Races for seats on seven city councils plus assorted school and special district boards in Santa Barbara County will start taking shape as the nomination period opened Monday and runs through at least Aug. 8.
Candidates for the Santa Maria, Lompoc, Solvang, Buellton, Goleta, Guadalupe and Carpinteria city councils could begin tossing their hats in the ring for the Nov. 4 election — and some wasted no time in picking up their paperwork Monday.
The county’s largest city, Santa Maria, has two seats up for grabs this fall. Those are currently filled by Councilman Jack Boysen and appointed incumbent Willie Green, who was picked to fill a vacancy in 2013.
Several people have already expressed interest in running.
Council candidates can file with city clerk offices and are required to gather signatures of at least 20 registered voters from their city.
Candidates for office must be at least 18 years of age and registered to vote in the the city or district where they are seeking office.
Because at least 20 valid signatures are required to qualify, the nomination form has slots for 30 registered voters in case some signatures aren’t valid, Santa Maria city officials said.
For most offices, the nomination period closes Aug. 8, unless an incumbent chooses not to run for re-election. In that case, the nomination period is extended to Aug. 13 for non-incumbents.
In Santa Maria, candidates can contact the City Clerk’s Office at 805.925.0951, ext. 307 for an appointment to pull nomination papers and to receive a candidate orientation.
The Goleta City Council will have three seats on the Nov. 4 ballot, with the nomination period closing at noon Aug. 8, and extended to 5 p.m. Aug. 13 if an incumbent doesn’t file.
Terms now held by Roger Aceves, Michael Bennett and Paula Perotte are set to expire this year.
Goleta City Council candidates can make an appointment with the city clerk to get the paperwork and qualification information by calling 805.961.7505.
Lompoc voters will pick a mayor and two council members. Those terms are now held by Mayor John Linn, Councilman Dirk Starbuck and Councilwoman Ashley Costa, who announced earlier this year she doesn’t plan to seek re-election.
For information about filing for the seats, contact City Clerk Stacey Alvarez at s_alvarez@ci.lompoc.ca.us or 805.875.8241.
In Buellton, the terms of Mayor John Connolly plus Councilman Ed Andrisek and Councilwoman Judith Dale are set expire.
On Monday, both Andrisek and Dale picked up paperwork to run for re-election, a city official said. To make an appointment to get paperwork for Buellton council, contact City Clerk Linda Reid at 805.686.7424.
The Solvang City Council has three terms expiring this year — a two-year term of mayor (now filled by Jim Richardson) and two council seats, now held by Councilwomen Tara Wood and Joan Jamieson.
For more information, contact the City Clerk Mary Ellen Rio at 805.688.5575.
In Guadalupe, voters will select a mayor plus two City Council members. The two-year term of Mayor Frances Romero expires this fall, along with the four-year terms of John Sabedra and John Lizalde.
Candidates have already picked papers, with Lizalde gathering papers for mayor and current City Clerk Joyce Earleen Raguz picking up papers for a City Council seat.
People who intend to seek elected office on the Guadalupe City Council are asked to make an appointment between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. by calling 805.356.3891.
The Carpinteria City Council also will hold elections this fall with the terms now filled by J. Bradley Stein, Gregg Carty and Al Clark set to expire. For more information, contact City Clerk Fidela Garcia at fidelag@ci.carpinteria.ca.us or 805.684.5405 x403.
The Santa Barbara City Council holds its elections in odd-numbered years, so its races won’t appear on the ballot this November.
People interested in running for assorted school or special district boards this fall can submit paperwork through the Santa Barbara County Elections Division Offices in Santa Maria and Santa Barbara.
All candidates must file a declaration of candidacy and meet nomination requirements to run for office.
Eligible candidates must be registered voters of the district, trustee area, or division if applicable. For Recreation and Park Districts, a candidate also qualifies if he or she is a landowner within the district and a qualified voter of the state.
Nomination papers may be obtained from the County Elections offices in Santa Barbara, 4440-A Calle Real, or by calling 805.696.8957, or in Santa Maria at the Betteravia Government Center 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy., Suite 115 or 805.346.8374.
Unlike past years, the Lompoc branch office will not offer candidate filing services, county officials said.
The following school-board terms are for up for election:
» County Board of Education — Trustee Area Nos. 1, 4, 5 & 7
» Allan Hancock Joint Community College District — Trustee Area Nos. 3, 5
» Santa Barbara Community College District— Trustee Area Nos. 1, 5, 6 & 7
» Carpinteria Unified School District — Trustee Area No. 1 (two seats), Area No. 2 (one seat)
» Cuyama Joint Unified School District — two terms
» Lompoc Unified School District — two terms
» Santa Barbara Unified School District — two terms
» Santa Maria Joint Union High School District — three terms
» Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District — three terms
» Ballard School District — two terms
» Blochman Union School District —two terms
» Buellton Union School District — three terms
» Cold Spring School District — three terms
» College School District — three terms
» Goleta Union School District — three terms
» Guadalupe Union School District — three terms
» Hope School District — three terms
» Los Olivos School District — two terms
» Montecito Union School District — four terms
» Orcutt Union School District — three terms
» Santa Maria-Bonita School District — two terms
» Solvang School District — three terms
» Vista Del Mar Union School District — five terms
The following special district terms also are up for grabs:
» Carpinteria Sanitary District — two terms
» Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District — three terms
» Carpinteria Valley Water District — three terms
» Casmalia Community Services District — three terms
» Cuyama Community Services District — two terms
» Cuyama Valley Recreation District — five terms
» Embarcadero Municipal Improvement District — three terms
» Goleta Water District — two terms
» Goleta Sanitary District — two terms
» Goleta West Sanitary District — three terms
» Isla Vista Recreation and Park District — two terms
» Lompoc Valley Medical Center — three terms
» Los Alamos Community Services District — three terms
» Mission Hills Community Services District — two terms
» Montecito Fire Protection District — two terms
» Montecito Sanitary District — three terms
» Montecito Water District — three terms
» Santa Maria Public Airport District — two terms
» Santa Maria Valley Water Conservation District — Division Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6
» Santa Rita Hills Community Services District — four terms
» Santa Ynez Community Services District — four terms
» Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District — Division Nos. 1, 4, 5
» Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District Improvement District No. 1 — one at-large seat plus Division Nos. 2, 3
» Summerland Sanitary District — two terms
» Vandenberg Village Community Services District — two terms
A number of measures will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot, including Measure O, a countywide boost in the transient occupancy tax (or bed tax); and Measure P, a countywide proposal to ban high-intensity petroleum operations.
School-bond measures on the ballot are Measure Q, for Montecito Union School District; Measure S, for Santa Barbara Community College District; Measure T, for Santa Maria-Bonita School District; Measure U, for Carpinteria Unified School District; and Measure Y, for College School District.
For Measure R, city of Buellton voters will be asked whether they want to directly elect their mayor and, if so, for two or four years.
Meanwhile, Guadalupe voters will decide Measures V, W, and X, financial-related measures regarding increasing sales tax, revising the business tax, and eliminating the utility user tax cap, which would affect only the biggest businesses in the city.
For more information, go to www.sbcvote.com.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.