Three-way preliminary election slated for September

1

Roy Martin

2

Michael Bardsley

3

Clare Higgins

NORTHAMPTON - A preliminary election in the contest for city mayor will be held Sept. 15, when voters go to the polls to whittle a field of three candidates to two.

Incumbent Mayor Clare Higgins, 54, 106 Laurel Park, is facing challenges from At-Large City Councilor Michael R. Bardsley, 59, 50 Union St., and Conz Street resident Roy C. Martin, in his mid 60s, all of whom are seeking spots on the November general election ballot.

City Clerk Wendy Mazza confirmed that Martin collected the 50 required signatures from city voters, and had them certified Tuesday.

Bardsley has previously passed that hurdle. And while Higgins has yet to return her certified signatures to the City Clerk's office, she has until Aug. 11 to do so, Mazza said. Higgins said her signatures have been turned in to the registrar's office and now await certification.

The deadline to take out nomination papers to run for office was Tuesday no other mayoral candidates will be on the ballot for the Nov. 3 general election unless they mount campaigns as write-in candidates.

There will also be a preliminary election for the Ward 7 City Council seat currently held by Raymond LaBarge, who is not seeking re-election. Mazza said George Russell, 69, 7 Heffernan St., Eugene Tacy, 158 North Maple St., 53, and Deborah Jacobs, 65, 82 Grove Ave., all plan to run, and therefore that ward race will need to be narrowed to two candidates before the general election.

Northampton's city charter specifies that only two candidates may appear on the general election ballot for any one office. If three or more candidates seek the same office, a preliminary election must be held.

Mazza said she couldn't say what the cost of the preliminary election would be until she finds out the cost of printing the ballots, but for comparison's sake, she said the Proposition 2½ override vote cost about $20,000.

Martin is making an unprecedented eighth bid for mayor. He began his quest to be the city's top executive shortly after moving here some 17 years ago. He often shows up for the public comment sessions at City Council meetings, where this spring he questioned the city's expenditures and voiced opposition to the override.

He has never held elected office. In 2007, he received 3 percent of the vote, compared to Higgins' 59 percent, and in 2005 he was eliminated in the preliminary election.

Martin could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but his entrance into the mayoral fray will likely spice up what is already shaping up to be an interesting campaign season.

Higgins, a five-term incumbent who would like to stay on the job for a sixth term, views a preliminary election as another chance to discuss where the city has been and where it is headed.

"I'm not going to complain about an election. They give people a chance to weigh in," she said.

The mayor does, however, think that it's too easy to run for mayor.

"I think there should be a higher threshold for the number of signatures," she said.

Bardsley, who has been on the council for 16 years and at one time was a Higgins ally, earlier this year announced his intention to seek the mayor's post this fall. He has flirted with the idea of running for mayor over the years, but saw an opportunity this year because he retired as a longtime guidance counselor at Amherst Regional High School.

He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Higgins and Bardsley have been holding various campaign fundraisers as they gear up for this fall's campaign, and both will likely get a jump on discussing the issues with voters now that a preliminary election is less than two months away.