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After weeks of speculation Councilmember Maudelle Shirek officially entered the City Council race in District 3. 

The 93-year old incumbent filed papers to run as a write-in candidate Thursday morning, more than a month after she was disqualified from the ballot for not having enough valid signatures from members of the South Berkeley district. 

City Clerk Sherry Kelly confirmed that this time Shirek had the requisite number of signatures and would be listed as a qualified write-in candidate. Also running in District 3 are community activist Laura Menard, Rent Board Chairman Max Anderson and Green Party member Jeffrey Benefiel. 

In a brief press conference after filing her papers, Shirek said she was “still the best vote on the council” and still represented the “wants and needs” of the people in District 3 

Shirek didn’t detail her thought process in opting to run for an eleventh term in office, but said she had a lot of encouragement from throughout the district. 

Even before Shirek was disqualified from having her name on the ballot, many of her longtime political allies had abandoned her for Max Anderson, the chairman of Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. Anderson has garnered the endorsements of Councilmembers Dona Spring, Kriss Worthington, Linda Maio and Mayor Tom Bates.  

Progressives Spring and Worthington have expressed dismay that Shirek’s voting record had grown more unpredictable and less progressive in recent years. 

Shirek did pick up the endorsement of Councilmember Gordon Wozniak Thursday, who called her “an independent thinker”.  

“She has a lot of institutional memory and has been asset to the council on some issues,” said Wozniak, considered one of the more conservative members of the council. 

Also by Shirek’s side Thursday were her campaign manager Michael Berkowitz, and longtime friends Jesse Anthony, a member of the Zoning Adjustment Board, Barbara Lubin of the Middle East Children’s Alliance and Jackie DeBose, whose husband Charles will serve as campaign treasurer. 

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