North Bend martial arts instructor Jim Curtis has hoisted his name as a write-in opponent to North Bend Mayor Ken Hearing.

Hearing, who owns Scott’s Dairy Freeze, filed unopposed in June and is seeking a third term.

However, in an October 22 e-mail sent to about a dozen recipients, including local business owners and the media, Curtis took the city of North Bend to task for its lack of a veteran’s memorial and for the state of repair of its roads, criticizing North Bend Way for its “fancy new lights and sidewalks.”

“If you think, like I do, that the above points to a need for leadership change, then please feel free to write my name” on ballots, Curtis said. He registered as a North Bend voter in June.

Hearing’s plans

Hearing said his election platform is based on his past performance. He’s a believer in cooperation.

“I’ve always tried to leave my agenda at the door, with the exception of three things,” he said. He pushed for water rights and the end of North Bend’s growth moratorium, the extension of sewer lines to Truck Town and the construction of a new fire station.

He wants to see all of those projects through to completion and success.

“I try to keep my personal and political life separate,” said Hearing, who admits his business sometimes pays a price for politics. But Hearing said he still has the energy for the job, as well as “an awful lot of contacts I’ve made who will benefit the city.”

Hearing is a U.S. Navy veteran.