Two incumbents among seven candidates for Topeka City Council. Filing deadline is June 1.

Seven candidates had filed as of last week to run for the four Topeka City Council seats that are up for a vote this year, with the filing deadline being at noon June 1.

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 Nov. 8 general election.

Here are the candidates who had filed through May 18:

Chris Phelps is running in District 8

Chris Phelps' hobby is skydiving, which is where he gets his campaign slogan: "Fly high with the other Phelps in town."

That slogan also makes reference to how Phelps isn't related to the Phelpses at Topeka's Westboro Baptist Church, he told The Capital-Journal.

Phelps, 52, recently became the second candidate to file to run for the seat representing southwest Topeka's District 8, where his opponent is incumbent Spencer Duncan.

Phelps has lived in Topeka almost all his life.

He works as a sales and marketing counselor at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor, and has held past sales jobs with companies that included SelectQuote Insurance Cos., Birch Communications and The Topeka Capital-Journal. He's also been manager of a RadioShack store.

Phelps believes in doing his best to make the world a better place and make a difference in his community, he said.

Phelps' home in southwest Topeka was recently broke into, he said, and he thinks Topeka has a "huge" crime issue that it needs to resolve.

He also feels strongly about the importance of the sanctity of life, he said.

Incumbent Spencer Duncan is also running in District 8

Spencer Duncan, 47, is seeking re-election to 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 sponsored the resolution the mayor and council approved last September that decreased Topeka's property tax mill levy, and voted against utility rate increases the mayor and council approved last month.

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 further details about those office hours.

Incumbent Christina Valdivia-Alcala is again running in District 2

Christina Valdivia-Alcala, 60, is running for re-election to the seat she has held since January 2020 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."

Valdivia-Alcala 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, 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. Valdivia-Alcala voted against city utility rate increases approved last month by the mayor and council.

Dave Banks is running for open seat in District 4

Dave Banks, 68, is running for the District 4 seat being vacated by incumbent Tony Emerson in southeast Topeka's District 4.

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. His 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 is running for District 6

Bob Beers, 72, 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, he said, "We decided to move back to the family roots."

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 is running for District 6

Marcus D.L. Miller, 39, 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 is running for District 6

Zachary Surritt, 25, 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.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Seven candidates put their names forward for Topeka City Council