Swanson running for Council

That’s according to Facebook, anyway.

Travis Swanson is the second UW-Oshkosh student to run for the office, after Ed Kastern also picked up signature papers at city hall recently. I’m not sure if Swanson has officially picked up the papers, but his campaign Web site says that they’ll be canvassing for signatures on Saturday.

As of today, five people have intentions of running for Council, in addition to current Councilors Jess King and Tony Palmeri, which will mean that there will be a primary on Feb. 17.

The interesting thing is that people directly affiliated with the university could potentially make up a majority on the Common Council. With College of Business Dean Burk Tower already in place, the spring election could see the re-election of Palmeri (Communications professor) and the election of two students (Kastern and Swanson).

Is this possible? Maybe, although anyone defeating King seems unlikely, given her popularity in the city. On the other hand, she is also a former adjunct professor at UWO, making her also partly affiliated.

Also, Councilor Paul Esslinger announced that he’ll be running for mayor for a third time against incumbent Frank Tower. I don’t see this working out for him, considering his rep for seeking revenge against past political opponents (River Mill sidewalks, anyone?).