As we enter the last day of the filing period for local offices, My Edmonds News has compiled an updated list of who has officially declared for open positions. See them on our Edmonds Election Watch 2011 page.

A few tidbits:

– Edmonds resident Bob Wilcox of the Wilcox Construction family on Friday morning  filed to run against incumbent Diane Buckshnis.  Earlier this week, political newcome Tad Helke also filed to oppose Buckshnis, who was appointed to Position 4 in January 2010 following the death of Peggy Pritchard Olson.

– Joan Bloom Thursday entered the race against incumbent Edmonds City Councilmember DJ Wilson. An advocate of open government who frequently attends and testifies at council meetings, she says that she has chosen to run against Wilson “because our visions for the future of Edmonds have significantly diverged in recent months.”

– Earlier Thursday, Wilson had noted on his Facebook page he had heard a rumor that another possible opponent, Alvin Rutledge, had been offered money from an unnamed source to campaign against him. Rutledge is a long-time Edmonds resident who attends nearly every public meeting he can (if you watch a televised council meeting, you will see him testify), and he is a perennial candidate for local office. While he has been a City Council candidate in the past, this year Rutledge has registered to run for the Snohomish Hospital District Commission (and in an interesting twist, will be running against Wilson’s wife Karianna, who along with Rutledge has filed for Commissioner Position 4).

My Edmonds News contacted Rutledge Thursday night and he confirmed that he had been approached by someone requesting that he distribute — along with his own campaign literature — a several-page document regarding a legal dispute that Wilson has been involved in with an elderly neighbor. Rutledge declined to name who made the request, but confirmed that the individual did offer to cover the expense of copying the anti-Wilson literature, although “no dollar amount was discussed.”

Wilson said that type of offer is illegal, because “100 percent” of funds to cover literature distribution must be paid for by the campaign. In addition, Wilson noted that under current Edmonds campaign finance laws, campaign contributions are limited to $500 or less.

Rutledge said that “at this time,” he is running for Hospital Commission but didn’t rule out the possibility of changing his mind Friday to instead run for Wilson’s seat.

– Frank Yamamoto is still unopposed for Council Position 6, now held by Steve Bernheim, who is not running again.

– Kory DeMun of Edmonds filed for Edmonds School Board Position 1 Friday morning and is currently running unopposed. The position is currently held by Susan Paine, who is not seeking re-election.

– Both candidates running for Edmonds Port Commissioner positions so far are unopposed: David Preston, who owns an Edmonds insurance agency, running for District 2 and James Orvis, the incumbent for at-large District 4.

Remember that My Edmonds News will be conducting livestreaming interviews with all City Council and Mayoral candidates on Monday evenings, starting next Monday with DJ Wilson at 7 p.m. More information on this programming is here.