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City orders fall election for three council seats
•Council districts 1, 2 & 4 up for grabs
Council districts for 2022 election
This is the newly adopted map for Ceres City Council districts applies to candidates for the November 2022 election is based on. This year the council seats for District 1, 2 and 4 are all up for grabs.

Three resolutions were passed by the Ceres City Council on Monday to formally call for an election on Nov. 8 to elect councilmembers.

The resolutions relate to conducting a general municipal election and a special municipal election on Nov. 8.

The first resolution calls for the election of two councilmembers for the expired four-year terms of Districts 1 and 2.

James “Jim” Casey currently occupies District 1, having been elected in September 2021 to fill the remainder of the council term abandoned by Channce Condit. Condit resigned midway into his four-year term after winning a seat on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.

The District 2 seat is currently vacant due to the resignation of Linda Ryno from the seat in April – over seven months before it expired. The council decided against appointing her successor, citing the approach of the fall election.

A special election – to be consolidated with the Nov. 8 general election – is required to fill the remaining half of the four-year term for District 4. Mike Kline was appointed in December to temporarily fill the seat after Couper Condit resigned without an explanation on Oct. 11, 2021 just eight months into his four-year term.

The last resolution stipulated the regulations for submission of candidate statements for candidates interested in publishing a statement of their education and qualifications in the voter pamphlet.

Kline told the Courier he will not run for his District 4 seat.

The election will be the first following a change in district boundaries following the 2020 Census. The biggest change is in District 2. For that reason, persons considering a run for office should confirm with the city which district they reside in.

The nomination period for candidates begins July 18 and ends on Aug. 12. The deadline is extended in a race if the incumbent does not file papers by Aug. 12.

Candidates may prepare a candidate’s statement on an appropriate form provided by the City Clerk. The statement may include the name, age and occupation of the candidate and a brief description of no more than 200 words of the candidate’s education and qualifications expressed by the candidate himself or herself. The statement shall not include party affiliation of the candidate, nor membership or activity in partisan political organizations. The statement shall be filed [in typewritten form] with the office of the City Clerk at the time the candidate’s nomination papers are filed. The statement shall comply with all applicable laws. The statement may be withdrawn, but not changed, during the period for filing nomination papers and until 5 p.m. of the next working day after the close of the nomination period.

Candidates who chose to have a statement printed in the voter handbook can expect to pay $1,000, which could vary in cost depending on the actual number of candidates filing statements.