Skraba first in close mayoral primary

The race for Ely’s top elected position is shaping up to be a close one. Again. Two years ago, Frank Salerno was elected mayor over council member Jerome Debeltz in a contest that was decided by just 22 votes, and voters in this year’s mayoral primary were evenly divided between the incumbent and challenger Roger Skraba. Skraba, a former council member and state legislative candidate, eked out a narrow victory over Salerno in Tuesday’s balloting, finishing first in a three-way primary with 618 votes. Salerno was right behind at 605. Mark Haarman, who did not actively campaign and withdrew from the race two days before the election, lagged behind with 71 votes. The primary sets up a general election battle between Salerno, who has served three separate stints as mayor and has 15 years of city council experience, and Skraba, who served on the council from 1996-2003. According to Skraba, who said he was very pleased with last week’s results, Ely residents will have a clear choice in the general election. Skraba has campaigned for change in city government. “If you were to use buzzwords, it’s vision and leadership,” said Skraba. “I think I did well because of my record in city government, and people know I want to work hard to improve Ely.” Salerno was admittedly disappointed by the results. “I don”t really have a lot to say about it,” said Salerno. “I think I’ve done a very good job for this community. I think there are circumstances, so many things going on here in the city that people aren’t aware of. Am I disappointed? Sure. But that’s life. That’s the way it goes.” Salerno defended his record in office and has touted his efforts to help steer the city through difficult times, including a series of budget moves prompted by reductions in local government aid. Skraba said the council has been slow to make decisions. “It wouldn’t have taken me two years to figure out we didn’t need the (police and fire) dispatchers,” said Skraba. The vote was close throughout Ely’s four precincts. Both candidates carried two - Skraba at the Ely Community Center and Pioneer Apartments, and Salerno at Sibley Manor and the Kennedy Building (Government Services Center). And though Skraba and Salerno were nearly deadlocked in the primary, several factors could turn the race one way or another in November. Those include the limited Haarman vote, as well as higher voter turnout in the general election. Two years ago, more than 1,700 Ely residents cast ballots in the mayoral race between Salerno and Debeltz, about 400 more than voted in the primary. “Right now if I was betting, I’d say it could be close,” said Skraba. “I plan on working hard.” “I’d like to thank the people who voted for me,” said Salerno. “Now as far as I’m concerned we’ll have to wait and see what the outcome is.”In the race for three city council seats, incumbents were the top three vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary election. Mark Zupec (673 votes), Jerome Debeltz (662) and Paul Kess (524) all moved on to the Nov. 2 general election, where they will be joined by challengers Chuck Novak (483), Robin Mathews (434) and Patrick Osaben (368). Louis Kotzian (279) and David Schmidt (182) lagged behind and were eliminated from contention.