Council President Valerie Pratt and Councilor Octavio Gonzalez will face off for Tualatin's open mayor's seat on Nov. 3, with the non-incumbent filing deadline just one week away.
Mayor Frank Bubenik cannot seek re-election after serving eight years on the council and eight years as mayor, reaching the charter's maximum allowable tenure. He was first elected to the council in 2010 and became mayor in 2018.
The city's elections page shows both Pratt and Gonzalez qualified for the ballot as of Tuesday, Aug. 18. Non-incumbent candidates have until Tuesday, Aug. 25, to file. Residents interested in running can contact Deputy City Recorder Nicole Morris at 503-691-3011 or [email protected].
The mayoral race
Pratt, who serves as council president, was appointed to the council in August 2019, elected in 2020 and re-elected in 2024. A licensed CPA, she has served as chief financial officer at WJR II, LLC since 2019 and holds a bachelor's degree in business-accounting from Portland State University, Your Oregon News reported.
Her filing lists service on the Tualatin Budget Committee and advisory committees for downtown revitalization, the transportation system plan, the climate action plan, parks and regional transportation.
She announced her campaign in a letter published by Tualatin Life on June 4, writing that she moved to Tualatin in 1994 and that working closely with Bubenik as council president showed her what it takes to lead the city.
Gonzalez was elected to Position 5 in November 2022 and is serving his first term. He has worked at Pacific Landscape Management since 2017 in community homeowners association business development and holds an associate degree in landscape management from Clackamas Community College.
He also serves on the Metropolitan Area Communications Commission and as an alternate on the Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency, the Washington County Coordinating Committee and the Willamette River Water Coalition.
Down-ballot races
Beth Dittman is the only candidate who has filed for Gonzalez's Position 5 seat. A small business owner and life coach since 2015, Dittman previously spent nine years as a higher education administrator. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Willamette University and a master of education from Oregon State University. Her government experience includes the Tualatin Community Advisory Committee, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee and the Tigard-Tualatin School District Budget Advisory Committee.
Councilor Bridget Brooks (Position 3) and Councilor María Antonieta Reyes (Position 1) are each running unopposed for re-election. Brooks, first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, co-founded Brooks Appraisal Services. Reyes, also first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022, works for the World Forestry Center in Portland.
Key dates
The Tuesday, Aug. 25, deadline also applies to candidate statements for the county voters' pamphlet, due by 5 p.m. The last day to withdraw is Friday, Aug. 28. Voter registration closes Oct. 13, ballots go out Oct. 14 and Election Day is Nov. 3.
At his final State of the City address on May 19, Bubenik said, "Serving the Tualatin community has been one of the greatest honors of my life."
The next Tualatin City Council meeting is Monday, Aug. 24, at 5 p.m. at Tualatin City Services.
