The nomination period for the upcoming election opened up on July 13. For west county, that means that folks looking to run for a variety of boards — including school board, fire district boards 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 west county, the following seats are available. Unless otherwise noted, each seat is for a four-year term:
School district boards
- West Sonoma County Union High School District (two seats)
- Forestville Union School District (two seats)
- Guerneville School District (two seats)
- Gravenstein Union School District (three seats, one a two-year term)
- Harmony Union School District (two seats)
- Oak Grove Union School District (three seats, one a two-year term)
- Monte Rio Union School District (three seats, one a two-year term)
- Sebastopol Union School District (four seats, two are two-year terms)
- Twin Hills Union School Districts (two seats)
City council
- Sebastopol City Council (two seats)
Community services district
- Cazadero Community Services District (three seats)
Fire protection districts
- Bodega Bay Fire Protection District (two seats)
- Forestville Fire Protection District (three seats)
- Gold Ridge Fire Protection District (three seats)
- Graton Fire Protection District (three seats)
- Monte Rio Fire Protection District (two seats)
- Timber Cove Fire Protection District (two seats, one a two-year term)
Health care district
- Palm Drive Health Care District (three seats)
Those interested in running for any of the available seats must be a resident of the district they’re interested in.
Per county guidelines, 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.
