The race for three Sioux City Council seats will be decided two nights from now. The five candidates include the sole incumbent, Jim Rixner, former councilman and mayor Tom Padgett, 2002 and 2004 statehouse (Republican) candidate Keith Radig, developer John Fitch and political newcomer Ian Rappolt, who works at Boys and Girls Home. Rappolt may be a newbie, but he’s a formidable fundraiser, especially in tapping into the political action committees of local labor unions. Again the story of the another campaign finance reporting period is how Rappolt is raking in from union PACs.

Rappolt has raised a total of $7,667, virtually a dead heat with the $7,665 Padgett has amassed. Of that $7,667 for Rappolt, he’s got $3,950 from union PACs. He’s gotten a lot of guff for that from commenters to the Journal’s Web site, but Rappolt said he’s heard not one word of concern from anyone he’s visited with while campaigning.

Here are the key Sioux City Council candidate totals, from two reporting periods with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board:

Funds raised first report: (1) Padgett, $5,800, (2) Rappolt, $4,205, (3) Fitch, $2,200, (4) Radig, $2,055 and (5) Rixner, $1,030.

Funds raised second report: (1) Rixner, $4,690, (2) Rappolt, $3,462, (3) Fitch, $3,150, (4) Padgett, $1,865 and (5) Radig, $1,500.

Funds raised all told: (1) Rappolt, $7,667, (2) Padgett, $7,665, (3) Rixner, $5,720, (4) Fitch, $5,350 and (5) Radig, $3,555.

Funds raised from PACs: (1) Rappolt, $3,950, and (2) Rixner, $1,450.

You can’t say you didn’t have a wide choice in who joins the Sioux City Council in January 2010. The November election will decide three members and 11 people want the spots. Only one of the three members with expiring terms (Jim Rixner) is among the crew, current members Brent Hoffman and Dave Ferris will depart after one and two terms respectively.

Besides Rixner, one member of the field has had public office success in the past, as Tom Padgett is seeking to return to the council after a stint in the 1990s. Two others may be familiar from elective office runs — Douglas Van Der Voort ran unsuccessfully for the Sioux City School Board in 2008, while Keith Radig unsuccessfully ran for the Iowa House in 2002 and 2004, the first two elections I covered for The Journal.

The rest of the field includes John Fitch, James Gengler, David Hayes, Ian Rappolt, Victor Vara, Thomas Venesky and David Wantland. The field will be whittled with an Oct. 6 primary, then the final decisions on the three four-year positions comes four Tuesdays later on Nov. 3.

Additionally, the next week and a half will be a busy time, as five Sioux Cityans (incumbents Nancy Mounts and Doug Batcheller, along with Joe Swick, Dave Grimesey and Molly Williams) go before voters on Sept. 8 for three Sioux City School Board positions.

Just got back from the first two-week vacation in my adult life. Could I really have spent half of July away from the office? You may have noticed I weighed in with some posts on the Iowa governor’s race and other items, but I’ve been out officially since July 4. Coming back this morning after 16 days away, I find 14 voicemails, thousands of Twitter tweets and 1,017 e-mails. The e-mail titles give insight into what’s transpired in the Siouxland tri-state area in that vaca time.

In order: Palin hints at national political focus; (Steve) King Holding Cap and Trade Forum in Sioux City; Will Grassley, Self-Proclaimed ‘Obstructionist,’ Support Health Reform?; (Paul) McKinley exploring run for governor; (Stephanie) Herseth Sandlin to run for re-election to House in 2010; (Mike) Pence Headlining King’s Conservative Family Picnic; (Bob) Vander Plaats: (Chet) Culver, Democrats Used Devastating Floods to Take More Taxes From Iowans; Steve King Lone Vote Against Acknowledging Slave Labor Construction of U.S. Capitol;

Michael Jackson: Heaven, Hell or Elsewhere?; (Sonia) Sotomayor is Unfit to Serve; (Keith) Radig City Council Annoucement; (Mike) Johanns Announces Ranking Membership on Senate Agriculture Subcommittee; Republicans’ Defining Obama and Sotomayor is Huge; Senator (Steve) Warnstadt to begin state government reorganization to increase efficiency; (Ben) Nelson Statement on Health Care Meeting at the White House; Culver Joins Twitter; (Christian) Fong Recruits 21-Year Iowa Political Veteran To Run Day-To-Day Campaign Operations; Cost of War Tops $915 Billion;

TIR Poll: Vander Plaats and (Christopher) Rants within 10 Points of Culver; King Hosting Sioux City Health Care Roundtable; King named in lawsuit fighting ‘In God We Trust’; (Tom) Harkin Speaks At Press Conference Celebrating Committee Passage of The Affordable Health Choices Act; and Increase your web traffic.

One or two nonpolitical items might have slipped in there.