CENTRAL FALLS — Not enough people are participating in the elections for City Council Nov. 6, and three candidates will walk into their positions unopposed.

Two people are vying for a seat on the council only in Wards 5 and 3.

WARD 3

In Ward 3, political newcomers Carmen Mirabal and Patrick Szlashta are competing for a seat. Mirabal, 47, is a program developer for Rhode Island Housing who says her life and work have given her the experience she needs to help the residents. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and is working on a second bachelor’s in human development and family services at the University of Rhode Island.

Mirabal said she is working on one of her priorities: to form a neighborhood association to “create a sense of belonging and ownership in my ward’s residents.”

“I will be addressing two things — one is giving residents an opportunity to have a say in the decision-making of the city, and the other is creating a direct line to their elected officials, Mirabal said. “One of the things that I have learned from walking and visiting my ward is that people are sick and tired of politicians that only reach out to them in the election period.”

Mirabal is a member of Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee, which endorses candidates based on their commitment to issues that bolster the quality of life of Latinos. RILPAC endorsed Mirabal. She said she decided to run when Councilman Ricardo Patino announced that he would not seek a fourth term.

Wearing a hat that says Pat’s Barbershop and a pin that says Vote for Pat, Frank Rogala, 80, is a walking advertisement for Szlastha. The other day he was keeping his friend company in between customers. Pat has been cutting hair for years, and he knows a lot of people, Rogala said. He will do well, he said.

Szlashta has been in the city since there were 13 barbershops on Dexter Street, two supermarkets and two First National Banks. People worked in their neighborhoods, he said. “It never will be all that it was in the past but in the past eight to ten years the city has turned around. We don’t have the vacant storefronts and vacant buildings. Each person is helping. They are saying, ‘this is my city, let’s clean it up,’” he says.

Szlashta said he wants to see young people involved in city government so they know how it works. “They’ll know how money comes in and how it is spent,” he said.

“I heard people say I can’t do anything. Yes, you can with your vote, by going to talk to the mayor, going to a councilman, going to the police chief. If you roll a snowball down the hill, it’s only one but it gets bigger and bigger.”

WARD 5

In Ward 5, Hector Solis, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor the past two years, is challenging incumbent Council President William Benson Jr.

Benson, 61, is a retired private investigator who worked as an animal control officer for the city from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s when he hurt his shoulder. When asked why he wants to run again and what his priorities are he ticks off the accomplishments of the present administration as reasons for wanting to return to the council.

“I want to keep doing the things I’ve been doing for the last four years, the expansion of the Ralph Holden Community Center, The Higginson Avenue Sports Complex, condominium construction in the city,” he said.

“We are accomplishing a lot more than we have before. We have more streets paved, sidewalks have been done. There have been so many positive things done in this administration,” he said. “We are improving the infrastructure. The mayor worked a deal with CVS.”

The city doesn’t have the land to bring in big businesses but still it has been able to attract businesses such as Fortune Metals, which is expanding, he said.

Solis, 59, who owns Mufflers Unlimited, said he is running for council so that people in his ward will have better representation.

“I will try to resolve problems for the people of my ward. I want to help them get low-interest loans for repairs to their homes. I want to work to make the city more safe by having more police walking around in that area,” he said.

“If I am elected, I will not be ‘yes sir, no sir’ with the mayor or jump when he snaps his fingers. [Benson] is a rubber stamp for the mayor,” Solis said.

Solis said the city must spend money to repair city streets equally around the city, especially in parts that need it. Favoritism and rubber stamping on the council’s part has made residents lose confidence in city government, he said.

WARDS 1, 2 and 4

In Ward 1, Eunice DeLaHoz, a properties manager for the Woonsocket Housing Authority, has no opponent. In Ward 2, Richard Aubin Jr., a service manager and automotive technician, has no opponent. In Ward 4, Elizabeth Crowley, the city clerk, is unchallenged.

tpina@projo.com