Two of the three seats up for grabs on the San Juan Capistrano likely won’t make it to the ballot this year because no challengers tried to run for them.
The only candidates who qualified for the ballot were Troy Bourne and John Taylor-the current councilmembers for Districts 2 and 4, respectively.
In order to run for office in San Juan Capistrano, candidates have to make an appointment with the city clerk to pull nomination papers and collect 20-30 signatures from registered voters in their district, whose names are verified by the county registrar, before they can get on the ballot.
But no other candidates attempted to run for office according to Matisse Reischel, assistant to the city manager.
San Juan Capsitrano City Councilmembers will decide how to handle the issue at their Tuesday night meeting.
They have two options: immediately re-appoint their colleagues to another four year term, or send the issue to the November ballot anyways with the two council members listed as the only candidates vying for office.
Either way, Bourne and Taylor are set to keep their seats on the council.
But if it’s kept off the ballot the city would save around $12,000 according to a staff report from City Clerk Maria Morris.
This isn’t the first time the city’s had to wrestle with this issue.
In the 2020 election, Councilman Sergio Farias was reappointed without a race for his District 1 seat because no one else filed to run against him.
“I appreciate the residents of District 1 for their support and for I guess essentially letting me have another four years,” Farias said at the 2020 meeting where the council voted to reappoint him.
The race for the city’s third district will remain on the ballot, with three candidates running for the seat according to the city’s website.
To learn more about candidates in other races throughout Orange County, click here.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a Groundtruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.