Ten candidates qualify for Carson special election seats

Ten candidates are competing to fill two vacancies in Carson’s city government — the fourth district’s council seat and the position of city clerk — in a special election in November. The openings were created when former fourth district representative Lula Davis-Holmes was elected mayor and ex-city clerk Donesia Gause-Aldana resigned to become city clerk in Riverside.

The fourth district is in the southern part of Carson, with the exception of a long finger that stretches from 223rd Street to Turnmont encompassing the South Bay Pavillion, the fourth is bordered by Main Street to the west, Lomita boulevard to the South and the Union Pacific rail line to the east.

The winner among the five candidates will complete the final three years of Davis-Holmes’ term. Only one has experience as an elected official in Carson — Michael Mitoma, CEO of Parking Space Technology, LLC, who served on the city council from 1987-1997. The others — Freddie Gomez, Arleen Rojas, Isais Pulido, and Dr. Sharma Henderson — are taking their first shot at municipal politics.

Gomez has resided in Carson for 50 years. He is a director of client engagement and navigation services for the nonprofit organization Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles. He says that residents deserve humble, honest and committed leaders who will listen, learn and lead based on the best interests for the people of Carson.

Pulido was born and raised in Carson. With a MBA in Business Administration, he currently works alongside the council as an aide doing casework, community relations and resolving constituent service requests. He says that he stands for public safety first, protecting children and senior citizens

Rojas is a graduate of Carson High School and is with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Henderson will give it another go after unsuccessfully running for a council seat in 2018.

Of the five candidates running for city clerk, only Vera DeWitt has experience in Carson government; more than 30 years ago she served five years on the city council, the last in 1992. The other city clerk candidates are Jeffry Caballero, Myla Rahman, Monette Gavino and Falea’ana Meni.

Caballero is a federal tax and immigration attorney, although he passed the Uniform Bar Exam for the Vermont State Bar, he is not licensed in California. Caballero claims the UBE allows him to practice immigration law in California, but the exam’s website does not list California as one of the jurisdictions the exam is accepted.

Meni ran for mayor in the most recent election and will be running for city clerk now. Monette Gavino, a special education teacher who was employed with the city in the past will be running as well. District Chief of Staff Myla Rahman who has been working for the state legislature for almost eight years now will also be running.