Seaside City Councilmember Alex Miller is planning exactly one year ahead. On Tuesday, Nov. 4—Election Day 2025—Miller announced his intention to run for mayor in 2026.
He was elected for the first time to a four-year term on council in 2022, and plans to run for mayor instead of seeking re-election.
"I have very high hopes for the city," Miller says. "I see good progress, but we could have great progress. Decisions made in the last couple of years have really concerned me. I don't think all voices count now—specific groups have a say in the city. I notice groups that get favored. I think we should be more fair."
Asked whether he could advance these goals from his council seat rather than the mayoral position, Miller says he has found himself too often on the losing end of votes and that he's been frustrated by a lack of dialogue with the mayor.
Mayor Ian Oglesby says he intends to seek re-election in 2026, with a focus on affordability. "Making sure our families can afford to stay here, that's really my priority," he says.
Oglesby characterizes his relationship with Miller and the other three members of council as collegial. "I have a good working relationship with all of them," he says. "They're entitled to their thoughts."
Oglesby and Miller have publicly clashed in the past, with the mayor raising the potential to censure Miller in 2023 over comments the councilmember posted on social media about his desire to see downtown Seaside's revitalization advance faster.
Miller has fashioned himself as a direct communicator to his constituents, sending a regular newsletter and engaging frequently on social media. That engagement led him to get involved in the issue of fireworks in the city.
Miller describes progress on fireworks as one of his greatest achievements since he was elected to council three years ago. He was a proponent of Measure CC that gave Seaside voters the chance to fully ban fireworks—including the so-called safe-and-sane variety—that failed at the polls, after promising election night returns.
In 2024, as personnel investigations rocked City Hall, Miller was the lone vote against renewing a legal contract to continue pursuing those investigations. He publicly asked a series of questions about what had been going on out of the public eye. (That saga ended with the termination of the former city manager.)
For the first time in 2026, the Seaside mayoral term will be four years rather than two, thanks to a voter-approved ballot measure passed in 2024.