No races, so no election for Wasco City Council

On Aug. 14, a special City Council meeting was held for the city clerk to certify that incumbents Vincent R. Martinez, representing District 2, and Eddie Saldaña, representing District 4, had no challengers in the scheduled Nov. 5 elections. The certification also noted that only one candidate, Miguel A. Raya, had been nominated to run for the District 5 seat.

The nomination period for the general elections ended on Aug. 9, and only the incumbents filed papers to run in the elections for Districts 2 and 4. For District 5, only one candidate filed his nomination papers and has been certified. Election code §10229 specifies that when there are not more candidates than offices to be elected, the city clerk is to bring a certification of those facts to the council.

Options for the City Council were:

• Appoint to the office the person who was nominated.

• Appoint to the office any eligible person if no one has been nominated.

• Hold the election if either no one or only one person has been nominated.

The meeting was adjourned with the understanding that an item would be brought back to the council for action at the regularly scheduled council meeting on Aug. 20.

Councilmember Gilberto Reyna said, “In light of the recent turmoil in our city, many residents have voiced their discontent with the current council administration and called for change. Despite the opportunity for change, I am disappointed that only one candidate is running for each available council seat in the upcoming November election.”

Mayor Valentin Medina responded to the news and stated, “I was hoping to see more people get involved by actively engaging in running for council so that our residents are given more than one option for leadership by district.”

City Manager Scott Hurlbert also expressed a similar sentiment. “ I agree that it is a disappointment we don’t have more public involvement in the election process.”