Each of Summerville's city council candidates are incumbents

Oct. 17—SUMMERVILLE — The upcoming Tuesday, Nov. 8, election will not impact the makeup of the Summerville City Council.

The city council has two candidates running for open seats and both are incumbents. Sheri Rogers is running for reelection to Position 1 and Kent Smith is running for reelection for Position 3. Rogers and Smith are both running for four-year terms.

Rogers has served on the city council since the late 1990s and has been Summerville's mayor for the past two decades.

Summerville's mayoral position is determined by a vote of the members of its city council. Rogers said she hopes to again be chosen as mayor by the council after the Nov. 8 election.

Rogers, during her next term, wants the city council to explore the possibility of having Summerville get its own water system. Presently, all Summerville residents rely on private well water.

"Each resident has their own well," she said.

The system has long worked well but Rogers fears that problems could develop later if the aquifer residents rely upon for well water runs low or if there are water quality issues.

"You never know what could happen down the road," she said.

The mayor said she wants the council to hire an engineering firm to determine what it would take for Summerville to establish its own water system. Rogers said the study would be paid for by American Recovery Plan Act funding the city has received. ARPA money is a portion of the COVID-19 relief funding the federal government has provided to municipalities and other entities.

Smith, like Rogers, is also a Summerville City Council veteran. Rogers said Smith has served on council for about eight years. Smith could not be reached for comments about his candidacy.

Dick Mason is a reporter with The Observer. Contact him at 541-624-6016 or dmason@lagrandeobserver.com.