The following is from the West County Times.

My goal is to make sure Nat Bates, John Marquez and Harpreet Sandhu (part of the Viramontes Five) are not returned to the Richmond City Council. If all ten potential candidates proceed to file, you will have at least seven others to choose from.

Ten people had taken out nomination papers for the Richmond City Council election as of Friday afternoon, according to the city clerk's office.

The City Council is shrinking from nine members to seven at the end of the year. The terms of five incumbents — Nat Bates, Tom Butt, John Marquez, Harpreet Sandhu and Tony Thurmond — are up Nov. 4, but just three seats are available.

The 10 people who have pulled nomination papers so far are: Jovanka Beckles, Gary Bell, Rock Brown, Jeff Ritterman, the Rev. Andre Shumake, Chris Tallerico, and incumbents Bates, Butt, Marquez and Sandhu. None had filed their papers as of Friday afternoon.

The filing period for candidates opened two weeks ago and closes Aug. 8. If an incumbent does not file for re-election by Aug. 8, the filing period will be extended to Aug. 13.

Nomination papers must be picked up in person at Richmond City Hall, 1401 Marina Way South. There is no fee.