BELFAST - With nominations recently closed, city residents can look forward to the first three-way race for mayor in over a decade — or more dramatically, the first of the millenium.

Two seats on the City Council, meanwhile, will go unchallenged in the November elections, as incumbents Eric Sanders (Ward 3) and Mike Hurley (Ward 4) each seek a third term.

The uncontested Council races may not come as a big surprise. In the last four years, the city’s principal governing body has worked in relative harmony. The local economy is generally on the upswing, and even the occasional polarizing issue — the proposed creation of a performing arts center, say — have been tame in comparison to the big box debates that tapered off in 2008. 

In short, there’s a good argument for the status quo. So why all the interest in a seat that’s largely ceremonial?

According to Thomas Burpee and Jim O’Connor, who are challenging Mayor Walter Ash, the current mayor hasn’t done the ceremonial parts well enough.

“It’s kind of a game of where’s Walter when you go to events,” said Burpee.

A co-owner of Bay Taxi and political newcomer, Burpee said he spotted Ash at the annual street party but not at other functions he would expect the mayor to attend. He cited a local Veterans’ Day observance as an example.  

“I’d like to create a few events myself,” he said. “I think Belfast has great potential ... We don’t have a Fourth of July celebration in Belfast so we have to go to Brooks and Searsport. We’re the county seat. That should be our job.”

The mayor’s authority under the City Charter is limited to moderating Council meetings and casting the occasional tie-breaking vote. Burpee said he recognizes this and would submit his ideas to the Council for consideration. He has a notebook full of them, he said.

“I’d like to bring a full blown university to Belfast,” he said. “Hockey Stadium, big bell in the middle university.”

Asked about the Hutchinson Center, a branch of the University of Maine, Burpee said the city needs a wider range of full degree programs to keep younger residents around. 

“Every year high school graduates leave Belfast after they get their diplomas and they don’t come back,” he said. “If you ship out all of the good ideas nothing will ever change around here.”

Burpee has launched a Facebook page for his campaign and expects to start a YouTube channel to run campaign commercials.

Jim O’Connor challenged Ash in 2011, and though he fell short, he continues to believe that he can do a better job promoting Belfast, both in bringing new businesses to the city and helping existing businesses have a voice in City Hall.

“The City Charter says the mayor is the ceremonial head of Belfast, representing the city of Belfast,” O’Connor said. “I don’t see the present mayor at a lot of functions in Belfast. I don’t see him out patronizing business around here often ... I just think there needs to be promotion by someone who’s the mayor, who’s the face of the city working alongside the economic development director.”

O’Connor is co-owner of Interiors by Janis Stone and has long resume of community service. He is director of the Belfast Lions Club and serves on the Waldo County General Hospital community advisory committee. He was previously on the board of directors of the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce and is one of the founders of the Maine Celtic Celebration.

In his previous bid for mayor, O’Connor highlighted his experience but was unable to convince residents that he would do a better job than Ash.

O’Connor said the need to promote the city better still exists, but recent tax increases have put a new slant on this election. The tax hikes have come almost exclusively from the school district, but O’Connor said the mayor could be more involved on behalf of residents, particularly those with lower incomes who can’t bite the bullet on higher property taxes.

“If there was more communication [with the school district], the mayor could help facilitate that,” he said, “so the city could be aware of where the school district is going and help find a compromise that’s best for the students of Belfast, and affordable.” 

Speaking on Thursday, Mayor Walter Ash was surprised by his challengers’ charge that he hasn’t been visible in the community.

“I think I’ve been quite visible in public,” he said. “I’m around town every day. I’m in City Hall every day.”

The owner of East Side Garage said he tries to accommodate invitations to events and makes a point of going to others that he believes the mayor should attend.

“Do I have to go to every meeting everywhere?” he said. “No, I don’t feel that I have to do that. But I feel available.” 

Ash served on the City Council for 12 years and in the Maine Legislature for six years and said his interest in a fourth term as mayor comes from a love of public service.

During his early years in city government he was sometimes involved in low-profile, long-payback projects like the drafting of the city’s first comprehensive plan. As mayor, he has governed with a lighter touch than his predecessor Mike Hurley, preferring the role of facilitator to booster.

“You might not see my face, but I’m still very involved in what goes on in the city,” he said. 

Asked why he chose to run for mayor when he returned to city politics in 2007, Ash said the decision was partly to avoid competing with candidates from his ward whose ideas he generally supported. As mayor, he said, he can still express his opinion.

But the mayor can’t vote.

“You can always plant a seed and watch it grow,” he said.

Elections for Belfast municipal offices will be held on November 5.

The ballot will include one other contested race, as three candidates — Charles Grey, Caitlin Hills and Christopher Hyk — compete for two seats on the Regional School Unit 20 board of directors. Current school board members Dean Anderson and Dorothy Odell are not seeking re-election.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com