It could get crowded on the Langley City Council election ballot in the fall. Or maybe it won’t, if you listen to the likely candidates.

Three positions on the five-member city council will be available, all of which are currently held by people originally appointed to those posts.

But all three incumbents are being cagey about plans to run later in the year, as are three determined applicants who missed out on the most recent appointment to the council.

Only one previous candidate seems ready to leap.

“I’m going to run for something, I’m not quite sure what,” said Thomas Gill, an applicant for the most recent vacancy on the council that went to Hal Seligson.

“More than likely it’ll be for the city council,” Gill said.

The council was hit with two resignations this past year. At the same time, city officials became increasingly involved in a pressing workload and mounting controversy. With three council seats and the mayor’s post up for grabs in the fall, there has been a spirited and steady cry for more residents to run for office come November.

Jim Recupero resigned in April to spend more time on personal matters, and Russell Sparkman resigned in October to devote more time to his family and his internet business.

Sparkman, an appointee to the council seat vacated by Neil Colburn, had just won a new four-year term the previous fall after beating Gill at the polls.

Gill, a computer technician at Whidbey Telecom, also was an applicant for the vacant Recupero position, but lost out to Fran Abel, a civic activist with a deep interest in land use and local fiscal policy.

Abel said this past week it’s too soon to talk about the fall elections.

“I haven’t made a decision,” she said. “That’s months away.”

But she says she likes the work.

“It’s stimulating, exciting, challenging, frustrating and annoying,” Abel said. “I enjoy the challenges facing Langley and the nation. It’s a time of change, but a very exciting time.”

If she does decide to run, Abel said she would welcome opponents on the ballot.

“I never vote for unopposed candidates,” she said. “I don’t want to give them a mandate. I love opposition.”

Bob Waterman, another incumbent up for election, also said he hasn’t made up his mind whether to seek another term.

Waterman, a retired medical academic who moved to Whidbey in 1998, was originally appointed in 2006 to the city council seat vacated by the resignation of Dr. Doug Allderdice.

Waterman agrees the council workload has increased, but said it’s “important work” that he has enjoyed taking part in.

He said his biggest consideration in deciding whether to run will be amount of time required by his other commitments.

Waterman is chairman of the city’s Historical Preservation Commission and president of the South Whidbey Historical Society. He also teaches medical students in New Mexico for six weeks each fall, and is working on several book projects, he said.

“I’ve thought about it,” Waterman said of running for reelection in the fall. “Sooner or later I’ll have to make a decision.”

Two other applicants for the most recent vacancy on the council, Kathleen Waters and Robin Adams, also said they enjoyed their first taste of city politics, but haven’t decided whether to run for election in the fall.

“I may consider it — I’ve been asked to consider it — but I haven’t made a decision yet,” Waters said this past week.

Waters, a thorn in the side of Langley elected officials for years, said she may decide she can be more useful as a devil’s advocate, rather than boring from within.

“That may be more effective then being in an elected position,” she said. “That’s one of the decisions I’m trying to make.”

Adams, who narrowly missed getting the most recent council appointment, said he will wait awhile before deciding whether to run.

“Give me a call in June,” Adams said this past week, saying he has to determine whether his global business commitments will lighten, cutting down on travel and allowing more time for the city.

He also wants closure for the Langley Passage controversy. His active involvement as an opponent of the proposed 20-lot housing development in his Edgecliff neighborhood provoked criticism in some quarters from those who said Adams would have a conflict of interest if he were appointed to the council.

“It’s time we put that behind us,” Adams said.

As for the coming elections, he said there’s no need for a lengthy local political process.

“It takes nine months to run for president, but it would paralyze the city if we had a nine-month election season,” he said.

Both Adams and Waters said that if they do decide to run, it won’t be against Seligson, whose appointment they applauded. Gill also said it would be a tough choice deciding which seat to pursue.

Seligson has one council meeting under his belt, and has been meeting with city officials, “looking to learn as much as I can.”

“I enjoy working on the council, and am looking forward to bringing legislation,” he said Monday.

As for the fall elections: “I want to see what I can accomplish between now and then,” he said. “I’m hoping to accomplish a number of good things.”

“I’ll give it some thought, and I won’t rule it out,” Seligson said about running. “I wouldn’t want to make myself a lame duck.”

Langley City Council members hold staggered four-year terms. The positions are unpaid, but members receive $50 per month for expenses. Seligson has given his stipend back to the city to use to promote transparency.

As for having competition if he decides to run, Seligson added: “The more people interested in getting into it, the better we are for it.”