Candidates file for City Council and PUSD board
As of 5 p.m. Friday, two Porterville City Council seats up for election were set to be contested in the November 3 general election while a third Porterville City Council incumbent looked to be unopposed.
The deadline for the filing period for those to file to run for a local office in the November election was 5 p.m. Friday. Although it looked the filing period for one Porterville City Council seat that’s going to be well-contested would be extended a week because incumbent Virginia Gurrola had yet to file.
In that Porterville City Council District 5 race, three candidates filed for that seat. But as of 5 p.m. Friday, Gurrola hadn’t filed. Gurrola had indicated she wouldn’t run for re-election.
Tulare County Elections rules calls for the filing period to be extended for five days if the incumbent doesn’t file. But Gurrola would not be allowed to file.
Those who have filed to run for the Porterville City Council seat that would be vacated by Gurrola are retired law enforcement officer Jerry Hall, Josh Sulier and community services administrator Kellie Carrillo.
There will also be a contested race in the
Porterville City Council District 3 seat. Incumbent and Mayor Martha Flores has filed for reelection. As of 5 p.m. Friday, Michael Smith, a retired lieutenant had filed to run against Flores.
But as of 5 p.m. Friday, incumbent Monte Reyes was the only candidate to file for his Porterville City Council District 4 seat. If Reyes was the only one to file for that seat, the Porterville City Council could appoint him to the seat or Reyes could run unopposed in the November election.
As far as the Porterville Unified School District Board as of 5 p.m. Friday, incumbent Tomas Velasquez in district 2 had filed and was unopposed.
In District 6, Donna Berry, who served as Reedley College’s interim president and also served as an administrator at Porterville College, had filed for reelection.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, another educator/district administrator, Anthony Martin and Les Pinter had filed to run against Berry for her spot on the board.
In PUSD District 1, Juan Figueroa Jr., an education program director, and Sonia Lozano, an accountant, had filed for the position as of 5 p.m. Friday.
As of 5 p.m. Friday
it looked like two Burton School Board incumbents would be unopposed. Board president Obdulia Guzman Alvarado and Vikki Cervantes were the only candidates to file for the positions.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, Chris Reed, the incumbent, was also the only candidate to file for district 6 which represents the Porterville area on
the Tulare County Board of Education.
When it comes to the Sierra View Medical Center Board as of 5 p.m. Friday one incumbent hadn’t filed. Daniel Smith hadn’t filed for relection in zone 1, so the filing period for that seat will be extended five days. Jyotsana Pandya has filed for that zone 1 seat.
In Zone 2 as of 5 p.m. Friday, incumbent Dr. Gaurang Pandya was the only candidate to file. There will be a contested
race in zone four as incumbent Dr. Rakesh Jindal has filed. As of 5 p.m. Friday, medical office manager Victoria Porter and medical director Liberty Lomeli filed to run against Jindal.
A complete list of candidates is available at: https://tularecoelections.org/elections/index.cfm/ registrar-of-voters/current-election-information/november-3-2020presidential-generalelection/candidate-list/