmed by City Recorder Tori Barnett then the candidate can begin to collect at least 20 valid signatures to have their name on the November ballot. The Malheur County Clerk’s Office then confirms the validity of the signatures.
The election is Nov. 5.
Braden is a certified public accountant in Ontario while Contreras works for Valley Family Health and Palomo – who previously served on the city council – is employed by Simplot.
Melendrez is a community organizer and Hernandez is unemployed.
Along with Kirby, Melendrez and Baker, the city council currently includes Mayor Debbie Folden and Councilors Ken Hart, Susann Mills and Penny Bakefelt.
Councilors are elected from the city at large and do not run for a specific seat but instead are elected to serve a four-year term. The top three finishers in the election secure seats. They serve in nonpartisan roles and are volunteers who receive a monthly stipend. The council sets city policies, approves the city’s budget and supervises City Manager Dan Cummings.
The council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Ontario City Hall.
Three hopefuls are running for seats on the Nyssa City Council, according to Kelli Torres, Nyssa city recorder. She said a fourth seat is up, but nobody has filed to run as of Tuesday, Aug. 20. Torres said the three candidates with the most votes will serve a four-year term. The fourth-place finisher will serve two years.
Torres declined to provide the names of the three candidates who filed to run for the open council seats. She said she is new and would need to talk to Jim Maret, Nyssa’s city manager, before releasing the names. He was out of the office Tuesday.
Maret said on Wednesday, Aug. 21, that six people are running for seats on the Nyssa City Council. He said incumbents Roberto Escobedo, Juan Ramos, Ron Edmonson, and Patricia Esplin have all filed reelection petitions. So far, he said, there are two challengers, Marie Ballard-Chipman and Mark Shuster.
For the county, no candidates filed to run against either Sheriff Travis Johnson or Malheur County Commissioner Ron Jacobs, the only two elected positions up for election. Margie Mahony defeated challenger John-Paul Carey in the May primary for the justice of the Peace position. Mahony will be sworn in to her new term in January.
In Vale, council seats held by Derrick Peasley and Leighton Keller are in play for the November election. However, Todd Fuller, Vale city manager, said no one has filed to run against either man. Keller has filed re-election but Peasley has not, said Fuller.
The Vale mayor position is also up for election. Current Vale Mayor Tom Vialpando – who has served two terms – said he will not run again. Fuller said so far no one has filed to run for the mayor’s position.
If no one seeks the mayor’s position in the election, Fuller said he isn’t sure what will happen.
“I don’t know if they’d appoint someone from the council or just post it in the paper and see if anyone is interested,” he said.
The Vale City Council are unpaid positions. The council meets twice a month, on the second and fourth Tuesday, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
Anyone interested in running for either the council positions or the mayor’s slot can visit Vale City Hall at 150 Longfellow St. N.
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
Previous coverage:
Three Ontario City Council positions in play for November election
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