Interest heats up for City Council election

With filing for the 2012 Porterville City Council election beginning Monday, the June race is already shaping up to be crowded.

Nomination papers will be available through Friday, March 9 in the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall, 291 N. Main St., and in the Elections Division, Government Plaza, 5951 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia.   

Up for election June 5 are appointed incumbent Mayor Ron Irish, incumbent Vice Mayor Cameron Hamilton and incumbent Councilman Brian Ward. Only Ward has indicated he will definitely run for re-election.

Irish told The Recorder he was undecided, adding he still had time.

“It’s still up in the air,” he said.

Hamilton did not return phone calls as of Friday afternoon.

City Council members are elected to four-year overlapping terms. Council members attend up to seven meetings a month, and each earns $20 per meeting, with the mayor earning $25.

While filing does not begin until Monday, several prospective candidates have voiced an interest in running. Potential challengers include David Gong, a motivational speaker and coach, Wendy Taylor, a retired county employee and former business owner, and Felipe Martinez, a financial adviser.  

“I’m not a politician,” Gong said when asked why he is running. “I’ll listen to both sides and make an informed decision in the end. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes, but hopefully people will like what they hear and trust that I’ll do the right thing.”

Taylor said she feels the community needs a woman on the council and added, “I think with the amount of time I’ve spent working with the city, I’ve got a lot to contribute.”

The three candidates to garner the most votes in June’s election will join Greg Shelton and Pete McCracken on the council.

To be eligible to hold any elective office in the city, potential candidates must be Porterville residents and registered voters, and must have lived in the city for at least 30 days preceding the filing of their nomination papers, or equivalent declaration of candidacy.

Potential candidates are also required to gather a minimum of 20 valid signatures from registered Porterville voters on their application.

There are no filing fees associated with running for the Porterville City Council, however, there is a $1,300 fee to file a candidate statement. The $1,300 is just an estimate of the actual cost and varies from one election to another and may be significantly more or less than the estimate, depending on the actual number of candidates filing statements, according to the county elections office.

The 200-word-or-less statement describes a candidate’s education and qualifications and is optional. Payment for the statement is required at the time of filing.  

Candidates may be eligible for a fee waiver if they allege to be indigent and unable to pay the fee.

Additional offices up for election in the 2012 Primary include the following three Tulare County Board of Supervisor seats:

- First District seat held by incumbent Allen Ishida

- Second District seat held by incumbent Pete Vander Poel

- Third District seat held by incumbent Phil Cox

Filing fees are $903 per applicant and the estimated cost for a candidate statement (also optional) ranges from $2,200 for District One to $2,700 for District Three.

The filing period will be extended for five days in any race where the incumbent does not file. In the City Council race, if any one of the three incumbents does not file, the filing period will be extended.