by Tom Coombe
After nearly a decade away from city politics, Roger Skraba has returned in improbable fashion.
The two-time Ely mayor earned a third stint in the city’s top political post Tuesday, when he edged council member Heidi Omerza by 13 votes in a special election for mayor.
Skraba collected 376 votes to Omerza’s 363, with current interim mayor Chuck Novak getting 36 write-in votes.
Skraba will fill the mayor’s seat Tuesday, for the first time since the end of 2012, following a strange set of circumstances that started with Novak’s surprise loss to Eric Urbas in last November’s mayoral race.
Urbas, who had withdrawn from consideration months earlier, subsequently turned down the job and Novak was appointed on an interim basis until the city, because of regulations outlined by the city charter, could hold a special election.