Two Poulsbo city leaders declared they will again run for office this week. Councilman Dale Rudolph and Councilman Ed Stern will both ask voters to return them to their posts for another four-year term beginning in 2010.

Rudolph, a North Kitsap High 1966 graduate and University of Washington alum, worked for the Department of Defense for more than three decades, primarily for the Navy. He lists Poulsbo’s current financial health — the city has so far avoided program and staff cuts — as a major accomplishment during his last four years in office.

“I am running for re-election because I really want to continue sharing my professional and City Council knowledge and experience to help Poulsbo be the best community it can be – a fiscally sound, community-oriented small city, set in a beautiful natural setting that will continue to grow in an environmentally sensitive manner,” he wrote in his announcement. “I want to continue to work with you to develop the downtown and neighborhoods that you want to live with and live in. These are very challenging times, and I want to continue to help Poulsbo be the community that drew us here.”

Stern, now in his third term in office, said a “collegial and inclusive political philosophy” has allowed him to bring differing ideas and people together to solve problems on levels ranging from local to regional.

Stern is a major proponent of advancing telecommonication technologies in the area and state, and is helping to lead a Telework Pilot Project which will report back to the Legislature.

“These challenging times require steady hands at the municipal helm as the national economy reels, the state jobless rate soars and our local employment base shrinks, threatening our very sense of security as well as essential city services we depend upon,” Stern wrote. “We are all in this together more than ever, and thoughtful and energetic leadership is required to provide family-wage community-based jobs balanced against protecting our town’s unique character and beautiful natural environment for future generations. I am committed to a moral, ethical and visionary approach to solving these risks and opportunities; I am passionate about my hometown Poulsbo and its future.”

More on Stern can be found at www.edstern.com.

Biographies for each can be found on Poulsbo’s Web site.