| | Published August 17th, 2022
| Lamorinda elections begin to take shape
| | | By Sora O'Doherty | | |
As the first period for candidates to file to run for office closed on Aug. 12, a number of incumbents in Lamorinda chose not to run again. This reopens the nomination period until Aug. 17 for non-incumbents to decide to run. Most local government bodies have staggered terms so that at no time is the entire body up for reelection.
In Orinda, three city council incumbents are at the end of their terms, but have decided not to run again: Amy Worth, first elected in 1998, and Dennis Fay and Nick Kosla, elected in 2018. Fay and Kosla both served one term. Worth has served six terms, totaling 24 years, and has served as mayor a historic five times. This is the second time in the history of Orinda when three sitting council members have decided not to run for reelection. The last time was in 1994 when Bill Dabel, Bobbie Landers, and Aldo Guidotti did not run and Sargent Littlehale, Allan Tabor, and Laura Abrams were elected.
Nomination papers have been issued by Orinda to a large field of candidates. When the Lamorinda Weekly went to print, the following candidates were pending: Brandyn Iverson, Mat Fogarty, Latika Malkani, Alex Drexel, Janet Riley, and Sunil Rajaraman.
There are also three incumbents on the Orinda Union School Board whose terms are ending at the end of 2022, Carol Brown, Jason Kaune, and Liz Daoust. All three incumbents on the OUSD Board have announced that they will not be running for reelection. At this time, four candidates have pulled nomination papers: Edda Marie Collins-Coleman, Eve Marie Phillips, Michelle Lin Chang, and Mary Kateri Shogan.
All three Lafayette City Council incumbents whose terms end in 2022, Susan Candell and Teresa Gerringer, and Wei-Tai Kwok, filed nomination papers by the Aug. 12 deadline. No other candidates had filed.
Seven candidates for the Lafayette School Board filed papers, including incumbents Rob Sturm and Dave Smith. The non-incumbent candidates at this time are Katy Foreman, Niels Larsen, Robb Mcsorley, Sarah Elizabeth Lind, and Stephen Phillip Bosse. Incumbent Jean Follmer did not file papers.
With three terms expiring on the Moraga Town Council, only Steve Woehleke had filed for reelection by the Aug. 12 deadline. The other two incumbents whose terms are expiring are Sona Makker, and Mike McCluer. The only non-incumbent candidate to have filed paperwork was Kerry Hillis.
On the Moraga School Board, there are also three incumbents whose terms expire at the end of the year, but only Larry Jacobs filed papers by the deadline. Incumbents Heather Davis and Jon Nickens did not, but three additional candidates did file: Martha A. White, Henry Simon Nicholas King, and Kristin Kraetsch.
Two of the three incumbents on the Acalanes Union High School Board filed papers: Nancy Kendzierski and Christopher Severson. Bob Hockett did not file, but an additional five candidates did: Jennifer Chen, Mark Woolway, Renee Nowac, Clayton Gardner and Gabriel Morris Ledeen.
Terms of three of the five Moraga-Orinda Fire District governing board incumbents expire at the end of 2022, but only two are running for reelection. In District 1, Gregory Allan Hasler and Christopher Gerard Young will contend for the seat of incumbent Gregory Baitx, who did not file for reelection. In District 3, Vincent James Dell Aquila will challenge incumbent Steven Michael Danziger, and in District 4 Michael James Roemer will challenge incumbent Michael Dean Donner.
On the federal and state levels, US Representative Democrat Mark DeSaulnier faces a challenge from Michael Ernest Kerr of the Green Party, and State Assembly member Democrat Rebecca Bauer-Kahan faces a challenge from Republican Joseph A Rubay.
At the time of publication, not all of the candidates who pulled nomination papers had yet qualified to be on the ballot. |
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA