A fourth candidate has entered the race for DeKalb mayor.

Ed Stapleton, no address available, filed a petition for mayor with the DeKalb City Clerk’s office Friday.

Other mayoral candidates—DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow, 7th Ward Alderman Mark Powell and businessman Adolph Miller—have submitted petitions and are officially in the mayoral race.

Meanwhile, the DeKalb City Council will decide tonight whether to award an $88,000 base contract to a consulting firm to conduct a development plan for the city similar to the Sasaki and Associates study of the NIU campus.

DeKalb City Manager Mark Stevens said in a Friday press conference that he recommends that the council hire Campbell Design Group of St. Louis, Mo., to prepare a Comprehensive Plan and Comprehensive Development Ordinance for DeKalb. The firm recently was chosen to conduct a planning and development ordinance for DeKalb County.

DeKalb’s Comprehensive Plan will be a one-year process that will include gathering and analyzing data, making goals and objectives and formalizing a plan for future development, said Jim Hogue, DeKalb’s acting planning director. The plan serves as a tool for guiding further growth, he said.

“It takes a snapshot of where we are and tries to determine where we want to go,” Stevens said.

If a contract between DeKalb and Campbell Design Group is approved by the council, the consultants would be authorized to begin immediately. The city has budgeted $100,000 to hire a consulting firm, Stevens said.

The council meets tonight at 8 p.m. in the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 S. Fourth St.