Oakland fills city council seats.

Byline: Karen McCowan and Winston Ross

The Register-Guard

After nearly a year without a mayor and full city council, Oakland voters elected themselves a new slate of leaders Tuesday. In other small towns in the valley, incumbent mayors appeared to be surviving challenges with the exception of Oakridge, where former mayor Don Hampton was reclaiming his old seat from Mayor Sue Bond. On the coast, incumbents and challengers, including some former elected officials, were locked in tight races in several areas.

In what appeared to be a surprisingly decisive Oakland victory, Douglas County Veterans Services Office assistant Nanci Staples was leading a four-way race with 46 percent of the vote in early returns. She was trailed by City Councilor Jackie McCarty with 26 percent; retired legal assistant Wayne Harger with 21 percent and former mayor Frieda Smith with 7 percent.

Staples will lead a council that will include unopposed candidates Andrea Botwinick, a speech therapist and Jana Cunningham, a community volunteer, plus the winner of contested Position 1. In that race, antiques dealer Linda Boddy West was leading physical therapy assistant Vicki Jellison 61 percent to 39 percent.

The election ends a rancorous standoff between city councilors Jackie McCarty and Myra Weber, who could not agree on appointing replacements after former Mayor Jim Baird and Councilors Karen Copeland and Diane Fred were recalled in a November 2005 special election. Officials with the Oregon League of Cities said the year-long standoff and partial council was unprecedented in state history.

"Once we get our council together, we can work together to bring people together so our community can prosper," Staples said.

In Linn County, in another closely-watched race between Brownsville newspaper publisher Don Ware defeated opponent Ian Tomlinson 55 percent to 37 percent. Tomlinson said he entered the race out of concern that Ware's dual role as mayor and newspaper owner would constitute a conflict of interest. The contest drew interest from national journalism organizations, such as the Society of Professional Journalists and the Poynter Institute.

In Oakridge, Mayor Sue Bond was losing to her immediate predecessor, Don Hampton, who led 61 percent to 39 percent in early returns. She was appointed mayor from her city council post after Hampton resigned in early 2004 to accept a mid-term appointment to the Lane County Board of Commissioners. She was elected to the post in November of 2004 at the same time Hampton lost his Commission seat to Faye Stewart.

Hampton could not be reached for comment Tuesday night, but Bond said she planned to shift her community volunteerism to another venue, hoping to start an Oakridge Big Brother/Big Sister mentoring program.

In Junction City, Mayor Larry Crowley was leading challenger and former mayor Bev Ficek 54 percent to 46 percent. And incumbent city councilors David Brunscheon, Dwight Koon and Ethan Nelson were top vote-getters in a six-way race for three at-large seats.

"I think it's a wonderful thing because first of all, the council deserves to be back," Crowley said.

In Creswell, Mayor Ron Petitti easily beat back a challenge from Jane Vincent, leading 62 percent to 38 percent.

In Florence, former Mayor Alan Burns had garnered the most votes for the two open seats on the City Council at presstime, with more than 60 percent of ballots counted. But he had only a slim lead.

Burns had 28 percent of the vote while Suzanne Roberts, a retired U.S. Navy officer had 27 percent.

Former councilor Donna Lee and George Rogato, a local broadband developer, had 22 and 21 percent of the remaining vote, respectively.

"I look forward to working with (incumbent mayor) Phil (Brubaker) again," Burns said. Brubaker was a councilor when Burns wielded the mayor's gavel.

In Dunes City, seven candidates were fighting for four seats in the town's most crowded election since 1974. At presstime, the top four candidates were incumbents Peter Howison and Susie Navetta, then David Bellemore and Richard Koehler.

Those four ran together as a slate of candidates pledging to safeguard water quality in the two lakes most Dunes City residents draw drinking water from: Woahink and Siltcoos.

The other three candidates, incumbent Judy Martin, Bob Read and Richard Anderson, were trailing in the race.

Only a few percentage points separated the front runners from the ones at the back of the pack late last night, however.

The top two Dunes City candidates each had 16 percent of the votes, the bottom two had 12 percent.

A runoff for Coos County between Coos Bay city councilor Kevin Stufflebean and former North Bend Mayor Timm Slater was close, but Stufflebean had the lead with more than 60 percent of the votes counted.

At presstime, Stufflebean had 51 percent of the votes casted. Slater was at 48 percent.