MOUNT VERNON — More than a hundred candidates filed this week for dozens of seats up for election on the boards, commissions and councils of Skagit County cities and towns, and school, fire, port, hospital, parks and recreation, sewer, water and cemetery districts.

At the end of Friday — the deadline for filing for office — seven seats remained open. A second filing period will be held June 9-11 for those positions, county Elections Supervisor David Cunningham said.

Only the Sedro-Woolley School Board and Port of Anacortes races attracted more than two candidates, as of now, making them the only contests that will have a primary election.

Cunningham said the primary will be conducted by mail on Aug. 18 and ballots will be sent out July 29. The general election, also conducted by mail, is Nov. 3.

Despite the low number of challengers, some races could end up competitive.

Key city races to watch:

Anacortes Mayor: Dean Maxwell vs. Steve Sonnenberg

Not only has Steve Sonnenberg stepped up to challenge Mayor Dean Maxwell, he also has filed a lawsuit against the city. Sonnenberg, a semi-retired lawyer who moved from Chicago to Anacortes a couple of years ago, said that although his ongoing legal dispute with the city over a development issue weighed into his decision to run, it wasn’t the only reason.

Sonnenberg said that Maxwell has been in office long enough.

“This seems like an appropriate time for change,” he said.

Maxwell is in his 16th year as Anacortes Mayor. He said he is running again because he feels a commitment to the community.

“The thing that I am think I am most proud of is that we have a difficult economy and we have weathered that,” he said.

Sedro-Woolley City Council, at large: Dennis London vs. Brett Sandstrom

The City Council’s handling of a controversial — and ultimately abandoned — push to build a solid waste and recycling facility in town is already an issue in Dennis London’s re-election bid.

London backed the May 2007 City Council resolution that supported Deluxe Recycling and Disposal’s proposal for a recycling center on an old lumber mill site next to Sedro-Woolley High School. And he defended his position even as five of the seven council members voted to invalidate the original resolution late last year.

London said this week that his original and continued support for the Deluxe proposal was fueled by a desire to build the city’s economic base in order to generate tax revenues that would ultimately be used to provide city services.

“We cannot survive as a bedroom or a retirement community,” he said.

As the chair of the city’s Labor Relations Committee, London, a retired union representative, said he has been instrumental in securing a new contract with city employees and negotiating new compromises in the face of city budget woes.

London, 62, was appointed to the council to fill a seat vacated by Mayor Mike Anderson in January 2007 and was uncontested when he ran to keep the seat in Nov. 2007. He now faces the 33-year-old Sedro-Woolley Planning Commissioner Brett Sandstrom, who moved to the city in 2005 and has been active on boards for the Loggerodeo, Sedro-Woolley Teen Space and Sedro-Woolley Museum.

Sandstrom said he was encouraged to run for the council by residents impressed by his opposition to the Deluxe proposal.

“I spoke at City Council meetings, planning commission’s (meetings), and I tried to find solutions to maybe move them to another area,” Sandstrom said this week. “To the end, (London) was in support of the waste transfer station.”

Burlington City Council, at large: Helen M. Doyle vs. Steve Sexton

Councilwoman Helen Doyle, 81, represents Burlington’s Ward 6 now, but filed for the at-large seat for this fall’s election. She faces challenger Steve Sexton, a Burlington Planning Commissioner who also ran against her in 2005.

In that race, Doyle got 819 votes to Sexton’s 514.

Doyle said she did not plan to run again, but changed her mind after residents asked her to.

“We have got many irons in the fire, and at this time when it is such a battle as far as revenues and expenditures, I want to be there like I have been for almost 12 years now, fighting to make ends meet, to try to save all the employees’ jobs and still accomplish our priorities for the city and its citizenry.”

Sexton criticized Doyle and other members of the council this week for confusing wants with needs.

“I have heard too many times at the council meetings that the money is in the budget so it is going to go to these projects, which is fine if the money is there at the end of the year,” Sexton, 42, said.

Specifically, he highlighted the purchase of the Railroad Park property from Burlington Northern Santa Fe for about $500,000.

Doyle defended that decision. She said she has worked since the 1980s to acquire that land. She called it’s purchase a “dream come true.”

Mount Vernon City Council, at large: Dale Ragan vs. Doris Brevoort

Incumbent Dale Ragan, 67, and challenger Doris Brevoort have something in common besides their desire to fill the city’s at-large council position: Both have sometimes been vocal critics of Mount Vernon Mayor Bud Norris.

And after a loss to Norris in the 2007 mayoral campaign, Brevoort attended council meetings to critique the city administration’s approach to historic preservation.

Ragan, who is serving his second term on the council, owns Karl’s Paints in Mount Vernon. He said this week that keeping the town afloat, both from flooding and economically, are the council’s two biggest obligations and he’s proud of how things are going.

“I think we have worked to make Mount Vernon as sound and well-managed as can be expected under the circumstances,” he said, referring to the economic recession. “At this point we have not had to scream uncle.”

Brevoort could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mount Vernon City Council, Ward 1: Kathy Combs vs. Ken Quam

Incumbent Kathy Combs, 62, faces challenger Ken Quam, 56, who owns Burlington-based Ken’s Radiator, Inc.

“I have run this shop by a spreadsheet, and I think that is the way business should be done whether it is on a state, federal or city basis,” Quam said.

Quam said by phone that he served on the Immaculate Conception School Advisory Council for about four-and-a-half years.

“I got a lot of things done around the school, and one of my main concerns in these economic times is budget,” he said.

Three-term Councilwoman Combs has not faced a challenger since she ran for her first term.

“I was really hoping that if someone ran against me it would be a woman,” Combs said by phone this week. She is the only female council member.

Since the last election, she has opened K & J Catering with Flair and Kathy’s Bake Shop in a downtown storefront across the street from Mount Vernon City Hall.

Combs pointed to her support of the Skagit Station transit center as an example of a past accomplishment, but said the City Council must continue to work to get more people to come downtown, now that they have a good way to get there.

That means implementing the city’s plan to build a new parking garage, a floodwall and public open spaces along the river, she said.

Mount Vernon City Council, Ward 2: John Cheney vs. Gary Molenaar

There is no ill will between competitors John Cheney, who has served on the council since 1984, and challenger Gary Molenaar, a member of the city Planning Commission.

“I have not formulated a campaign strategy and I certainly like Gary Molenaar,” said Cheney, a retired architect, Friday afternoon. “I applaud interest in city government by anyone’s part.”

Molenaar also patted his opponent’s back when reached by phone at his downtown Mount Vernon business, Ken’s Hairstyling.

“John has served our community for what 25 years ... It is nothing directly against John,” Molenaar, 48, said.

Nor was there much dispute on the issues Friday afternoon. Both Molenaar and Cheney, 70, point to flood protection for and the redevelopment of downtown as a key goal for the upcoming council term.

* Elliott Wilson can be reached at 360-416-2147 or at .