Today is the first day candidates can start filing for the May 8 city election in Missouri City, and there's already a handful of people who've done so.

Newcomer Danny Nguyen has filed for the At-Large Position 2 slot being vacated by retiring Councilman Buddy Jimerson.

Banker and incumbent Mayor Allen Owen is running for re-election to his ninth two-year term in that office, and hospital administrator Jerry Wyatt will seek his seventh term as the At-Large Position 1 councilman.

Nguyen, 43, who lives in Lake Olympia, is a commercial Realtor and developer. According to his business Web site, he is the president and founder of the Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce, and has taught Vietnamese as an adjunct professor at Houston Community College.

Owen, 65, lives in Quail Valley and was first elected mayor in 1994. He also served as a city councilman for eight years and on the Planning and Zoning Commission for five years.

Wyatt, 62, has held the At-Large Position 1 seat since 1998.

Candidates have until 5 p.m. March 8 to sign up for the May 8 race. The city ballot also will include referendum votes on a number of issues, including smoke-free restaurants, city-wide garbage service and creation of a homestead exemption for city property taxes.

Would-be candidates can file with the city secretary at City Hall, 1522 Texas Parkway in Missouri City. An election packet is available on-line at the city’s Web site, www.missouricitytx.gov.

Candidates must be at least 18 years of age, be a citizen of the United States, must have lived in Texas at least one year, and must be a resident of Missouri City “for the six months immediately preceding that person’s election.”