The Monterey mayoral race just got a lot more interesting.

Photo by Randy Tunnell.

Photo: The Public Service Industry-Morgan Christopher-coffee peddler, downtown impresario and passionate critic of municipal government- has thrown his hat in the ring for the Monterey mayoral race.

If nothing else happens-if the debates are poorly attended, if voter turnout remains flat, if Dan Albert wins his ninth consecutive term as mayor of Monterey in a landslide-at least the lawn signs around town this election season will be entertaining.

Morgan Christopher is running for mayor.

After six years of crossing the powers that be on every issue from chain stores to harassment by city officials, the outspoken owner of Morgan''s Coffee & Tea in downtown Monterey is running for the top job in a city government whose priorities, he says, have strayed from those of its constituency.

"Unfortunately, most of [the city council] members have lost touch with the needs and concerns of Monterey''s residents in favor of those of a privileged and well-represented minority," he writes in his candidate''s statement. On the line where it says "credentials," he has responded: "Renter, water user, father of school-aged child, local shopper, frequently stuck in local traffic."

That wry (or obnoxious) wit is exactly what has made Christopher, in some people''s minds, the symbolic leader of an unofficial movement of progressive cultural and political thought in what is essentially a military town.

Besides hosting poetry slams and serving as the natural gathering place of choice for people with pink hair, Morgan''s Coffee & Tea boasts a whiteboard that has gained public notoriety. Sometimes its fresh-daily message skewers President George W. Bush, sometimes it sports philosophical quotations, and sometimes, as happened frequently last spring and summer, it lampoons Monterey officials.

In a dispute with City Attorney Bill Conners over what Christopher deemed minor or nonexistent code violations, the whiteboard gave way to a gold-painted chair on a dais bearing Conners'' name and the message: "a solid gold seat for a solid gold ass."

Christopher promises his campaign will not be boring.

"I''m going to take a fun approach to this," he says. But he says he''s also serious about the public process and the chance to influence it.

In addition to the infernal trinity of traffic, water and affordable housing that faces almost every city in California, Monterey has a few special issues this election season, he says, namely the $16-$20 million civic center, the State Theatre, the matter of binding arbitration with firefighters and police and the future of the water board. In its positions on these subjects, Christopher says, the council has shown poor judgment-such poor judgment that in the case of the civic center, it prompted him to run for office.

"I find their desire to build the civic center a slap in everyone''s face," he says. "It''s not going to bring in a single dollar of revenue. There are probably better ways to create a workable environment than building this monolithic structure that will take out trees and historical buildings."

Instead, Monterey should spend the money on the State Theatre, he says. That''s a project that will draw money to local businesses-a special area of interest for Christopher.

As for the move to dissolve the water board-an effort spearheaded by Albert, who has served on the council either as member or mayor since 1979- Christopher calls it "arrogant."

"They don''t like the makeup of the board, even though the voters put them in, so the council wants to take them out."

Voter will is a complicated issue where Christopher is concerned. In February, he filed a notice of intent to circulate a petition to put a term-limit initiative on the ballot restricting council members to two terms. He has not gathered the necessary signatures yet.

"What needs to be done that can''t be accomplished in two terms?" he asks. "Incumbents have an unfair advantage. People unfamiliar with the issues a lot of times just vote for the incumbent."

Barbara Evans was the last person to really challenge Dan Albert, in 2000. Win or lose, she thinks Christopher stands a chance to make a change.

"The issues are bigger than the last time I ran," she says. "The civic center is huge. The voters this time I think will really speak out."

Conners, the city attorney, had a neutral response.

"My job is apolitical," he says. "We don''t do politics; we do law, and laws don''t change regardless of who''s in power."

Christopher hopes his candidacy will attract enough attention at least to raise voter turnout in Monterey, which in the last election was 77 percent. "I think if people pay attention to the issues, my chances are probably pretty good," he says. "But we''ll see."