Avalon voters will get a chance to meet and question candidates for the municipal election at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 8, in the City Council Chambers. The event is being sponsored by the Catalina Islander and the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce Visitors Bureau.
On Tuesday, April 10 Avalon voters will go to City Hall—the only polling place in town—to choose three people to fill the mayor’s seat and two City Council seats.
Voters have eight candidates to choose from. They will also decide if cross channel passengers will pay a $1-each-way tax to help pay for a new hospital. Making the 2018 race slightly unusual is that two incumbants are running write-in campaigns to be re-elected. Council Member Joe Sampson, like Mayor Annie Marshall, is running a write-in campaign because the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office disqualified some of the signatures on their nomination papers.
In the mayor’s race, Bob Kennedy is a former mayor seeking to return to office and Marshall, the incumbant, is seeking relection. Many of the candidates have experience with city government: Sampson and Cinde MacGugan-Cassidy are seeking re-election to the council. Steven Hoefs is a former fire chief and former Avalon city manager. Pam Albers is a business owner and past Avalon city attorney. Ralph J. Morrow Jr. is a businessman and former mayor of Avalon. Mark H. Alft is a businessman.
