Seven candidates are running for three upcoming seats on the City of San Fernando’s City Council.
Incumbents Mary Mendoza and Mary Solorio are running for re-election. Additional candidates are Fernando Diaz, Sonia Navarro, Sean M. Rivas, Flor Sanchez and Michelle Vergara. If elected, each candidate will serve a four-year term.
While Mayor Joel Fajardo had pulled papers to seek another term, he failed to complete the process by the deadline.
The election will take place on June 2 to coincide with the statewide primaries rather than the general election in November.
Despite protests from city residents, who expressed concern that this move would result in lower voter participation, the council drafted an ordinance that was approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, officially moving the election date to June.
Getting people out to vote is challenging, especially for small municipal elections. The best turnout in local elections are those timed to coincide with major elections, not midterms.
Fajardo’s decision not to seek an additional term came as a surprise, as he just recently secured his position as mayor once again. He has served on the City Council for a number of years, dating back to 2012. He’s been selected as mayor three times, and is the City of San Fernando’s first openly gay councilmember and mayor.
He was unseated in 2020 by Celeste Rodriguez – who would later become mayor herself and is now a member of the California State Assembly – by a margin of 24 votes. He was reelected to the City Council in 2022.
The mayor has faced his share of controversies during his time in office. Just in the past year, Fajardo was one of three councilmembers who voted against the City of San Fernando adopting a “sanctuary city” status, which spurred strong public backlash and some community members to discuss the possibility of a recall. Two weeks after the vote, the council would pass a broad resolution aimed at protecting immigrants.
Fajardo was also one of three on the dais who supported moving the city’s election date away from November to instead coincide with the statewide primaries, even though such a move would shorten his term by five months.
The San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol reached out to Fajardo for comment, but he did not respond by press time.
For more information on the general municipal election, go to https://www.sanfernando.gov/Your-Government/Elections.