August 18, 2022 — The City of Florence General Election has kicked off, as all candidates for the Nov. 8 election have been verified through Lane County. Florence code now allows for election signage to be displayed, as of Aug. 10, as the election is less than 90 days away.

The election will have three positions on the Florence City Council: mayor, which has a two-year term, and two councilors, which have four-year terms.

The mayoral race has two candidates: Joshua Greene and Rob Ward.

For councilor, voters will be asked to select two of the candidates. Maggie Bagon, Jo Beaudreau, Robert Carp and Donna Cherryholmes are all in the running for seats.

The internal deadline to submit preliminary petitions to run passed on Aug. 15, so this list of candidates is final.

The mayoral position is currently held by Joe Henry and the two council seats are held by Rob Ward and Woody Woodbury.

The mayor and councilors are volunteers who serve as the governing body for the City of Florence. The city council works as a collective body to pass laws, fees, policies, budget and to supervise the city manager and municipal court judge positions.

In order to be versed enough to make such decisions, serving on the council requires hours of study into the pressing issues of the City of Florence, as well as attendance at regular meetings, work sessions and other external meetings where the councilor/mayor will represent the city and its interests.

The mayor is the presiding officer of the city council and thus officiates city council meetings in order to preserve order. The mayor also works directly with the city manager to determine the order of business of city council meeting agendas and serves as the figurehead for the City of Florence.

City Recorder Lindsey White delivered these updates on the upcoming election during the Florence City Council meeting on Aug. 15, and said that more information could be found in the July 2022 newsletter sent out by the city.

The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 18 at 5 p.m., although out-of-state ballots will need to be mailed in before that, by Oct. 10.

For more information about the Florence election, visit www.ci.florence.or.us/citymanager/2022-election-city-councilors-mayor.

For information on the election in Lane County, visit www.lanecounty.org/elections.

For information on the election in Oregon, visit sos.oregon.gov/voting-elections/.