There are three seats expiring on the Kenmore City Council, but voters have only one contest to decide in the coming Aug. 18 primary.

In that contest, residents Diane Brennan and Bob Black are challenging incumbent Councilwoman Laurie Sperry. Come the general election in November, voters will need to pick between the winners of the lone primary, but also choose between incumbent Councilman Allan Van Ness and challenger Patrick O’Brien.

The third expiring council seat is held by incumbent Randy Eastwood, who is not running for re-election. However, only one candidate filed to replace Eastwood. Barring some unforeseen circumstances, that candidate, resident Bob Hensel, will take Eastwood’s place unchallenged.

Trying for her second term on council, Sperry said some residents don’t seem to be aware there is a local primary. She hopes that will change over the next few weeks.

While Sperry had plenty to say about the accomplishments of the current council, she also defended herself and that council from allegations lodged by both challengers, but particularly by Brennan. The latter went through a long list of issues on which she believes the council erred or simply failed to take action.

“They just don’t seem to care,” Brennan said.

As one example of council’s alleged negligence, Brennan charged city officials are knowingly allowing a company in the Lake Point area to operate without any licenses or permits.

“Everybody’s talking, everybody’s working on it,” Sperry said, adding the thought the city was ignoring the situation was “craziness.”

Sperry did not want to respond to each of Brennan’s accusations, which included such things as council allegedly holding meetings in violation of Washington’s open-meeting rules.

“Our city is breaking the law and nobody seems to care,” Brennan charged.

“I think she (Brennan) should simply run a more positive race,” Sperry said. She added that no council is or can be perfect, but contended the city’s current legislators are doing a thorough, responsible job.

For the most part, Black stayed above the fray, but did criticize the current council as being out of touch with the community’s wishes. He said many council decisions benefit small, specific groups of people. In the same vein, while Black said he really didn’t want to name names, he stated a select group seems to have the ears of the current council while rank-and-file residents are paid little attention.

Moving on to more specific issues, Black came out squarely against the idea of a new Kenmore city hall.

“It’s a very ostentatious thing,” he said.

On another front, Black said he would fight to grant residents the right to challenge council decisions — or put their own ideas to a public vote — through ballot initiatives and referendums. Black said state law gives each Washington city the ability to grant residents the right to initiative or referendum, but so far Kenmore officials simply have refused to do so. Black added ballot actions can be abused, but also can give residents legitimate avenues to address specific issues.

As for the current council’s accomplishments, Sperry specifically pointed to the ongoing reconstruction of the city’s state route, but also to smaller, less-publicized projects.

For example, she mentioned renovations at Rhododendron and Log Boom parks. Sperry added future plans call for creation of a second Swamp Creek park, with a possible naming contest to be held in the fall.

Sperry also noted the city’s recent stint in a national spotlight, tabbed by Family Circle magazine as one of the top-10 towns or cities for families in the country. On a different front, she touted what she said was her founding of the city library board last year, a board she believes will help guide and bring to fruition plans for a new library branch in the city.

Brennan has held at least one fund-raiser so far and criticized Sperry for taking a campaign donation from a church the councilwoman attends outside of Kenmore. She said she would stand up to special interests operating in the city.

“You need people on council who are willing to stick their necks out,” Brennan said.

Black said he will operate his campaign out of his own pocket so as not to be obligated to anyone. Black has run unsuccessfully for office in Kenmore at least once in the past. He said he doesn’t believe in door-to-door campaigning as some residents just might not want politicians pestering them in their homes.

“I’m running a sort of word-of-mouth campaign,” Black said.