Monterey mayor runs unopposed, council race remains contested.

While Monterey Mayor Clyde Roberson is yet again running unopposed, Dan Albert Jr. is looking to unseat either City Councilmember Libby Downey or Alan Haffa this November.

Albert, son of long-serving former mayor Dan Albert, has won the endorsement of Councilmember Ed Smith. Downey and Haffa have endorsed each other for their reelection bids.

“Dan brings good judgment and local experience,” Smith says of his friend. “He has demonstrated he’s prepared and well-studied.”

Roberson attended Albert’s campaign announcement on the steps of Colton Hall Aug. 10, but said he wasn’t endorsing Albert or any other candidate for city council.

The mayor was first elected to the city’s highest position in the early 1980s before Albert’s father, Dan Albert, took the helm for 20 years from 1986 to 2006. Roberson also ran unopposed in 2014.

At the announcement just before he filed papers, Albert gave a speech highlighting three generations of family ties to Monterey.

“On these very steps some 76 year ago my grandmother, Caridad Albert, a native of Spain, took the oath to become an American,” he said to a crowd of more than a dozen people.

Albert began his bid in for city council after retiring as associate superintendent at the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District in July. He worked in the district as both a teacher and administrator for 31 years.

The ballot in Monterey will include two other educators: Haffa is currently an English professor at Monterey Peninsula College and Roberson was a teacher in Monterey for 35 years. Downey, a former registered nurse, bucks the trend.

Haffa, who attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this summer as a pledged delegate for Bernie Sanders, is seeking his second term. Downey is looking for her fourth consecutive four-year term.

“Libby and I have been effective partners on the council the past four years,” says Haffa of his joint endorsement with Downey. “We have shared a number of accomplishments including downtown revitalization and increasing homeless services.”