Ebeling announces he’s running for Mayor in Clear Lake

CLEAR LAKE — Longtime Clear Lake City Councilman and current Mayor Pro-Tem Mark Ebeling is announcing today that he is running for Mayor. Ebeling is currently serving his third term on the council as the First Ward representative.

He says many people asked him about running for mayor after longtime mayor Nelson Crabb announced earlier this summer his decision not to run for another term.

Ebeling says he’s been a strong advocate for infrastructure improvement in the community. “With the Surf District project, it’s tourism focused, and I think we need to, I shouldn’t say put the brakes on things, but it feels like we’ve been going at breakneck speed, at least from a city’s standpoint. I think we need to maybe regroup and really hone in on what we need to do infrastructure wise, utilities, streets and whatnot. I think we need to really sit down and prioritize those things for our year-round residents.”

Ebeling has been a longtime advocate of improving and maintaining Clear Lake’s water quality, being involved with the Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake. He says the city has made an investment in the lake in the last few decades and there needs to be continued support. “We’re at $24 million and counting on all the investment, private, local government and state, and I don’t want to see this lake turn back into what I grew up with, the pea green, algae filled lake that it was, with the dead bullheads all over the beach. With the improvements we’ve made, education has increased, which is a good thing in most cases, but there are challenges with it, but we don’t want this to degrade again.”

The filing period for municipal elections opens on August 25th and closes on September 18th. Besides the mayoral election, the council’s Second Ward seat and an at-large seat will be on the November ballot.