City councilman Laurie Capitelli took out papers this week to set up a campaign to run for mayor of Berkeley.
“My plans are to run for mayor,” he confirmed to Berkeleyside Tuesday evening during a break in the city council meeting.
Capitelli said he will make a formal announcement in early December.
Capitelli is the second councilman to seek the mayor’s office. City Councilman Jesse Arreguín declared his candidacy in October.
Tom Bates, the current mayor, said during his last campaign that he did not intend to seek re-election.
Capitelli represents District 5, which embraces a large swath of North Berkeley, starting north of Cedar Street and taking in a significant stretch of Solano Avenue and the Thousand Oaks neighborhood.
Capitelli moved to Berkeley to attend Cal in 1964 and graduated in 1967 with a degree in political science. After teaching high-school history for a few years, he joined Red Oak Realty in 1978, according to a biography on the real estate agent’s website. He was elected to the Berkeley City Council in 2004. He is a board member of the Elmwood Theatre Foundation and the Berkeley Public Education Foundation, and has served on the Berkeley Planning Commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board.
Capitelli is up for re-election in 2016, so he will be giving up his city council seat to run for mayor. Sophie Hahn, an attorney and ZAB commissioner who has challenged Capitelli in two previous races, is expected to run for his seat, along with others.
Related:
Jesse Arreguín formally announces run for mayor (10.22.15)
Oops! Did Jesse Arreguín inadvertently declare he is running for for mayor? (10.20.15)
Laurie Capitelli says he didn’t split commission from house sale for Meehan (10.05.15)
Capitelli profited from $500,000 housing loan given to police chief, paper says (10.03.15)
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