Topeka City Councilwoman Christina Valdivia-Alcala announces run for re-election to District 2 seat
City Councilwoman Christina Valdivia-Alcala announced Thursday she is running for election to a second term in the seat she holds representing District 2, which includes North Topeka and northeast Topeka's Oakland community.
“I am committed to work hard for a second-term win," Valdivia-Alcala said. "The people I serve in District 2 inspire me every day and I look forward to another four years with them and being a strong voice for them."
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Valdivia-Alcala, 60, of 520 N.E. Lake, became the first announced candidate in District 2, which she said has been historically underserved. She said her second-term goals include supporting economic growth, dealing with infrastructure disparities facing District 2 and dealing with its problems regarding the chronically unsheltered.
As a councilwoman, Valdivia-Alcala said, she helped implement the city's "Changing Our Culture of Property Maintenance" program. She said she has helped bring needed efficiencies in the city's social service grant application process, and the fair and equitable disbursement of $10 million to agencies in her district and across the city.
Topeka City Council general election is Nov. 8
The deadline to file to run for a Topeka City Council seat is noon June 1, according to the website of the Shawnee County Election Office. The annual salary is $20,000 for council members and $40,000 for the mayor.
An Aug. 2 primary election will be held to narrow the field of candidates to two in any district in which at least four people have filed to run. When three people or fewer file, all will be on the ballot for the Aug. 8 general election.
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In addition to Valdivia-Alcala’s campaign for the District 2 seat, other candidates so far are running for seats representing southeast Topeka's District 4, west-central Topeka's District 6 and southwest Topeka's District 8.
Dave Banks has filed to run in District 4, while Bob Beers, Marcus D.L. Miller and Zachary Surritt have filed to run in District 6. Incumbent Spencer Duncan has filed to seek re-election to the seat he holds in District 8.
Dave Banks, District 4
Dave Banks, 68, of 3418 S.E. Illinois Ave., is the only one to have filed so far to run for southeast Topeka's District 4 seat held by Councilman Tony Emerson, who previously said he won't seek re-election.
Banks spent more than 28 years with the Topeka Fire Department, where he said he enjoyed a "wonderful career."
He is also a small business owner, running a painting and landscaping service.
Banks grew up in Chicago before coming to Topeka to attend Washburn University, where he played basketball and had a 3.8 grade-point average while earning a degree in secondary education.
Banks' skills as a firefighter and educator were both put to use at the fire department, where he retired as the district chief in charge of public education.
District 4 is lacking in terms of public safety and economic development, Banks said, and he is dedicated, in particular, to improving it in those areas.
Bob Beers, District 6
Bob Beers, 72, lives at 1222 S.W. Boswell Ave. in the Elmhurst neighborhood of District 6, which is represented by Councilwoman Hannah Naeger. Beers is one of three candidates who have filed to run for that seat.
Beers' family has been in the Topeka area since before the Civil War, he said.
"During the Dust Bowl years, the portion I came from had immigrated to Oregon," he said.
He said he served in the early 2000s as a Nevada state assemblyman and was nominated for the JFK Profile in Courage award given out by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
"Upon retirement, we decided to move back to the family roots, especially since the house we own here would have a seven-figure price tag back on the west coast," Beers said.
He said he's running to accomplish what he did in the Nevada Assembly, which is "to have at least one voice that represents the interests of those in the district first rather than the interests of the administration."
"The fact that I know how to read legislation, law, and a budget might help a bit," Beers said.
Marcus D.L. Miller, District 6
Marcus D.L. Miller, 39, of 1505 S.W. Webster, is among the three candidates who have filed to run for the District 6 seat. He is executive director of First Tee — Greater Topeka.
Miller previously was west area director for Boys & Girls Clubs of Topeka; building supervisor for the YMCA of Topeka; and served the Shawnee County District Attorney's office, first as diversion and immediate intervention program coordinator and later as director of community engagement.
Miller attended Topeka USD 501 until his family moved when he was around sixth grade to Shawnee Heights USD 450, where he graduated from Shawnee Heights High School.
Miller has coached youth basketball since about 2010.
He serves as president of the Shawnee County Police Athletic League and was chosen last year as one of Topeka's "Top 20 Under 40" individuals by the Jayhawk Area Council of Boy Scouts of America.
Zachary Surritt, District 6
Zachary Surritt, 25, of 1259 S.W. Pembroke Lane, is among the three candidates to have filed to run for the seat in District 6, where he has lived since 2016.
Surritt was born in Topeka and raised in Meriden, where he was on the city council. He is business development and marketing director for R&S Maintenance Services, and a member of its third generation of family leadership.
Surritt graduated in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in public administration from Washburn University, where he also served as student body president.
Surritt is a member of the city of Topeka’s Human Relations Commission and the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, and is chair-elect of Forge Young Talent.
In the latter position, he organized the first Young Professionals Advocacy Day at the Kansas Statehouse, which brought together young people from all over the state.
Spencer Duncan, District 8
Spencer Duncan, 47, of 2513 S.W. Ashworth Place, is the only one to have filed so far to run for the seat he's held since January 2020 representing District 8 on the council.
Duncan is a native Topekan. He owns Capital Connection LLC, a lobbying and investigative firm, and is government affairs director for the League of Kansas Municipalities.
Duncan said he sponsored the resolution the mayor and council approved last September that decreased Topeka's property tax mill levy, and opposes potential utility rate increases the mayor and council have been discussing.
Duncan said he has directed more than $4 million in new infrastructure spending into District 8; has supported additional dollars for police officer retention and recruitment; and continues to make himself office for regular office hours so constituents can speak with him directly. His website shares the times for those office hours, which he holds at an indoor information kiosk in Fairlawn Plaza Shopping Center near Kiku's, 5331 S.W. 22nd Place, No. 46.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka City Councilwoman Valdivia-Alcala seeks District 2 re-election
