Round Rock City Councilman Will Peckham is facing an opponent in the May 2 election, and a third candidate has filed to run for the seat being vacated by Councilwoman Tammy Young.
Real estate agent Frank Ortega, 64, filed on Friday to run for the Place 4 seat Peckham has held since 2014. A day earlier, retired Air Force Col. Keith Chandler, 71, filed to run for Young’s Place 1 seat.
The candidacy filing period ended Friday, cementing the field for the two council races. Craig Morgan, who is vying for his second term as mayor, is unopposed.
Tina Steiner, a teacher at the Round Rock Opportunity Center, and Michelle Ly, who owns three downtown Round Rock bars, are also vying for council Place 1.
Young, who is finishing her first term on the council, is running in the Democratic primary election for U.S. Congressional District 31. The winner of that race will face longtime U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock.
Ortega said he has been involved in governmental relations during his service with the League of United Latin American Citizens and the nonprofit Hispanic Organization Promoting Education. As a council member, he said he would provide transparency to the office and represent all Round Rock residents.
“I do see a lot of talk about the lower income being pushed out,” he said. “But people are not realizing that the middle class is also being pushed out. We need those tax dollars to remain in the city.”
Chandler said he has long considered running for the council, but felt the current council has done an admirable job as stewards of the city. But with the upcoming vacancy, he decided to file as a candidate.
Chandler has served on the Forest Creek homeowners association board of directors for 12 years. He said that experience, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering, would serve him well as a council member.
“I’ve done all I can for Forest Creek, and I don’t want to see Round Rock go the way of Austin in a lot of things,” he said.
In a news release issued this month, Steiner said she is running to give back to the community in which she was raised. She is a member of the Sauls family, which was named a 2019 Local Legend by the Round Rock Historic Preservation Commission.
Ly, who was the first to file as a Place 1 candidate, owns the Alcove Cantina, The Flats and the Rock Sports Bar. On her Facebook campaign page, she said she wanted to make a positive impact on the future of Round Rock.
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