By Khalida Sarwari
There may or may not be an election for two positions on the Campbell City Council in November, but that won’t matter: Mayor Mike Kotowski and Councilman Jason Baker are running unopposed as no one else filed nomination papers.
Friday, Aug. 10, was the deadline for candidates to file nomination papers for the two council seats. City Clerk Anne Bybee confirmed that Kotowski and Baker were the only candidates to file.
A special city council meeting will be held on Aug. 21 where the council will decide whether to appoint the incumbents to the vacant offices or to hold a Nov. 6 election. Kotowski and Baker are expected to abstain from voting.
“If you don’t have more candidates than those offices you’re electing to, you have an option to cancel the election,” said Bybee.” If there are no challengers there’s really no need to hold an election.”
The deadline for that decision is Aug. 23, which is 75 days before the election. The state’s elections code mandates that if no one has been appointed by the 75th day, the election must be held.If the council decides to cancel the election, it would save the city nearly $51,000, according to Bybee.
Both Kotowski and Baker are seeking their second and final four-year term.
Kotowski, 71, said he is running again to fulfill the last of three objectives he had when he ran for office in 2008. He aims to revive the city’s Youth Advisory Commission, which disappeared sometime in the early 1980s after a promising start in 1970 by the late Rusty Hammer, a
former mayor and councilmember.
“I’d like to bring it back, but it’s going to be up to the council and whether it’s an affordable issue,” he said.
Kotowski said he would like to continue to serve as a mentor to the newer members of the council. Housing improvements and development in the downtown area are two other areas he said he would focus on in the coming term.
Baker, 40, said he would make the city’s long-term financial stability and safety in terms of emergency preparedness the focus of his second term. Balancing the city’s growth while maintaining its “small town feel” is another challenge he anticipates taking on.
“I’m running because I think there’s still a lot of work I can do to help Campbell thrive,” he said.
“I love the public policy work. I think it’s important.”
