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Park naming committee won’t form until new council is seated
Eastgate sign
The sign for Eastgate Park has already been bought and paid for but now Councilman Channce Condit wants the park renamed. Changing out the sign could cost the taxpayers $3,000. An ad hoc committee will mull over his idea to rename it Guillermo Ochoa Park after the late city councilman.

The Ceres City Council held off Monday evening on forming an ad hoc committee tasked with looking into renaming Eastgate Park since members of that panel will include new councilmembers who will be seated next month.

Last week’s election will result in significant changes to the council. Javier Lopez was elected as mayor while Bret Silveira and Couper Condit were elected to the City Council replacing Bret Durossette and Mike Kline, respectively. The election of Councilman Channce Condit to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors also means there will be a vacancy in Council District 1 which will likely be filled by appointment.

The city has been planning the new park in the Eastgate area with the name Eastgate Park for over a decade. But in September Condit suggested naming the park after the late Guillermo Ochoa who served on the Ceres City Council from 2005 to 2011. He died in 2015 at the age of 54. The council said any names should be studied by an ad hoc committee in keeping with city park naming policy.

In other action, the council discussed filling upcoming vacancies to the Measure H Oversight Committee and the Ceres Planning Commission. The city received applications from citizens to be on the Measure H panel, one from a council candidate. Two vacancies are coming up on the Planning Commission with both members, Bob Kachel and Gary Del Nero, are interested in reapplying. The seat held by Bret Silveira will be vacated as he moves into the Ceres City Council seat he won last week.

The application process will start with the names being considered in December – the same month the new council is seated.