Four potential candidates file for city offices, BCL has three seats opening
July 20, 2012
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Four potential candidates, all incumbents, have pulled papers to run for elected positions ranging from City Council to City Treasurer.
And among the other elections Santa Paula voters will decide, there are three positions for Blanchard Community Library trustees, with the terms of incumbents Ed Geis, Ninette Reyes-Sliger and Beverly Mueller ending.
According to Santa Paula Deputy City Clerk Cathy Cwiok, incumbents Fred Robinson and Jim Tovias took out nomination papers this week to run again for the council. Sandy Easley, Santa Paula’s interim finance director, pulled nomination papers for her fourth term as city treasurer, and Judy Rice has taken out filing documents to run for a second term as city clerk.
The Presidential Election will be held Tuesday, November 6. Candidates seeking elected city and all other offices will be able to pull nomination papers until Friday, August 10 at 5 p.m. when filing closes, but they would have to hustle: the filing must include the signatures of at least 20 registered voters that would pass the muster of the Ventura County Elections Division vetting process.
Candidates will have an extra five days to return nomination forms if an incumbent declines to seek reelection, extending the deadline to August 15 at 5 p.m.
Robinson, the executive director of the nonprofit The Arc, and Tovias, an insurance agent, are completing their first four-year terms, as is Rice. Easley has held the city treasurer’s seat for three terms. Rice and Easley ran unopposed in the last election.
Council members receive a stipend of $300 a month - now reduced by five percent to match the hit most city employees took to help during a fiscal crisis, some retirement benefits, and an annual expense account of about $2,300 for city-related business. Council members also receive a cafeteria plan payment of almost $1,000 a month that can be used to buy into the city’s health insurance or be pocketed.
The city clerk and treasurer also receive the monthly stipend, but not the health benefit payment.
The filing period that closes Friday, August 10 at 5 p.m. is a City Hall “furlough day,” but there will be a City Clerk on hand to accept nomination documents.
Candidates will also have the option of filing a Candidate Statement at the time they turn in their nomination documents. The statement, which will be published in the Sample Ballot, requires a deposit.
City Hall is located at 970 E. Ventura Street. For more information contact Cwiok at 933-4208.
