Council members Ken Lane and Chris Vierra both picked up nomination papers Monday as the first step in their re-election bids.
Monday marked the beginning of the nomination period for City Council and other local races. All candidates for local offices must have their paperwork turned in by 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7 if they wish to be on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Lane and Vierra were both elected to the Ceres City Council in 2005.
Also up for grabs in November are the Ceres Unified School District board seats of Mike Welsh, Teresa Guerrero, Edgar Romo and Betty Davis.
CUSD changed its board trustee area boundaries as a result of a lawsuit threat by the San Francisco-based Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights (LCCR) who claimed that minority candidates had an unfair disadvantage in elections. They said that the CUSD's at-large method of elections is racially polarizing and violating the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA).
The new trustee areas are being phased in. Currently there are five single-member trustee areas and two at-large trustee offices. By the November 2013 election, the district will establish seven single-member trustee areas.
A candidate's address will determine which trustee area he or she must run in.
The current trustee areas have diced up CUSD as follows:
• Trustee Area 1 - Occupied currently by Jim Kinard. The district is bounded by Highway 99 to the west, Central Avenue to the east, Tuolumne River to the north and Whitmore Avenue to the south. The eastern boundary line zig-zags through various neighborhoods by running south on Central, east on Hale Aloha, south on Myrtlewood, and west on Forest Lane, west on Glenwood and then south on Central Avenue. This seat will be open in 2011.
• Trustee Area 2 - Occupied by Welsh, who faces re-election this November. The area occupies northwest Ceres is bounded by Central Avenue on the west and the Tuolumne River to the north. The area's southern boundary runs from east of Caswell School along Acorn Lane and Fowler Road over to Lunar Drive where it dips south to Moonview to Boothe Road, north on Boothe Road and cutting into the northern part of Eastgate. The district goes as far east as Faith Home Road, up to Hatch Road and back west to go up Mitchell Road.
• Trustee Area 3 - By far the largest geographical area, it covers all the rural areas and knuckles around city trustee areas 1, 2, 4 and 5. Occupied by Guerrero - who faces re-election this November - the mostly rural area includes all of CUSD's west side (including Westport), and all areas south and east of Ceres.
• Trustee Area 4 - Represented by Faye Lane, this seat will be up for grabs in 2011. The district is in the southeast sector of Ceres. It's northern boundary runs along Acorn Lane and Fowler Road. It's eastern boundary runs along Moore Road all the way to Highway 99. The line travels back up Hwy. 99 and runs west of 99 at E. Service Road. The district includes the Collins Road area near Don Pedro Elementary School. After including the unincorporated pocket it travels back up Hwy. 99 up to Whitmore, over to Central Avenue up to Sequoia.
• Trustee Area 5 - Edgar Romo occupies this west Ceres seat and faces election this November. The area is all located west of Highway 99 and is bounded by Whitmore Avenue to the north, the Tidewater tracks on the west, and Service Road on the south.
Until 2013, the district will retain two at-large seats which are now occupied by Betty Davis and Eric Ingwerson. Davis' seat is up for election this year; Ingwerson's in 2011.
CUSD candidates file with the Stanislaus County Elections Office at 1021 I Street, Room 101, Modesto.
City candidates file with at Ceres City Hall.
Keyes has elections in November. The seats of three incumbents on the Keyes Union School District Board are up for election. They are Remona Rayburn, Tony Aguilar, and Marianne Pietrzyk.
Three seats on the Keyes Community Services District are also up for grabs now filled by Davey Landers, Harinder Grewal, Henry Benavides and a vacant seat. The two-year seat of Casey Chadwick is also up for grabs.
Keyes Municipal Advisory Council members Harinder Grewal and Karen Poppen must determine if they want to seek re-election.
Westport Fire Protection District has an election for new board members. The terms of Martin Avila and Edward Amador are up for grabs.
Four director seats in the Hughson Fire Protection District are also up: Gus Villarreal and Raymond Camagna, who each serve four-year terms, and Jeffrey Serpa, who is in a two-year seat. The fourth seat is vacant.
Hughson area voters will be deciding who to send to the Hughson Unified School District Board of Trustees. The terms of Randy Heckman, Cindy Cunningham-Gipp and Rick Applegate all expire this year.
