GEARHART — Mayor Kerry Smith and City Councilor Sharon Kloepfer will seek new terms in November, while City Councilor Reita Fackerell has decided against pursuing reelection.

Smith stepped in as mayor in June 2022 after Paulina Cockrum resigned in the weeks after voters rejected a $14.5 million bond measure for a new firehouse. Smith was elected to the City Council in 2014 and reelected in 2018.

Smith declined to immediately comment on his decision to pursue a four-year term as mayor, citing a desire to wait until he turns in the required signatures in July.

Kloepfer, who was appointed to the City Council in May 2023 to replace Austin Tomlinson, will campaign for a new four-year term in Position 4.

“I think I can be of help to the citizens,” she said in an email to The Astorian. “Advocating for the flora and fauna is important to me.”

Kloepfer, who previously served on the Planning Commission, has advocated for the protection of elk herds in Clatsop County after over 75 elk were killed on private property under an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife damage tag program.

Fackerell was appointed to the City Council in December 2018 after the departure of Sue Lorain and elected in 2020. She had served as the Seaside Public Library director until her retirement in 2012.

“Life is too short,” she wrote in an email to The Astorian explaining her decision not to run again for Position 2.

The filing deadline for City Council is Aug. 27.