Auburn voters will decide who they want to represent them on the Auburn City Council in today’s general election.

While political newcomer Largo Wales and incumbent Bill Peloza are running unopposed, there are two contested race on the ballot with plenty to grip the interest of voters.

For starters, there is the race for Position 5 between feisty Council incumbent and retired Boeing worker Virginia Haugen and her opponent, John Hayes Holman, a retired police officer with the Port of Seattle, who helped set up a new police force in Baghdad.

The race for Position 7, now held by Lynn Norman, who isn’t seeking reelection, pits retired air traffic controller and political newcomer Wayne Osborne against Auburn locksmith Frank Longeran, formerly a member of the Snoqualmie City Council.

Tuesday is the deadline to have a ballot postmarked or returned to an official ballot drop-off site for the general election.

In order to be counted, the signature on each ballot envelope must match the one on file for the voter. This is a labor-intensive process, but very important in combating voter fraud.

Returns will be available starting after 8 p.m. today, and will be updated instantly as counties report in their results. Most counties, including King, will report only once on election night. The site is www.vote.wa.gov.

Here is a snapshot of these potential members of the Auburn City Council and their positions.

POSITION 5

VIRGINIA HAUGEN

Education: High School, some college.

Work history: Retired from Boeing, current member of City Council.

Reason for running: “We’re in a real crisis with the economy. I’ve worked very, very hard to understand budget issues, and I’ve begged and pleaded that we really look hard at our budget issues. I was raised by a single mother, and she hated dishonesty, and she never taught me enough about accountability, and when I came to Auburn I learned about accountability. I am about accountability and looking out for the guy who does not always have a voice.”

Issues: 1. Demands accountability. 2. Endorses term limits, conservation of natural resources and acting on behalf of numerous business owners to keep them in business in Auburn. 3. Wants properly maintained roads and utility systems in a safe community where people worth together for the benefit of the whole.

Quote: “(I am) an advocate for citizens rights, not intimidated by unethical political rhetoric. My experience in audit, record keeping, and business management serve me well on the Public Works Committee and Firefighter/Police Officers Retirement Board.”

JOHN HAYES HOLMAN

Education: Auburn High School, Green River Community College, Central Washington State University, FBI National Academy.

Work history: Retired police captain, consultant, member of King County Boundary Review Board, community volunteer.

Reason for running: “Auburn is a vibrant, diverse community. My goal is to make Auburn even better. Good governance is a broad task, central to a healthy community. Working with others to reach collaborative decisions is essential”.

Issues: 1. City government’s priority needs to be climbing out of its financial straits by supporting and encouraging small, locally-owned businesses so they can create living-wage jobs. 2. To pay for street and road improvement and construction, the City should look at funding through bonding and levies, giving city residents a chance to “step up the plate.” 3. Considers red-light photo enforcement cameras an infringement on police officer job jurisdiction

Quote: “Council’s work in concert: no single member has the ability to enact ordinances or perform City work by themselves. The ability to work with others and reach collaborative decisions is essential. If one is not in the majority, then the task is to seek consensus. When I find myself in the minority, I believe in working hard to convince others of my point of view, while working equally hard to understand the other’s point of view.”

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POSITION 7

WAYNE OSBORNE

Education: Air Traffic Control Training Military, FAA and International Procedures, Bailbrook College, Bath, England.

Work history: Retired after 37 years of federal service as an air traffic controller, plus an additional four years of service as a contractor to the FAA.

Reason for running: “I have been interested in city government for a long time. I have been attending public works, planning and community development, municipal services and on occasion, finance meetings for three to four years. I know how the City works.”

Issues: 1. Public safety, maintaining a well-equipped police department. 2. Roads and the need to maintain them, at a time when revenue streams are drying up. 3. Economic development and providing the necessary infrastructure to draw business to Auburn.

Quote: “There’s a lot of work the City is doing now on economic development, but we need to ensure that it continues to be done, and we need to try and get retail business into Auburn. One of the problems we have is that shoppers spend a lot of their money outside of Auburn because we don’t have the retail stores that people want to go to. We need to bring those into Auburn. We can’t force them to come to Auburn, but we can certainly make it attractive for them to come by ensuring we have the infrastructure necessary and reviewing some of the regulations to see what we can do to make it more palatable for businesses to come to Auburn. We also need to look at incentives.”

FRANK LONERGAN

Education: AA in Electronic Systems and Association of Washington Cities Certified Municipal Leadership Certificate of completion.

Work history: Security technician with White Knight Safe and Lock; former member of the Snoqualmie City Council.

Reason for running: I am running because I have not been thrilled with the way the elected officials have been doing things in town for the last 10 years. The course corrective is to get businesses back into Auburn instead of running them off.

Issues: 1. Getting business back into downtown, but public safety is equally important. 2. Growth is important, but the City does not have to grow at the expense of its history or historic districts. 3. Disapproves of the way the City annexes areas because of what he says is its “negligence mitigating for infrastructure.”

Quote: “I am a non politician, a concerned citizen, and it’s evident that I’m not a politician by the debate that the Chamber had. Take a look at it. A politician when asked a question, if they don’t know the answer or are afraid to tell you the truth on how they feel, they will dance all around the question, they won’t answer the question. But their floral speech will confuse you so much you feel good and think they did their job. But if you ask me a question, it’s my duty to try to honestly answer that question, and so I do that. If I can’t, I’ll tell you I don’t an answer for that right now, but it’s a worthy question and I will get you an answer.”