Monday marked the beginning of the nomination period for City Council and other local races. All candidates for local offices must have their paperwork turned in by 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7 if they wish to be on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Lane and Vierra were both elected to the Ceres City Council in 2005.
Also up for grabs in November are the Ceres Unified School District board seats of Mike Welsh, Teresa Guerrero, Edgar Romo and Betty Davis.
CUSD changed its board trustee area boundaries as a result of a lawsuit threat by the San Francisco-based Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights (LCCR) who claimed that minority candidates had an unfair disadvantage in elections. They said that the CUSD's at-large method of elections is racially polarizing and violating the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA).
The new trustee areas are being phased in. Currently there are five single-member trustee areas and two at-large trustee offices. By the November 2013 election, the district will establish seven single-member trustee areas.
A candidate's address will determine which trustee area he or she must run in.
The current trustee areas have diced up CUSD as follows:
• Trustee Area 1 - Occupied currently by Jim Kinard. The district is bounded by Highway 99 to the west, Central Avenue to the east, Tuolumne River to the north and Whitmore Avenue to the south. The eastern boundary line zig-zags through various neighborhoods by running south on Central, east on Hale Aloha, south on Myrtlewood, and west on Forest Lane, west on Glenwood and then south on Central Avenue. This seat will be open in 2011.
• Trustee Area 2 - Occupied by Welsh, who faces re-election this November. The area occupies northwest Ceres is bounded by Central Avenue on the west and the Tuolumne River to the north. The area's southern boundary runs from east of Caswell School along Acorn Lane and Fowler Road over to Lunar Drive where it dips south to Moonview to Boothe Road, north on Boothe Road and cutting into the northern part of Eastgate. The district goes as far east as Faith Home Road, up to Hatch Road and back west to go up Mitchell Road.
• Trustee Area 3 - By far the largest geographical area, it covers all the rural areas and knuckles around city trustee areas 1, 2, 4 and 5. Occupied by Guerrero - who faces re-election this November - the mostly rural area includes all of CUSD's west side (including Westport), and all areas south and east of Ceres.
• Trustee Area 4 - Represented by Faye Lane, this seat will be up for grabs in 2011. The district is in the southeast sector of Ceres. It's northern boundary runs along Acorn Lane and Fowler Road. It's eastern boundary runs along Moore Road all the way to Highway 99. The line travels back up Hwy. 99 and runs west of 99 at E. Service Road. The district includes the Collins Road area near Don Pedro Elementary School. After including the unincorporated pocket it travels back up Hwy. 99 up to Whitmore, over to Central Avenue up to Sequoia.
• Trustee Area 5 - Edgar Romo occupies this west Ceres seat and faces election this November. The area is all located west of Highway 99 and is bounded by Whitmore Avenue to the north, the Tidewater tracks on the west, and Service Road on the south.
Until 2013, the district will retain two at-large seats which are now occupied by Betty Davis and Eric Ingwerson. Davis' seat is up for election this year; Ingwerson's in 2011.
CUSD candidates file with the Stanislaus County Elections Office at 1021 I Street, Room 101, Modesto.
City candidates file with at Ceres City Hall.
Keyes has elections in November. The seats of three incumbents on the Keyes Union School District Board are up for election. They are Remona Rayburn, Tony Aguilar, and Marianne Pietrzyk.
Three seats on the Keyes Community Services District are also up for grabs now filled by Davey Landers, Harinder Grewal, Henry Benavides and a vacant seat. The two-year seat of Casey Chadwick is also up for grabs.
Keyes Municipal Advisory Council members Harinder Grewal and Karen Poppen must determine if they want to seek re-election.
Westport Fire Protection District has an election for new board members. The terms of Martin Avila and Edward Amador are up for grabs.
Four director seats in the Hughson Fire Protection District are also up: Gus Villarreal and Raymond Camagna, who each serve four-year terms, and Jeffrey Serpa, who is in a two-year seat. The fourth seat is vacant.
Hughson area voters will be deciding who to send to the Hughson Unified School District Board of Trustees. The terms of Randy Heckman, Cindy Cunningham-Gipp and Rick Applegate all expire this year.
