ROCKLAND, Maine — Three candidates have made the ballot for two open seats on the Rockland City Council.
The three people who had taken out papers all turned them in Friday. Making the ballot are Theodore Berry of Crescent Street, William Clayton of Acadia Drive, and Valli Geiger of Broadway.
The deadline to file is Monday, and the election is Nov. 4. The two incumbents holding the seats up for election — Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson and Dr. Eric Hebert — did not seek re-election.
Berry is a first time candidate for public office. He works at the Lobsterman’s Restaurant in Rockland. He earned an associate degree and bachelor’s degree in Justice Studies from the University of Maine at Augusta.
He said his studies of human resources management and conflict resolution provide him with the skills to be an excellent addition to the council. Berry was one of the people who circulated petitions to get the repeal of the pay per bag trash fee ordinance on the November ballot.
Clayton is a former mayor of Rockland. He served one three-year term on the council, being elected as the top vote getter in 2010. In 2012, the council elected him to be its mayor for the upcoming year. He did not seek re-election in 2013.
Clayton is the executive meetings manager at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
Geiger is chair of the city’s comprehensive planning commission. She is a nurse by profession who had been the clinical director for the Maine Primary Care Association. She works part-time at the VA Medical Center in Togus. She recently received her master’s degree in sustainable design from Boston Architectural Center.
There also is one seat to represent Rockland on the Regional School Unit 13 Board that is up for a vote in November. Incumbent Carol Bachofner has taken out and filed her papers.
Bachofner, Rockland’s poet laureate, was appointed to the school board in June 2011 by the City Council and then won election that fall to a three-year term.
Capt. Richard Spear also has filed his papers to seek another term on the Rockport Port District. The 92-year-old Rockland man has served 12 consecutive five-year terms on the port district, first being elected in 1954. Among his accomplishments was that he served for 30 years as manager of the Rockland Ferry Service.