Challengers considering running for City Council

UPDATE: Brian Adkins has decided not to enter the race.

A half-dozen residents have surfaced as potential challengers to two City Council members who have announced plans to run for new terms in November.

The candidate filing period opened last week and will close on Aug. 12 unless Councilmen Jim Cunningham or Barry Leonard drop out. If that happens, the filing period would be extended to Aug. 17, according to City Clerk Nancy Neufeld.

Leonard, a retired business executive, took out nomination papers on July 18. He was appointed to the council in January to complete the term of Steve Vaus, who was elected mayor last November. Cunningham, an attorney, has said he will seek a third four-year term on the council.

Three of the six challengers who have taken out papers to date had applied for the position filled by Leonard. They are Sean Finley, an IT security expert with GEICO; Joe Calabrese, a retired business owner; and Christopher Olps, a systems engineer with Lockeed Martin. Olps ran unsuccessfully for a City Council seat last November.

Also taking out papers are Amy Romaker, who does business development for a law firm; Jonathan Ryan, a real estate broker; and Brian Adkins, profession not known at press time.

Each potential candidate must collect the signatures of between 20 and 30 registered voters in the city and turn them in for verification by the county Registrar of Voters. Twenty valid signatures are needed for a candidate to be placed on the ballot, Neufeld said.