Ward 3 Councilmember Don Albanese has entered the race for Nederland mayor.

Albanese turned in his application Wednesday, officially stepping down from his current seat on the council, which opens up an additional seat in the May election.

Emmett Hollier turned in an application for the seat vacated by Albanese on Wednesday. Seats for councilmembers from Wards 2 and 4 are up for reelection as well.

Albanese has served on the Nederland City Council for nine years and said he wants to keep Nederland on the same trajectory.

“Mr. R. A. ‘Dick’ Nugent is going to retire and I was asked if I would run for mayor, and I accepted,” he said. Albanese declined to say who asked him to run.

The former councilmember said he believes he has a similar leadership style to Nugent’s.

“I don’t forecast any big changes,” Albanese said. “Mr. Nugent has run a real good city. We’re real proud of that. I’ve been part of a lot of it.”

Albanese said he is proud of what the city has accomplished over the past years he was on the City Council.

“We’ve done quite a bit with the water plant construction, City Hall remodeling, the public safety complex and our street program. We’re real proud of that. We’ve spent about a million each year on streets.”

Albanese said Nederland will find a way to improve even though the city is landlocked.

“We basically don’t have anywhere else to go,” he said. “What we have is what we got. That’s why it has taken a good city government to keep our city going good. We have a good economic development program, which is bringing in all of our fast food places.

“One of our major projects right now is the land at the airport. Not the city, but the people doing that project have been dragging their feet and we’re trying to push them as fast as possible.”

Albanese said he will try to maintain the city’s low tax rate.

Albanese said he would like to see some new schools come out of the looming bond issue for Nederland Independent School District.

Hollier said he heard Albanese might run for mayor and open up a seat in Ward 3.

“We’re a small town community,” he said. “I know a lot of folks in Mid County. I knew Mayor Nugent was not going to run this term. I had visited with Councilman Albanese and he was thinking about running.

“I knew that if he was going to run for mayor, he would do it off the bat to get his name out there as well. I went by (City Hall) and picked up a packet just in case. When I turned out that he turned his papers in for mayor, I went in and filed myself.”

Hollier said he has wanted to run for a seat for a while, but the timing wasn’t right.

“It’s been an interest of mine for a long time — probably the mid-90s,” he said. “Back then, being a young single parent with the custody of two small children and having to work and everything else, it wasn’t a good time to run. I wanted to be able to dedicate my full attention to it.”

Hollier said both of his children are grown with families of their own, allowing him to be able to focus on what would be required of him as a City Council member.

Hollier said even though the community is landlocked, he sees potential.

“As sad as it is to say, there are businesses that come and go,” he said. “Some don’t make it. My position is that I want to do whatever I can to be able to assist those businesses, or if they do go out, find something to replace it. The building is still there; what can we put in its place?”

Hollier said Nederland has to keep improving while maintaining a “small-town feel.”

Hollier said small-town events make the city unique and feel neighborly.

Individuals wanting to run for mayor or councilmembers for Wards 2,3 and 4 have until Feb. 16 to turn in applications at City Hall. The election will take place May 4.