Candidate Filing for November Election Began Monday

 Candidates interested in running for any of the school or special districts or city council seats up for election on November 4, 2014 may begin to file candidate papers with either the Santa Cruz County Elections Department for districts, or the appropriate City Clerks’ Office for council members beginning Monday, July 14.

Filing for the local offices up for election on November 4, 2014 ends at 5 p.m. August 8 unless the incumbent (who is not termed out) does not file. In that case, filing will be extended until 5 p.m. on August 13.

A complete list of offices on the ballot are available online at www.votescount.com Interested persons can also look up their address to see which districts they reside in athttp://electiondatalookup.co.santa-cruz.ca.us

Offices up for election in November include boards of education, community college boards, unified/high school district boards, elementary school district boards, fire protection district boards, water district boards, port district board, recreation district boards, other miscellaneous boards, as well as city council members in the four cities.

A person is eligible to be elected or appointed to the school and special district boards if that person is:

·        18 years of age and a citizen of the state at the time of his/her election or appointment (Government Code §1020)

·        a registered voter of the district or division and otherwise qualified to vote for that office at the time nomination papers are issued to the person or at the time of the person’s appointment. (Election Code §201; Government Code §24001).  Exceptions:  for recreation districts, the candidate may either be a registered voter of the district or a registered voter of the state who owns property in the district (Public Resources Code §5783.3); for resource conservation district, appointees must be a registered voter of the state who 1) resides in the district and either owns real property or have served two years or more as an associate director providing advisory assistance to the board, or 2) be a designated agent of a resident landowner within the district. (Public Resources Code §9352)

Declarations of Candidacy for candidates for the school and special district boards are available beginning July 14 from the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department, 701 Ocean St., Room 210, Santa Cruz, CA, 831-454-2060. Declarations of Candidacy must be filed by 5 p.m. August 8 at the County Clerk/Elections Department at the address above.  Declarations of Candidacy will not be accepted after 5 p.m. on August 8 unless the incumbent does not file; under that scenario, the filing deadline is extended five days to 5 p.m. August 13 for anyone other than the incumbent to file.

·        Capitola: 3 Councilmembers: Stephanie Harlan, Sam Storey (termed out) and Michael Termini;

·        Santa Cruz: 3 Councilmembers, Hilary Bryant, David Terrazas, and Lynn Robinson (termed out);

·        Scotts Valley: 2 Councilmembers: Jim Reed and Stephany E. Aguilar;

·        Watsonville: 4 Councilmembers – District 3, Lowell Hurst; District 4, Eduardo Montesino; District 5, Daniel Dodge; and District 7, Nancy Bilicich.

Candidates who file for Capitola and Scotts Valley City Council must be a registered voter of the city. Candidates for Santa Cruz City Council must be a qualified voter of the city for at least 30 days preceding nomination or appointment. Candidates running for Watsonville City Council must be a resident and registered voter of the City and the District for 30 days preceding the opening date for the filing of nomination papers.

·        Capitola City Clerk’s Office – 420 Capitola Ave., Capitola, CA 95010, 831-475-7300

·        Santa Cruz City Clerk’s Office – 809 Center Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, 831-420-5038

·        Scotts Valley City Clerk’s Office – 1 Civic Center Dr., Scotts Valley, CA 95066, 831-440-5600

·        Watsonville City Clerk’s Office – 275 Main St., 4^th Floor, Watsonville, CA 95076, 831-768-3040

Declarations of Candidacy and Nomination Petitions for city office must be filed between July 14 and August 8, 2014 with the City Clerk’s Office.  Declarations of Candidacy and Nomination Petitions will not be accepted after 5 p.m. on August 8 unless the incumbent who is not termed out of office does not file; under that scenario, the filing deadline is extended five days to 5 p.m. August 13 for anyone other than the incumbent to file.

Appointment to each elective office will be made as prescribed by Elections Code §10515, §10229 and Education Code §5326, 5328 and 5328.5 in the event that there are no nominees or an insufficient number of nominees for the office and a petition for election is not filed with the elections official within the time period prescribed by the code sections listed above.

At the time the candidate files a Declaration of Candidacy, candidates have the option of submitting a 200-word Candidate’s Statement of Qualifications to be published in the Voter’s Information Pamphlet at the candidate’s expense.

Because there are strict rules and laws governing candidate filing, interested persons are encouraged to contact the County Elections Department to obtain a “Candidate’s Handbook” and other assistance to ensure all filing obligations are met.   The Elections Department is located at 701 Ocean Street, Room 210 in Santa Cruz, phone 831-454-2060. Candidates for City Council should contact the City Clerk in their city of residence.

The “Candidate’s Handbook” for the November Election is available online at www.votescount.com For more information, please contact the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections Department at 831-454-2060.