The Carmel mayoral race heats up early with two candidates challenging the incumbent.

Election season in Carmel is off and running, after not one, but two challengers have declared they’re seeking to unseat incumbent Mayor Dave Potter, who is running for a fourth two-year term in November. “Experience counts,” Potter says.

Councilmember Jeff Baron and the leader of the all-volunteer group Carmel Cares, Dale Byrne, suggest that experience hasn’t translated into solving the key problems that have been challenging the city for years.

“I’m a little frustrated with how slowly things happen,” says Baron, who was elected to his first term in 2018, the same year Potter first became mayor. “We’re headed in the right direction but I don’t think we’re going at the right speed.”

One example is the Carmel Police Station, which has continued to deteriorate over many years as city leaders have disagreed over renovations, costs and, more recently, whether to tear it down and start over, either at its current location on Junipero Street or at nearby Vista Lobos Park. Potter and Byrne say they want to remodel at the current location. For Baron, focusing on remodeling as the only option isn’t the best use of time – looking at details and costs for a few options and making an informed decision is better, he says.

Byrne, a retired CEO, doesn’t have elected experience, but over the last four years he and other Carmel Cares volunteers have completed hundreds of improvement projects around the village, working in partnership with city staff. He’s running for mayor, as opposed to council, because he says he’ll be in a better position to set the council’s agenda and work with administrators to tackle issues. “I’m creative, I listen and I get things done,” Byrne says.

Potter says he wants to continue the work he began as mayor, bringing the community together through listening and conversations. He points to success at getting residents and the business community to work as partners, rather than adversaries.