BERKELEY -- Mark Coplan, longtime Berkeley schools spokesman, is running for the council in District 3, according to a news release this week from his campaign.

Coplan, 60, will face at least two opponents for the seat, currently occupied by Councilman Max Anderson, who will not seek re-election. Anderson has endorsed Ben Bartlett, 42, an attorney and member of the city Planning Commission and the loan administration board, for the District 3 seat.

Also running for the District 3 seat is Planning Commission Vice Chairwoman Deborah Matthews, 62, a real estate broker.

District 3 stretches from Dwight Way south to the Oakland city line, and from Sacramento Street east to Fulton, Ellsworth and Wheeler streets, encompassing the Adeline Corridor.

"I look forward to this chapter in my life, when I can commit full time to serving as a leader in my community," Coplan, who is retiring at the end of the academic year after more than a decade as the Berkeley Unified School District's public information officer, said according to the news release from his campaign manager, Merlin Edwards.

"As I picture the coming months, spending my days walking throughout District 3 -- talking to neighbors, visiting merchants and businesses, asking what they need me to do -- I know that being able to continue that level of communications full time for the next eight to ten years will make me successful in truly representing the neighborhoods in District 3 and the City of Berkeley. I'm reaching out to all the people in the community who have encouraged and supported my work over the years in the schools to lend me your support now to help me move into this next chapter in my life of service."


Contact Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760. Follow him at Twitter.com/tomlochner.