7 Linn cities already know their next mayors

Seven of 11 cities in Linn County that are electing mayors Nov. 3 already know who they are.

With one caveat: In small-town, low-turnout elections, write-in votes can matter as they did in Alburnett in 2013 when write-in votes led to the defeat of the one candidate who stepped up to put his name on the ballot for mayor.

That said, the Linn County cities of Bertram, Center Point, Central City, Ely, Fairfax, Lisbon and Walker each have only one mayoral candidate who submitted signature petitions to the Linn County election office by the 5 p.m. Thursday deadline.

The seven include five incumbents - James Drahos, Bertram; Paula Freeman-Brown, Center Point; Don Gray, Central City; Beryl O'Connor, Lisbon; and Jane Benning, Walker - and two nonincumbents - Eldy Miller, Ely; and Bernie Frieden, Fairfax.

Gray, who will complete his fourth four-year term at the end of the year, joked Friday about the absence of an opponent: 'They all know better than to mess with me.”

Gray said Central City's mayor does not cast votes on the City Council (except to break ties). As a result, some potential candidates might prefer to run for council rather than mayor, he said.

To make the point, four candidates, including two incumbents, are running for the two Central City Council seats on the November ballot.

Gray said the number of meetings a mayor must attend and the phone calls a mayor receives from residents also might make the small-town mayor's job less attractive to some.

'Yeah, we're the ones who get the call at 3 o'clock in the morning about the neighbor's dog barking,” Gray said.

In Ely, the presumptive new mayor, Eldy Miller, said Friday he is surprised he's the only candidate for mayor.

Miller, a national sales manager for a promotional products manufacturer, said he moved to Ely in 2006, wanted to get involved and has been a member of the city's Planning & Zoning Commission. He said he first considered running for a council seat, but he ran for mayor instead when incumbent Jim Doyle didn't seek re-election.

'I felt that is where I could help the city of Ely the most,” he said.

'Ely had only 500 residents in 1990, and it's now almost 2,000 residents,” Miller said. 'That type of growth presents a lot of opportunities, yet also creates challenges.”

Mayoral incumbents in Hiawatha, Mount Vernon and Prairieburg each face challengers, and in Marion, two incumbent City Council members and a former mayor are vying to replace Mayor Allen 'Snooks” Bouska, who is not seeking re-election.

Hiawatha Mayor Tom Thies is being challenged by William Bennett Jr.; Mount Vernon Mayor James Moore faces a challenge from Jamie Hampton; and Prairieburg Mayor David Curl is going up against Arlene Holub.

In Marion, incumbent council members Nicolas AbouAssaly and Joe Spinks are competing against former mayor, John Nieland.