Atkinson and O’Keefe ran on competing slates for the two open council seats, splitting over the issue of future development in Albany. But voters appeared poised to elect candidates with dueling visions for the city’s development future.

Outside an illuminated Mediterranean-style house draped with a “Save Our Shoreline” banner, Nancy Powell, candidate Joanne Wile’s partner, accused the owner of Golden Gate Fields of spending more than $30,000 to mail campaign letters containing false information about Wile and fellow candidate Atkinson.

Wile and Atkinson are Sierra Club members who want to see a city park and environmentally friendly “green” hotels developed in a parking lot near Golden Gate Fields. O’Keefe and fellow candidate Francesco Papalia support commercial development, including retail and residential construction, along the Albany shoreline.

“These are two women over 60 who have spent careers in public service; a retired teacher and a social worker,” Powell said, referring to Wile and Atkinson. She suggested that Papalia and O’Keefe were heavily influenced by potential shoreline developers.

From a private home in Albany, Papalia responded in kind.

“The Sierra Club wants to take over this town with the full weight of their influence,” said Papalia, who in early returns was running last of the four candidates. “They want to influence people by distortion.”

Papalia has objected during the campaign to the Sierra Club’s involvement, saying they provided Wile and Atkinson with expensive literature throughout the campaign.

Despite rancor between the candidates, response was mixed from voters leaving the polls this evening.

The City Council controversy had little effect on Albany resident Xiaojie Li. She said she was more concerned about national issues than local ones.

“I’m sick of the Iraq war,” Li said. She said her motivation for voting was to place more Democrats in power.

Rick Wilkins, 60, an Albany resident for 28 years, said he wants to see a nice park at the waterfront, but that he also wants to make sure Albany’s tax base is maintained.

“I thought about voting for one candidate from each slate, and that’s what I did,” Wilkins said. “I’d like to see some proposal from the (Sierra club) candidates that would guarantee there wouldn’t be a loss of tax revenue.”

Jessica Cross left voting booths at City Hall earlier in the day and said she felt strongly about the City Council race. “Building a giant mall between the shore and the Bay Street Mall doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Cross said.

Mailers before the election seemed to suggest that there would be more development if Golden Gate Fields owner, Magna Entertainment, decided to sell the racetrack, Cross said.

Development issues may be of special concern to voters like Cross this election because of Proposition 90, a statewide measure that some believe will threaten any government action taken to protect the environment under the guise of preventing eminent domain seizures of private property.

If the City Council fight and waterfront development are Albany’s high drama, Measure C may be their antithesis. The bond measure to renovate and expand the central fire station at Marin and San Pablo Avenues has few detractors, and was filed without opposition. If the measure passes, the city will issue $5 million in general obligation bonds to upgrade the central fire station that was built in 1966.

Fire Chief Marc McGinn said the measure was written after a friend of his who worked as a seismic engineer for CalTrans visited the station and saw immediately that the building’s construction was inadequate. McGinn said the station reflects the era in which it was built.

“You should see the bathrooms,” McGinn said. “They are built for men and only men. Now we have female firefighters.”

Despite the projected upgrades, McGinn said he was neutral about passage of Measure C.

“Either way the measure goes, we have options,” McGinn said, referring what he called a “plan B” to fund the renovations. He said he couldn’t talk about this plan yet, because he hadn’t yet proposed it to the city manager.

But early returns seemed to indicate that voters have already chosen the plan they feel comfortable with; with three of 13 precincts reporting, support for Measure C had 74 percent of the vote. The measure needs a two-thirds approval to pass.

Measure D, the marijuana dispensary measure, also made the ballot unopposed. The measure would allow for a medical marijuana dispensary in Albany, subject to a conditional use permit.

If the measure is approved by voters, the city will review its legal right to establish the dispensary, and hold public hearings on adopting an amendment to existing zoning laws to allow for dispensation of medical marijuana.

But early election returns on Measure D suggest medical marijuana may still be controversial enough to fail. At 10 p.m. Tuesday night, the vote was nearly split, with votes against the measure leading votes in support by a narrow margin.