Two members of the Carpinteria City Council will run for re-election in their respective districts this fall, while a third will not.

Vice Mayor Mónica Solórzano (District 1) and Councilmember Julia Mayer (District 3) will seek re-election, while Councilmember Al Clark (District 5) plans to step down at the end of his term in December, the three confirmed to Noozhawk.

Clark also confirmed to Noozhawk that he has thrown his support behind Alexandra “Xy” VanAntwerp, a Carpinteria city planning commissioner who announced last week her intention to run for the District 5 seat. 

Clark, a 40-year Carpinteria resident, has served on the City Council since 2006. He first served in an at-large seat, then as the District 5 representative once the city shifted to district-based voting in 2022. 

Solórzano, a strong advocate of community engagement, has served on the council since 2022.

She told Noozhawk she wanted to run again to help the community stay informed.

She has championed both sustainable growth and affordable housing, two platform points she said she will rally behind again this fall.

Housing is a “difficult conversation because, as everybody knows, there’s so little places to build in Carp,” she said. “It’s gonna require a lot of trade-offs in terms of what we’re willing to give up in order to have the type of housing that we say that we want.”

She said she wants to build up current businesses and make economic vitality “really work for both the new development going in and also our long-term beloved institutions” in Carpinteria. 

“I really do believe in trying to meet people where they are and push their voices forward,” she said. 

Mayer — co-owner of Dune Coffee Roasters and a powerful voice and drive behind the Carpinteria Skate Park campaign — has served on the council since 2024. She ran and was sworn in for the seat vacated by now-Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Roy Lee. 

She told Noozhawk she feels like she is “just getting going” and that she still has a lot to give the city.

“I feel like two years happened in a blink of an eye,” she said. 

Mayer advocates for protecting open space and what she calls thoughtful planning and local control.

If Carpinteria had been proactive in putting housing in places such as the area’s downtown corridor, she said, there wouldn’t be proposals to put housing in places that Carpinteria residents consider unsuitable, such as the Bluffs.

“Planning goes hand in hand with being able to curate the right developments, because we need housing here,” she said. “The only reason I’m able to live here is because someone in my family bought a house 50 years ago, and that is not a solution to housing.”

She also supports finding additional revenue sources for the city, as it faces stagnating revenues and growing expenditures.

Amrita Salm, a member of VanAntwerp’s team, said VanAntwerp is a fourth-generation Carpinteria resident.

“As we face new challenges including state housing requirements, rising costs for services, and other demands, Xy VanAntwerp is ready to work collaboratively with the City Council, city staff and residents to focus on priorities, challenges and demands with her experience, education and compassion to keep Carpinteria small, friendly and sustainable,” Salm said in a news release.

Mayor Natalia Alarcon and Councilmember Wade Nomura are also part of the five-member council, serving Districts 2 and 4, respectively. Those seats will be on the fall 2028 ballot.

A 0.25% sales tax increase also will be on the fall 2026 ballot for Carpinteria voters.

The candidate nomination period for the Carpinteria City Council races opened Monday and will remain open through Aug. 7, or Aug. 12 for seats if an incumbent doesn’t file to run. 

Candidates must be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens and registered to live within the district up for election. District boundaries can be viewed here. 

Additional information about the candidates and their platforms will be available in the coming weeks. Stay updated with Noozhawk’s ongoing election coverage of races across Santa Barbara County here.