Seven people — none of them incumbents — filed candidacy papers by Monday’s deadline to run in the Ellsworth City Council election this fall.
The three current members of the council whose terms are ending this year — Michelle Beal, Tammy Mote and Jon Stein — decided against running for re-election. With the incumbents sitting out, three new members of the council are expected to join the seven-member board in November.
The residents who made Monday’s 5 p.m. filing deadline to run for City Council are Earl Awalt, Timothy Carter, John Linnehan, Eric Marichal, Carol Martineau, Patrick Shea and Marina Smith.
Among them, the only one to have run for local office previously is Linnehan. The businessman also has run previously for state House and Senate seats.
Linnehan has been a City Council candidate for several recent elections, but has fallen short to different opponents over the years. Linnehan, a social and fiscal conservative who twice has been sanctioned by the state over his business practices, in the past year has had clashes with the council over statements he has made during ‘public comment’ portions of council meetings.
Beal and Mote each have served the city in a variety of positions since at least the early 2000s. Before being elected to the council in 2022, and then becoming chair in 2023, Beal served as the city’s finance director and then as city manager, the city’s top administrative post, from 2005 to 2017.
Mote also served as Ellsworth’s finance director and deputy city manager, before leaving for a private sector job in 2020. She was elected to the council in 2022.
Jon Stein, the owner of Fogtown Brewing, also was first elected to the council three years ago.
Two other city elections this fall are not expected to be contested.
Paul Markosian and Beverly Sargent, who already are serving on the city’s school board, were the only people to submit candidacy papers for the two seats on that board that are up for re-election in November.
Judith Lyles, whose seat on the board of trustees for Ellsworth Public Library is the only one up for renewal this fall, is the only person to submit papers to run in that race.
