Urbandale City Council Election for Dummies

Four men are running for three open seats on the Urbandale City Council.

They are:

• Mike Carver, who is seeking his second term on the council. Carver is vice president of Ruhl & Ruhl commercial real estate company. He is a past president of the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce and the Urbandale Development Association. He was Urbandale Citizen of the Year in 1980.
• Creighton Cox, who is seeking his first term on the council. He is executive officer for the Home Builders Association of Greater Des Moines. He serves on the Polk County Housing Trust Fund Board, is a graduate of Leadership Urbandale, and was one of  the young professional on the Des Moines Business Record's 2010 "40 under 40" list.
• Tom Gayman, who is seeking his second term. He also is a past president of the Urbandale chamber and past chairman of the chamber's first-ever Total Resource Campaign. He's lived in Urbandale for 25 years and has three children who graduated from .
• Tony Montgomery, who is seeking his first term. A former city planner for Des Moines, he now is vice president of customer service for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. He is vice president of the Urbandale Community Action Network (UCAN) Board of Directors, co-chair of the UCAN Strengthening Neighborhoods Committee; and board member for HOME, Inc. and the Dallas County Housing Trust Fund.

Urbandale City Councilwoman is not seeking re-election. She has endorsed Montgomery for her seat.

You can read the the candidates' answers at an Oct. 19 forum before the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce members on our LiveBlog.

Then tonight, the Downtown Urbandale Neighborhood Association will sponsor a second candidate forum at its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. at the America Legion Hall, 6805 Douglas Ave., that evening. The public is welcome and there is no charge. 

For more information on candidates, check the Urbandale Register's questions to candidates.

To check where you are to vote Nov. 8, enter your home address into the Iowa Secretary of State's polling places finder.