Elaine Goodman, Tahoe Business Monitor

And they’re off. Two incumbents — Hal Cole and Bruce Grego — will face three and possibly four challengers in the race for two seats on the South Lake Tahoe City Council in November.

The filing period ended at 5 p.m. Friday. If one of the incumbents had not filed, the filing period would have been extended by five days.

The challengers are Austin Sass, JoAnn Conner and Clinton Schue. A sixth potential candidate — Stacey Wheeler — was pending. City Clerk Susan Alessi needed to verify the signatures on Wheeler’s filing papers to see if he qualifies to run. Alessi said she’d have an answer on Monday.

However, Wheeler said in a phone interview that he had talked to county election officials, and learned he was short one signature and does not qualify to run. As part of their filing papers, candidates must turn in signatures from 20 people who are registered to vote in the city.

Cole kept up the suspense about whether he’d run until late Friday, walking into City Hall to file at 4:35 p.m. He said he made the final decision to run about two hours earlier.

Cole said the deciding factor for him was the success of Lakeview Commons and the progress on the Harrison Avenue project.

Since reopening to the public in December following a major overhaul, Lakeview Commons, at the corner of Highway 50 and Lakeview Avenue, is now the site of constant lake front activity, including paddle board races and weekly concerts this summer.

The success of Lakeview Commons is what convinced property owners on adjoining Harrison Avenue to buy into a makeover of the frontage road, Cole said. The Harrison Avenue project could start next year.

“Lakeview Commons was such a turning point,” Cole said. “It’s nice to be optimistic for a change.”

Grego campaigned four years ago on a platform of reforming what he considers an overly restrictive Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and that’s been a focus of his time on the council.

Last year Grego advocated for SB 271 in the Nevada legislature. The bill, which became law, specifies that TRPA complete its Regional Plan Update and make changes to the Governing Board voting policies, or Nevada will withdraw from the bi-state compact on Oct. 1, 2015. (An extension to 2017 is allowed if it’s felt progress is being made.)

Sass ran for council in 2008, finishing third among seven candidates running for two seats.

This year, Sass began campaigning and fundraising before the filing period opened. He points to his experience in the tourism industry and handling multi-million budgets as reasons he’d make a good council member. He’s currently a Planning Commission member.

Conner, who is president of the South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, says she’d be a fresh voice on the council, and that she understands the issues small businesses face. She’s been active in fighting the loop road project.

While Wheeler doesn’t appear to be in the race, the Tahoe newcomer said he still plans to be involved in the community. Wheeler moved here from Southern California in March, and is the founder of the website, stepdadding.com, a resource for step dads. He has ideas for improving graffiti abatement at the South Shore.

Schue was one of 11 candidates who ran for three seats in the 2010 council race. He dropped out midway through the race, although his name still appeared on the ballot. Schue couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.