By Ken Francis Staff Writer 

 

There will be at least one new face on the Clearwater City Council next year.

Mayor Pete Edmonson has decided he will not be running for re-election in November. By the end of this year, he will have completed six years a mayor.

He sent a “Thank you” to the citizens as part of the city’s newsletter in March/April.

“I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many neighbors and business community members that I wouldn’t have had the chance to otherwise,” he wrote.

Edmonson says the goal of the letter was to encourage citizens to step up and be part of the city government if they were interested in running for office.

“The biggest thing I’m trying to stress to people is, if there was ever a level of government where your voice could be heard and you can impact the community positively, it’s at this local level,” he says.

Edmonson says thanks to council members and staff, the city is in an upward swing, and it’s important to keep that momentum going.

“Things are looking very positive in Clearwater. We have growth, new companies are scratching at the door, empty lots are getting bought,” he says.

The city’s parks are getting improvements using sales tax money. The sewer authority recently received $1.2 million for upgrades, and developers are looking to build again.

“We’ll probably have 10 new homes built this year, which hasn’t happened since probably 2006,” he says.

Edmonson is encouraging people to continue to work to keep improving the city - possibly by running for office.

“It’s a fairly big decision. There’s time commitment. It’s not a ton of hours, but you certainly haThe window of opportunity is small - just two weeks to file, from July 31 through Aug. 14.

In addition to the mayoral position, which serves a two-year term, two city council member positions are also up for election. They are both four-year terms.

Any candidate for office must be an eligible voter; have no other affidavit on file as a candidate for any office at the general election; will be 21 years of age or more on assuming office; will have maintained residence in the City of Clearwater for 30 days before the election; and must pay the $2 filing fee at the time of the filing.  

Filing takes place at city hall during regular business hours.