AUGUSTA — Six newcomers to city politics seek to fill the seats of incumbents not seeking reelection to the Augusta City Council or Board of Education come November.

Three candidates who took out nomination papers will vie for an at-large seat on the City Council currently held by Abigail St. Valle, who did not take out papers seeking reelection.

The candidates, none of whom have held elected positions in the city before, are Annalee Morris-Polley, Joseph Wathen and Bobby-Jo Bechard.

Bechard, 50, director of peer support programs for Motivational Services, said she’s running to help provide better access to healthcare, especially mental health and recovery programs, and to increase the availability of adequate and affordable housing in the city.

Morris-Polley, 46, owner of a mental health and substance use agency licensed by the state, said she’s running because she’s lived in Augusta more than 40 years — where her family has lived for three generations — and she believes it’s important to have local people on the City Council who know the area, and know what people want Augusta to be.

Wathen, 28, a special education technician with Augusta School Department, said he’s running because, as a lifelong Augusta resident, he sees the potential Augusta has as a destination where people want to settle down and he wants to be a part of that successful future.

Meanwhile on the Board of Education, three candidates have taken out papers seeking either of two at-large seats up for election currently held by incumbents Pia Holmes and Kevin Lamoreau, who are not running again.

The three candidates seeking election to either of those two at-large positions are Jane Maguire-Tyce, Jonathan Reynolds and April Damboise.

Incumbents Mayor Mark O’Brien, Ward 2 City Councilor Kevin Judkins, and Ward 3 Board of Education member James Orr are uncontested in their bids to retain their seats.

The election is Nov. 5. To be placed on the ballot, mayoral and school board chairperson candidates must submit at least 200 signatures of registered voters in Augusta, while at-large candidates for the council or school board must submit at least 100 signatures. Ward candidates must submit at least 50 signatures from within the ward they seek to represent.