Council begins election cycle

Election dates have been set in Glendale. All that is now left is a final roster of candidates.

If a resident is looking to unseat Mayor Elaine Scruggs or one of three council members in the city's fall elections, they need to turn in candidate packets and signatures to the city clerk between May 5 and June 4.

Four members of the council have terms expiring, and all of them have picked up election packets.

Scruggs, along with councilors Phil Lieberman, Steve Frate and Joyce Clark, will be up for re-election.

Tuesday, the City Council set the date for the fall primary election as Sept. 2 and the general election as Nov. 4.

Scruggs has not officially announced she is running for re-election, but told the Glendale Today last week she will have her signatures turned in by May 5.

She was first elected to the office of mayor in 1993 and has served continuously since.

Michael P. Shaw is the only person to pull an election packet in an attempt to run against Scruggs for mayor.

Lieberman of the Cactus District is also attempting to extend his service on the council.

He was first elected to council in March 1992 and was re-elected in 1996, 2000 and 2004. Lieberman has been an Arizona resident for 57 years and a member of the Glendale community for 45 years.

Lieberman will be facing off against Gary Hirsch for the Cactus District seat.

The two battled for the district in the 2004 primary election. Hirsch did not garner enough votes to challenge Lieberman in the general contest.

Clark will once again look to represent the Yucca District in west Glendale. Clark was elected first in 1992 and served four years.

She was re-elected after a four-year hiatus in 2000 and then again in 2004. She has lived in the city's Yucca District for nearly 40 years.

Clark will likely be facing opposition from two candidates. Both Carole Marx and Vincent Dancel have requested election packets.

In 2004, Clark was unopposed in her quest to reclaim the Cactus seat.

Steve Frate of the Sahuaro District is running for his third term in office. He was first elected in 2000. In 2004, the voters brought him back.

Much like last election, Frate is running unopposed in 2008.

As the election approaches Glendale Today will provide a profile of all the candidates running for Glendale office in 2008.