Four residents who are dissatisfied with the direction of the Auburn City Council have banded together to announce their candidacy for city council seats. They include:

Jeremiah Bartlett. Candidate for Councilor At-Large. A project engineer for the past 12 years, Bartlett oversaw planning for the Auburn Mall traffic improvements, the transportation issues associated with the redevelopment of Bates Mill, and the multi-use pathway to be constructed on Park Avenue next year. He has lived in Auburn for 10 years.

Evan Cyr. Candidate for City Councilor in Ward 5. A teacher for several years at Edward Little High School, Cyr is a lifelong resident of New Auburn. He and his wife, Jody, recently welcomed the birth of their first child.

Mary LaFontaine Candidate for City Councilor in Ward 3. A 16-year resident of Auburn, has worked for private, public and non-profit sector employers in Maine since 1987. In addition to her position at the CareerCenter, she is also teaching at USM-LAC.

Joshua Shea. Candidate for Councilor At-Large. The editor and publisher of Lewiston Auburn Magazine and a weekly newspaper in Windham, Shea has lived in Auburn for eight years. He launched Lewiston Auburn Magazine in 2010.

“A group of concerned citizens have been having conversations over the past few months and we repeatedly came back to the fact that we felt the Auburn City Council was not doing the best possible job as a citizen-elected, representative board with the interests of not only today, but Auburn’s future guiding their decisions,” said Shea.

Following the 2009 election, where ward races went uncontested, this year’s races are expected to have many candidates, following citizens’ unrest after several controversial moves of the current board, including walking out on school board budget deliberations and contentious debate with the firefighters’ union that involved threats of lawsuits.

The candidates were expected to make their announcements yesterday at Holly’s Own Deli at 84 Court St., Auburn. The election will be held on Tuesday, November 8.