REDMOND — Redmond citizens have two months to consider, conceive and configure their campaign strategies if they want to serve their community at its highest level. Candidates for City Council and mayor must complete the filing process by Aug. 26 for the November election.

Redmond uses a city manager/council form of government, with six unpaid councilors and a mayor setting policy to guide city staff in governing the community. Three council seats are up for grabs this fall, as well as the mayor’s position.

Candidates do not run for specific seats; top vote-getters win the election.

“I’ve already filed,” Mayor George Endicott said Tuesday. “I like to be up front and early. I love being mayor of Redmond and hopefully people are happy with the job I’ve been doing.”

This will be Endicott’s fourth time up to bat. He first ran for mayor in 2008. Redmond mayors serve two-year terms; Endicott ran unopposed for mayor in each of those three elections.

Endicott said he’s had people tell him recently that if he is re-elected, his next term should be easy compared with the last six years, when Redmond weathered some of its toughest economic years. “But I don’t know. I think we’ll be pretty busy playing catch-up,” he said.

Council and mayoral candidates must be 18 years old, registered voters and citizens of Redmond for a minimum of one year. An approved candidate registration packet must include a petition signed by a minimum of 78 Redmond voters; signatures will be verified.

Newly elected councilors receive training in the form of meetings with department heads and city governance conferences. Councilors receive a stipend of $200 a month; the mayor receives $300.

Required meetings average a minimum of once a week, including workshops, urban renewal board and joint Deschutes County Commission meetings and city commission meetings where councilors serve as liaisons.

Councilor Tori Allman strongly recommends that interested citizens start their involvement with a position on a city commission, rather than the Council.

“That’s where you really learn about city government,” he said. “The commissions are very hands-on. You get to brainstorm big ideas then dive into the nuts and bolts. In reality, the commissions are where most of the work is done. By the time something comes to Council it’s there for review or revision only.”

Allman said he is strongly considering running again for Council this election but it will depend on his employment situation. He was most recently manager of longtime Redmond business Cent-Wise, which closed last month.

“I would like to continue to serve the community,” he said. “It’s exciting and challenging. Everyone seems to have a complaint about how things are done but when you get here (City Council) you get a better understanding of how hard everyone works to improve our town. We all have the same goal: making and keeping Redmond great.”

The terms of Councilors Ed Onimus and Jay Patrick are up in November as well. Onimus said he will file for re-election; Patrick could not be reached for comment. Onimus was appointed to Council in 2008 and elected in 2010; Patrick has been on City Council since 1998.

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, lpugmire@bendbulletin.com