The nomination period for the upcoming election opened up earlier this week on July 13. For Windsor, that means that folks looking to run for a variety of boards — including school board and city council — are able to throw their hat into the ring to be placed on the Nov. 3 ballot. The nomination period is open until Friday, Aug. 7.
In the Windsor area, the following entities have seats up for election (unless otherwise noted, each term is four years):
- Windsor Town Council, Mayor (two-year term)
- Windsor Town Council, District 3 (to see where District 3 is located, click here for a map)
- Windsor Unified School District (two seats)
- North Sonoma County Health Care District (three seats)
- Mark West Union School District (two seats)
- Sonoma County Fire District (four seats)
The Windsor Town Council election is going to be a bit different this year, since it’s the first year the town will be switching to a district election process. As such, neither available seat has incumbents. Debora Fudge and Bruce Okrepkie have council terms that expire this year.
George Valenzuela and Bill Adams currently hold the school board seats that are up for election.
The health care district seats that are currently held by Erin Gore, James Nantell and David Anderson are up for election.
For the Mark West Union School District, the seats held by Victor McKnight and Priscilla Jaworski-Quintanilla are up for election.
On the Sonoma County Fire District board, John Hamann, John Nelson, Arnie Tognozzi and Frank Treanor have terms set to expire this year.
To be eligible to run for town council or mayor, candidates must be at least 18 years old, a citizen of the United States and a resident of California, must be a registered voter and a resident within the town of Windsor. Candidates for the District 3 seat must also reside in the district that they plan to run for. The mayor’s office is an at-large position.
Official nomination petitions can be picked up at the office of the town clerk, located at 9291 Old Redwood Highway, Building 400. Paperwork can be picked up by appointment only, since the offices are closed to the public due to COVID-19. To find out more about running, click here.
As of press time, no candidates were listed as having turned in paperwork to run for town council.
Candidates for school board must be 18 years of age or older; be a registered voter; be a resident of the school district or trustee area; not be disqualified by the Constitution or state laws from holding office; and not have been convicted of a felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes, or for being an official interested in contracts, or becoming a vendor or purchaser at sales, or purchasing scrip of other evidences of indebtedness, in which the official has financial interest.
All candidates for local, non-city council seats can obtain and file nomination papers with the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters, located at 435 Fiscal Drive in Santa Rosa. Due to COVID-19, in-person operation hours of the office are reduced, so the county recommends that those interested in becoming a candidate call 707-565-6800 or email
ro***********@so***********.org
to schedule an appointment. Additional information from the county about elections can be found here.
Many local municipalities, including the County of Sonoma, are currently working on deciding what measures to put on the November ballot. The ballot measures will be finalized Aug. 7.
