This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Riverdale Council Races Empty as Deadline Looms

Eight days shy of the election filing deadline, and no candidates have officially declared intent to run for office in Riverdale Park.

As the April 11 deadline to file for the spring elections in Riverdale Park approaches, only one thing is missing—candidates.

This is not cause for concern, according to Riverdale Park Mayor Vernon Archer, who said in previous years candidates have waited until closer to the deadline to file. 

Find out what's happening in Riverdale Park-University Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“That’s basically been my experience, that everybody comes in at the last few days,” said Archer, who has served four terms as mayor.

The mayor and four of the six incumbent council members have said they intend to file soon. If all of the incumbents submit their paperwork, and no additional candidates file in the next eight days, all the races will be uncontested. In the 2011 election, there were no contested races in Riverdale Park.

Find out what's happening in Riverdale Park-University Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I don’t know why or why there aren’t contest,” Archer said. “My theory is that we’ve been able to establish a fairly good consensus that the majority of active residents are happy with what’s happening.”

Councilman Alan Thompson (Ward 2), who has served two terms on the council, is also planning to run again this year. He said the Cafritz development remains an important issue to Riverdale Park residents, and that his experience with the project will benefit the town were he to be reelected.

“I've spent dozens of hours in meetings about that project, and [it] will really help the town have my knowledge about the history, people, and details of the project as we move forward,” Thompson said.

In addition to Archer and Thompson, Councilmen David Lingua (Ward 3), Raymond Rivas (Ward 5) and Alejandro Silva (Ward 6) have all said they intend to re-run for their council seats.

Two incumbent council members have yet to commit to running for another term. Councilman Jonathan Ebbeler (Ward 1) said he was keeping his options open and would make the call sometime next week, and Councilman Christopher Henry (Ward 4) did not immediately respond to a call for comment.

To file for run for office in Riverdale Park, a candidate must collect 15 signatures from his or her ward (20 for mayor), submit financial earnings statements, fill out a form and pay a submission fee by April 11.

In the event that a position on council was unexpectedly left open, the mayor would need to find a candidate, an event that happened during the last election cycle two years ago. When no residents stepped forward to run for the open seat to represent Ward 6, Archer helped organize a write-in campaign for Silva.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Riverdale Park-University Park