COOS BAY — At least three experienced candidates will compete for positions on the Coos Bay City Council this November, including the current mayor and council president.

Jeff McKeown announced last week he will seek a second term as mayor. He will be joined on the general election ballot by Gene Melton and Jon Eck.

In addition, the seats occupied by John Muenchrath and Michele Burnette will be open this fall.

Eck, the council’s president, has said he plans to file for another four-year term on the council. A volunteer firefighter, Eck wants to be involved as the city builds its new downtown fire station.

“That’s a project I’d like to see through,” he said.

Burnette is unsure whether to run. She said she told herself last year that she didn’t need to make a decision until this month. She was appointed to the council in December 2006 to complete McKeown’s term. He was elected as mayor in the middle of his third term as city councilor.

Muenchrath was unavailable for comment before press time.

Melton, a retired police officer and volunteer firefighter, has served on the council in the past and was appointed to the council in February after Roger Gould resigned his post.

“I just want to be involved in the local environment,” he said. “Try to bring jobs to this area. To get a fire hall built, improve the sewers and streets.”

McKeown, who is in his 12th year on the council, the first 10 as a councilor, said he is happy with the progress the city has made.

“It seems like so much has been accomplished in this time, yet it seems like there is so much to do,” he said at a ceremony Thursday night at Benetti’s.

He mentioned the Hollering Place project in Empire, wastewater treatment plant improvements and downtown revitalization as examples of projects he wants to move forward under his watch.

And then there is the downtown fire station, which is scheduled to be built in the next two years.

“We passed the bond measure,” he said. “But it’s not built.”

He intends to see that project through.

Terms for councilors Mark Daily and Stephanie Kramer do not expire until 2010.