On November 8, 2022, residents will get the opportunity cast their ballot for special district races throughout the cities, towns, and municipalities of Mendocino County.
A review of the draft list of candidates made public by Mendocino County’s Assessor, Clerk, Recorder, and Registrar of Voters Katrina Bartolomie indicates over half of the special districts with open seats in this election cycle will default to the appointment due to a lack of candidates running in those races.
Outside of the races that will automatically move to the appointment, many races will be uncompetitive with the number of candidates being equivalent to the number of open seats.
Bartolomie said the draft candidate list is still being verified and said it could change “a little more”. This week, Bartolomie’s office was processing a last-minute rush of candidate filings. Once election officials have audited the information, a finalized candidate list will be made public.
Here are some of the races that could prove competitive:
City Councils
In Fort Bragg, eleven candidates will work to fill three full-term seats and one short-term seat on the City Council.
Ukiah City Council has three seats up for grabs with five in the race.
School Boards
Willits Unified School District’s School Board could prove competitive with seven candidates, three of which are incumbents, competing over three seats.
Round Valley Unified School Board has three current openings in its school with four candidates running.
Potter Valley Unified School Board has two seats open, with three candidates set to run.
Health Care Districts
The Mendocino Coast Health Care District board has three full-time seats and one short-term open with five candidates that could prove competitive.
Water Districts
Only three of the seven water districts have enough candidates to fill open seats. The others will rely on appointments. If there was ever a time for community members to get involved with our region’s water security, it is now.
Fire Districts
The governance of Mendocino County’s firefighting districts is based on a board that oversees the operations of the facilities. Hopland Fire has two seats open with three candidates, and Albion/Little River Fire has the same. All the other fire districts have either the same amount of open seats as candidates or fewer.
Check out the candidate list below:
CANDIDATE-LIST-Nov-8-2022-8-17-2022
