Three of Bakersfield's city council members are up for re-election or retirement this year, and the process starts Monday.

Prospective candidates can pull papers beginning Monday, and then must collect 20-30 signatures from registered voters in the ward by Aug. 8.

If an incumbent doesn't file by Aug. 8, then the filing period is extended until Aug. 13, although the incumbent can't sneak into that period.

All three incumbents have stated their intention to run again.

Up for re-election are:

• Sue Behnam, ward 2 (downtown, Westchester, the California-Truxtun corridor). She doesn't have a declared opponent, but about half of the Westpark neighborhood is in her district, so I expect she'll have at least token opposition.

• Harold Hanson, ward 5 (western southwest Bakersfield). Again, no declared opponent, and he hasn't been the target of any public anger that I've seen.

• Jacquie Sullivan, ward 6 (eastern southwest Bakersfield). She has a declared opponent, Mark McCallum, a native who has spent his career working for Republican legislators. Sullivan is the most visible of the three, with her ongoing campaign to get "In God We Trust" posted at city halls around the state — and in Kern High School District classrooms last year.

Meanwhile, City Clerk Pam McCarthy counted days and found that if the Ken Weir recall people take their full 120 days, and she takes the 30 days to count them, they could hold the election on March 3, the state primary day. That would reduce the cost to the city, since the county would already have to hold an election. (It would also put the referedum on Weir before he gets to make his own planning commission appointment in April.)