Salem Mayor Randy Foley and Vice Mayor John Givens announced Wednesday that they will seek re-election to the Salem City Council this year. Votes will be cast May 4, and their seats are the only openings on the council.

Both men will run as independent candidates.

The youngest of the five members, Foley was elected to the council in 2006, two days before he turned 37. In 2008, he was unanimously picked by the council to replace outgoing Mayor Howard Packett and became the 23rd mayor of the city.

The same year, Givens, a 15-year council veteran, was named vice mayor.

Council members are elected at large. They serve four-year terms and are paid a stipend of $12,000. The mayor earns $13,000. Foley and Givens both named the economy , education and infrastructure initiatives as top priorities for the upcoming term.

"I want to continue focusing on economic development, to help provide good-paying jobs and reduce the tax burden on homeowners," Foley said in a news release.

" I just want to continue seeing the city progressing," Givens said Wednesday by phone. "If you stay the same, you're moving backwards."

-- Neil Harvey