Two incumbents, one in El Rancho Unified School District and the other on the Pico Rivera City Council were losing in early returns on Tueday Nov. 8.
Council incumbent Gustavo Camacho and John Garcia, a planning commissioner, were leading incumbent Raul Elias and ading challengers Antonio “Tony” Hernandez, president of the El Rancho Unified School District chapter of the California School Employees Association, in the race for two seats.
See the latest election results.
Elisas and Hernandez are down by about 8 to 11 percentage points.
In El Rancho, incumbent Esther Mejia and challengers John Contreras, a project planner, and Jacqueline Perez Valencia, a nonprofit administrator, led incumbents Carolyn Castillo and challenger Hector La Farga Jr., a nonprofit executive, in the race for two seats.
The race is close wih Valencia, Castillo and La Farga within a percentage point of each other.
Incumbent Joe Rivera did not run for reelection.
For the City Council, the four candidates split into pairs in seeking two seats but for El Rancho Unified there’s much more harmony where all five candidates agreed the district is on the right track.
Elias, who is seeking a second four-year term on the council, teamed up with Hernandez, while Camacho, who has served on the council for 13 years, ran on a slate with Garcia.
Voters also were approving an increase in the business license, a proposal that will generate $5.8 million and agreed to impose 12-year term limits on council members.
Pico Rivera City Council
In addition to the slates, Camacho also is going to the voters more than two years after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged him and Luis Diaz Rojas, on one felony count each of conspiracy to commit improper identification of a campaign contributor and one misdemeanor count each of making a campaign contribution under a false name or improper identification of a campaign contributor.
But since June 2020, when the charges were filed, Camacho said a judge has dismissed the felony charges, only leaving a misdemeanor charge on spending still pending.
“I was falsely charged and I believe this will go away,” he said.
Camacho said Pico Rivera has gotten better during his 13 years.
Meanwhile, Elias has put together a seven-point plan that includes elimination of the increase in sales tax from 8.25 to 9.25% voters approved in 2008, and rent control for all seniors, age 62 and above.
The two challengers veered on how the city is doing.
Garcia, calling himself “the voice of the people,” said he will focus on economic development, fixing of streets and public safety.
But Hernandez said he’s concerned about a lack of transparency and accountability in the city.
El Rancho Unified
The five candidates only have good things to say about new superintendent Marco A. Villegas, including Contreras, who earlier this year tried to force the board to reverse the decision in November 2021 not to renew the contract of then-Superintendent Frances Esparza, is among the supporters of Villegas.
Instead, all five candidates each are pushing different issues, but all say the district is on the right track.
