Two hopefuls for mayor, five for city council and five for school board submitted petitions to place themselves on the city’s general election ballot before Tuesday’s deadline.

Headlining this year’s local race are Keith Marshall and David Horton, two mayoral candidates with similar Radford roots but with different viewpoints on the city’s financial status and the most likely path to an economic upswing.

Marshall has been a member of city council since 2010 and the more progressive Horton is the president of Radford’s Chamber of Commerce.

Hanging over Radford’s local races are looming budgetary issues in city hall that have spurred buyouts for city employees and caused elected officials to push back on community rumors of reversion to town status.

Virtually stagnant property tax values and steadily rising operating costs over the past several fiscal years have forced the city to dip into its reserve funds to balance the budget.

After The Roanoke Times published a report highlighting the budget issues, Marshall issued a sharp rebuttal on his campaign website.

“I believe the article was more political than practical, and the insertion of talk of reversion from city status to town status was a red herring and was meant to scare the citizens of Radford,” Marshall wrote. “I have not changed my view on that at this point.”

Horton disagrees.

“I don’t think it’s a red herring,” Horton said. “It’s something we have to think about. If we don’t make the right choices, that very well may be the path we have to take. I don’t think we’re there yet. I still maintain that we must remain a city.”

Marshall cannot run for the city council seat he holds and mayor at the same time. His and the seat of incumbent councilmember Mick Turk are up for election.

“I feel it was more prudent to make cuts than to raise taxes. If we had raised taxes, the cuts would not have happened,” Turk, who is running for re-election, said last month. “We have a high population of elderly people in our city on fixed incomes. We owe it to them to spend their money wisely.”

City council seats in Radford are elected on an at-large basis.

Also on the city council ballot are current school board member Jessie Critterton and Jason Vaughn, a pastor of a Pulaski County church. Retired businessman Ted T.W. Bess II and lawyer Naomi Huntington have added their names to the ballot as well.

When questioned about the city’s financial status, Critterton said, “There is nothing to indicate to me we need to be considering transition to town status.”

Vaughn, meanwhile, reminded voters “Rainy-day funds are for rainy days, and it is raining in Radford.”

Bess’ father was mayor of Radford from 1978 to 1980 and served on the city council for more than eight years.

“My primary concern would be maintaining our city status,” Bess said. “I’ve heard rumors as I go door-to-door and talk with people but I can’t say for a fact that our city status is being threatened.”

Huntington is a lawyer in Christiansburg who spent three years as a prosecutor in Pulaski County before transitioning to private criminal defense. She has lived in Radford for the past five years, she said.

“Our city is at a turning point right now,” Huntington said. “We’ve been doing a lot of things the same way. We need to be more creative with the way our city is managed.”

If elected, Huntington would be the first woman to serve on council since Laurie Buchwald in 2010. The city’s economy has changed since then.

“You’d be amazed at how many people tell me ‘please raise my taxes’,” she said. “There is only so much that you can cut and that’s scary to a lot of people.”

A Radford City Council member receives a $5,400 annual stipend and the mayor makes $6,000.

The deadline for candidates intending to run for school board was also Tuesday. Two incumbents are running for re-election: George Burris and Carl Mitchell. They’ll be challenged by three newcomers: Joe Jody Ray, Lee Slusher and Liz Altieri.