Potential candidates emerging for council seats

It’s very early in the election process, but potential candidates for Maricopa City Council have begun taking out paperwork to run.

Three council seats and the mayor’s seat become available this year.

Incumbent council members Marvin Brown, who is the vice mayor, Bridger Kimball and Nancy Smith have all pulled packets to seek re-election. Also picking up paperwork to run for council are former council member Leon Potter, Dan Frank, who chairs the Maricopa Flood Control District Board, and previous council candidate Rich Vitiello.

Mayor Christian Price also pulled a packet for a possible re-election campaign. He is finishing his second two-year term. No other potential mayoral candidates have yet picked up paperwork. Starting with the next election, the mayor’s term will be four years.

Brown was first elected to council in 2008 and is finishing his second term. Kimball was elected in 2012. Smith was elected in 2014 to fill the remainder of Potter’s term.

With the exception of Brown, Potter’s political story is connected to everyone who has pulled election packets since paperwork became available Jan. 20. In 2014, while serving on council, Potter started a failed effort to recall Kimball after Kimball would not resign following a driving-under-the-influence citation. Instead, Potter resigned from council ostensibly to run for mayor when Price would not demand that Kimball resign. That effort, too, failed.

Frank was appointed to Potter’s seat and served until Smith was sworn in. Vitiello faced off against Smith for that abbreviated term in the last general election, losing by 8 percentage points.

“I enjoyed my time as a council member, being part of Maricopa’s decision-making,” Potter said. “I caught the bug to be involved politically when I ran for office a few years ago.  It has been with me since.”

Vitiello, a sporting goods consultant, said directly after his 2014 loss that he would run again in 2016, and is following through.

Election packets are available at Maricopa City Hall. To be on the ballot, candidates must file their nomination paperwork between May 2 and June 1. The primary election is Aug. 30, and the general election is Nov. 8.

Candidates for city council must be, at the time of the election, 18 years old, qualified electors residing within the City of Maricopa at the time of the election and for one year preceding the election.