The first and only woman to serve as mayor of Annapolis finished her second term more than 15 years ago. Now, at 89, she’s ready for another stint in public office.

Ellen O. Moyer is filing to run to represent Ward 6 on the City Council, saying she’s entering the fray because no one else was.

“I thought, ‘OK, if none of the young Turks out there are going to put their name in, I will,’” Moyer said in an interview Thursday.

But Alderman DaJuan Gay, who currently represents the area on the City Council, told The Banner he’s still contemplating a run for reelection.

“I would like to,” Gay said. “I just want to make sure it’s the best thing for me to do. I want to be 100%.”

Should a contested Democratic primary emerge, the race would present voters with starkly different choices.

If she won, Moyer would possibly be the oldest person to serve on the council, turning 90 about a month after taking office in January. If Gay runs and wins, he would continue building on his legacy as the youngest person elected to it in 2019, when he was 22.

Moyer is white; Gay is Black.

Ward 6 encompasses some of the city’s most neglected public housing communities. Moyer never lived in one; Gay spent time growing up in Harbor House and Eastport Terrace.

Given his background, Moyer said she would welcome Gay’s help if he decides not to run.

“He has some experience and observations that would be important to me,” Moyer said.

For his part, Gay doesn’t begrudge Moyer for running.

“Anybody that’s committed to public service I respect. You’re devoting a lot of time and a lot of energy to the city you care about,” said Gay, describing Moyer’s commitment as undisputed. “We may differ on certain things. I think it’s good for democracy when people jump in primaries and shake things up. I think it makes room for new ideas.”

The potentially contested primary for Ward 6 comes during something of a generational shift for the all-Democrat City Council. The council’s three longest-serving members are leaving their posts. Alderwoman Sheila M. Finlayson and Alderman Ross H. Arnett III, of Wards 4 and 8, are not seeking reelection, while Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell Charles, of Ward 3, is running for mayor.

The ex-wife of 1960s-era Mayor Roger “Pip” Moyer, Ellen Moyer’s first experience in public office was representing Ward 8 on the City Council from 1987 to 2001. In 2001, she was elected mayor, serving two terms that ended in 2009.

“Oh, gee whiz,” Moyer said when asked what she was most proud of from her tenure at the city’s helm. “We had some new environmental initiatives that now would be considered standard but at that time were not.”

She also touted tree plantings and city beautification projects, the likes of which she said she’d want to implement in Ward 6.

“I hope to do a lot of meeting and greeting and conversation,” Moyer said. “And urge and do some beautification things, too. I think they make a difference in how people feel about their neighborhood and the homes they live in.”

Gay, whose family moved to Annapolis when he was in the sixth grade, first ran for City Council in 2017, losing to Shaneka Henson, who is now a state senator. Gay won the write-in campaign to replace Henson when she was appointed to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2019.

“My primary focus has always been the residents,” said Gay, who added that he was focused on housing affordability and helping people in need when he took office.

He said he was proud that, during his tenure on the council, the city created its first rental assistance program and Office of Community Services following a string of homicides in the public housing community where he grew up.

The deadline to file for the primary is July 28.