Sean Belk
Staff Writer
Potential candidates planning to run for the vacant 4th District Long Beach City Council seat in a special election on April 14 will have just a 12-day window to file papers and declare their candidacies, according to City Clerk Larry Herrera-Cabrera.
The nomination period for the special election is from Jan. 5 to Jan. 16 by 5pm, he confirmed via email with the Signal Tribune, adding that a candidate is “not a formal candidate until they complete the nomination process and the 5pm deadline closes.”
The Council officially declared the Council vacancy at its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16, more than two weeks after former 4th District councilmember Patrick O’Donnell officially resigned from the post since being elected as the 70th District member of the California State Assembly in the Nov. 4 election.
So far, only one potential candidate has stepped forward indicating a possible run for the vacant Council seat. Herlinda Chico, who once worked for former Long Beach Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga, posted a statement on social media on Dec. 17, stating that she plans to run for the Council office.
“I am a third-generation public servant,” she said in the statement. “My father and grandfather taught me from a very early age the value of giving back to your community, and I am looking forward to continuing to implement those values as I run for City Council. My 20 years of experience in both the private and public sectors will give me the needed tools to represent the 4th District’s vast business community and residents well.”
The candidate who is elected next year will fulfill a nearly one-year term left by O’Donnell, who beat out businessman Daryl Supernaw and former police officer John Watkins in the 2012 election. There are approximately 27,000 registered voters in the 4th District, according to city staff. The new councilmember would serve from May 2015 to July 2016.
During the Council meeting this month, 5th District Councilmember Stacy Mungo had requested that the Council reconsider its motion to declare the vacancy, stating that the special election should be held on the second Tuesday of a month rather than April 14, which is a “complicated day for America” since it’s the day before “tax day,” she said.
“I’m encouraging everyone to take into account that these elections could literally be won by three or four votes,” adding that having it on the second Tuesday of a month would increase “voter awareness.”
Herrera-Cabrera stated that, while the Council is required to conduct a special election 120 days after declaring a Council vacancy as required by the City Charter, the Council could have rescinded its decision to declare the vacancy and made the decision at the next Council meeting, which would have set the special-election date for May 5.
However, Mungo’s motion failed to receive a second.
In the meantime, Sharon Weissman, Mayor Robert Garcia’s former senior advisor, has been appointed to oversee the currently unrepresented 4th District Council office until a new councilmember is voted in and takes office. The special election is estimated to cost about $200,000, and the City is expected to retain services from Los Angeles County.
