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Six candidates step into ring for City Council contention |
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Saturday, 20 December 2008 |
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By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
12-18-2008 There are six official candidates running for three seats on the Bishop City Council.
Voters in the City of Bishop will have four challengers and two incumbents to choose from on their March 3 municipal ballots.
The incumbents include the current mayor, Martin “Smiley” Connolly, and mayor pro tempore Susan Cullen. The third current incumbent, Frank has decided not to run for another term, after 12 years on the council, to make way for new blood.
The challengers are Laura Smith, Dave Stottlemyre, Mary Baker and former councilmember Ted Gardner.
Gardner served on the council from 2001-05, but lost to Susan Cullen by a handful of votes in 2005. Gardner said he was proud of his previous work on the council, particularly his assistance in establishing the Water and Sewer Commission.
Gardner is a retired Bishop City police officer who also served on the Northern Inyo Hospital board from 1990-98.
Stottlemyre said he was excited about running and hoped to talk more, but he was battling a cold or flu at the time of this interview that prevented him from elaborating too much.
Baker has lived in Bishop since 1958, and has spent her “whole adult life volunteering,” mostly with efforts involved with children. She said she has volunteered in the schools and served on the Bishop Union High School board for 15 years. She has also volunteered for local 4-H programs and coached Little League and soccer.
Baker said she was proud of being a founder of the Children’s Assault Prevention Program, or CAPP, in conjunction with Wild Iris.
Laura Smith said she was also excited about running for an elected office, as this will be her first time. Smith explained she has a long history working in the public health field. She has a teaching credential and does some consulting work, but her passion is volunteering.
The semi-retired nurse said she is also looking forward to campaigning door-to-door.
All of the challengers said they were going to wait until after the busy holiday season before starting their campaigns.
Assistant City Clerk Denise Gillespie said Monday that vote-by-mail ballots will go out Feb. 2, with Feb. 10 being the last day to register to vote in the March 3 municipal election.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 January 2009 )
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