First of two reports from tonight’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting: The group’s fireball chair Dorsol Plants (left; 8/08 photo courtesy Dina Johnson) announced he’s not running for re-election — because he’s going to jump into another election: He’s planning to run for one of the four Seattle City Council seats that will be on the ballot next year. Plants tells WSB he hasn’t decided which one — he wants to be an advocate for “the south end,” which he says has been represented thus far (though council members are elected “at large,” NOT by district) by Richard McIver, who’s not expected to run for re-election. (The other three whose terms expire next year: Nick Licata, Jan Drago, and council president Richard Conlin.) Plants has served as HPAC chair since this past spring, when the announcement of two possible city jail sites (now down to one) near Highland Park forced the group to rise to a new level of activism – though at the time, it was without a chair. While Plants has not previously held elected office, he notes that in addition to serving as HPAC chair during a time of intense lobbying and multiple public-speaking appearances because of the jail-sites fight (check our coverage archive for examples), he also has leadership experience as a veteran of the U.S. Army. The formal filing isn’t till next June, but Plants says he’s already doing paperwork, forming a committee and obtaining a campaign manager, and will have a website up soon.(HPAC’s other three officers also indicated tonight that they will step aside for new leadership; the group received some nominations and will keep that process open till elections at the next HPAC meeting January 26th – more on that in our second report later.)