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August 20, 2024
By Brian Hews
The filing deadline closed this past Wednesday at 5 o’clock for several local races, including ABC Unified, Bellflower USD, Central Basin Water, El Rancho Unified, Montebello USD, Norwalk/La Mirada and Little Lake School Districts, and the Water Replenishment District, but not without intrigue.
Former long-time ABCUSD board member and teacher Leticia Mendoza filed weeks ago to run for ABCUSD’s Trustee Area (TA) 1. At 4:55 p.m. Wednesday. five minutes before the deadline, according to the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder’s website, it looked like Ms. Mendoza was going to run unopposed.
Soon after, Lauren Lyon appeared to have filed to run against Ms. Mendoza in TA 1. However, it was later revealed that while Lyon’s name appeared on the website, she had yet to file the necessary papers officially. LCCN received a screenshot taken at 5:00:19 of the Registrar-Recorder’s website, confirming that Ms. Lyon had submitted her name but had not completed the official filing process.
If the paperwork was submitted but not filed, Ms. Lyon would be unable to run. LCCN is waiting for confirmation from the Registrar-Recorder’s office, as of press time they have not answered.
In other races, Cerritos’ Tatiana Yokoyama Bui, the sister of Cerritos Councilman Frank Yokoyama, will compete with Anu Gupta for ABCUSD’s TA No. 4, while Sophia M. Tse (Area 5) and Francisco Noyola (Area 7) will be unopposed.
In Bellflower, BUSD’s TA No. 3 will see three newcomers: Daniel Allen Buffington, Maurina M. Cintron, and Gregory H. Johnson. Mayra Garza in Trustee Area 4 will be unopposed.
In Division 1 of the Central Basin Municipal Water District, there will be a highly contested election between two incumbents: Martha Camacho and Leticia Vasquez. Their two seats were combined due to AB 1794, leading them to compete against each other. Other candidates vying for the seats include Jose De Leon, Jose R. Gonzalez, and Lemeika Rhashaan Pope. However, Vasquez, who received over 40,000 votes in the last election, is likely to be the leading contender.
Central Basin Municipal Water Division 2 will see several candidates, the best known is Gary Mendez. Others include Josue Alvarado, Lisseth M., Flores-Franco, Fernando Islas and Max A. Ordonez.
Division 4 will finally see an elected board member take the seat after the passing of former Assemblyman Phil Hawkins in 2022. Director Juan Garza, who was appointed to fill Hawkins’ seat in 2022, will run against Dora Sandoval a well-known City Commissioner and union representative.
The same Martha Camacho who is running for Central Basin Division 1 is also running for TA 1 at Cerritos College against incumbent and current vice-president Mariana Pacheco. In TA No. 2, incumbent Dawn K. Green will run unopposed. Mariana Rios will take over TA No. 4 after Marisa Perez announced she was leaving, and incumbent Sandra Leticia Salazar will run unopposed.
In the Norwalk-La Mirada USD’s TA No. 1, Esperanza “Espie” Free will run against Miguel Rivera. In TA No. 3 Christopher Joe Garcia will run against Board President Jose M. Rios. In TA No. 7, David Constantine will compete with Becky Langenwalter. Unknown Elizabeth Peterson will run against Robert “Rob” Katherman, Board VP and Division 2 Director at the Water Replenishment District. John Paul Drayer will run against WRD Division 5 Director Vera Robles Dewitt.
