Altadena Town Council Candidate Filing Closes Friday for Eight Seats

People who want to run for the Altadena Town Council have until 5 p.m. Friday to file for one of eight seats up for election this year, one in each of the community’s eight census tracts.

The council is an elected, nonpartisan advisory body for Altadena, an unincorporated community that lies outside all 88 of Los Angeles County’s incorporated cities. Its bylaws say its purposes are to convey residents’ needs and wishes to county, state and federal agencies and to provide a forum for discussing community issues. Members serve without pay.

The council meets on the third Tuesday of each month. Two representatives serve each tract, in two-year terms staggered so that one seat in every tract opens each year.

The council’s member roster lists one representative in each tract whose term expires in 2026: Connor Cipolla in Census Tract 4601, Nic Arnzen in 4602, Milissa Marona in 4603.01, Darlene Greene in 4603.02, Isis Moulden in 4610, ViEyvette Stewart-Gordon in 4611, Justin Mahramas in 4612 and Diane Marcussen in 4613.

“The larger the turnout, the more legitimacy the Council possesses in our dealings with LA County,” Sylvia Vega, who chairs the council’s Election Committee, said in the council’s Sept. 15 announcement of the election.

Under the council’s 2026 election rules, a candidate must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen and a registered voter in Los Angeles County, and must have been a permanent Altadena resident either for at least two years before taking office or for two years before the Eaton Fire.

The rules and the candidate application also include provisions for residents displaced by the fire. A candidate who was displaced by the fire and is temporarily living outside Altadena may list a pre-fire Altadena home address on the application.

The rules require a copy of a current California driver’s license or identification card to verify a candidate’s Altadena address. A displaced candidate whose identification no longer shows the Altadena address may instead submit a pre-fire utility bill, property tax bill, insurance document or voter registration record showing that address. The council’s candidate instructions say the address information is used only to verify eligibility.

Each application package must include a signed application, the address verification, a one-page statement of qualifications and the $40 nonrefundable fee. The rules say the application itself does not count as the statement, that late applications will not be accepted and that a candidate who fails to submit the statement by the deadline will be disqualified.

Statements will be made public, posted on the council’s website and included in candidate booklets at the polling places. Candidates may also submit an optional one-page alternate statement or flyer for the booklets by 5 p.m. Oct. 28.

Candidates may make presentations of up to three minutes at the council’s Oct. 20 meeting; appearing is encouraged but not required. The council is scheduled to approve the final slate of candidates by majority vote at that meeting.

Campaigns must be nonpartisan. A political party or club may recommend a candidate to its members, but candidates may not use a party endorsement or party identification in campaign materials. Campaigning is barred within 100 feet of a polling place on either voting day, and the rules prohibit negative campaigning, which is defined as personal attacks on an opponent or knowingly false statements about one.

Voting is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at the same three polling places both days: Loma Alta Park Library, Prime Pizza and Bob Lucas Library. Absentee and write-in ballots will not be accepted.

Voters must be at least 18 and permanent Altadena residents, and must show proof of their name and of residency in the census tract where they vote, such as a California driver’s license or identification card, checking account documentation or a utility bill. Each voter casts one vote, for a candidate in the voter’s own tract.

The Election Committee — Vega, Kim Yu, Pat Sutherlen, Jon Carmody and Yolanda Dorsey — will conduct the count, with each ballot box counted twice by different people. Written challenges must reach the committee before the council’s Dec. 1 Executive Committee meeting. The council is scheduled to consider certifying the results at its Dec. 15 meeting, when new members are to be sworn in.

How to apply

Deadline: The completed application package and the $40 fee must both be received by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16.

By email: Send the application and required documents to info@altadenatowncouncil.org, and pay the fee by Zelle to donations@altadenatowncouncil.org when the application is emailed. The Zelle recipient will display the name of the council’s current treasurer.

In person: Place the package, with the fee by check or money order payable to Altadena Town Council, in a sealed envelope marked “Sylvia Vega, ATC election” and deliver it to the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive. No cash.

Forms: The candidate information sheet, election rules, application, bylaws and ethical standards are posted at altadenatowncouncil.org.

Questions: Sylvia Vega, sylvia.vega@altadenatowncouncil.org or (626) 482-8787.

Polling places: Loma Alta Park Library, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave.; Prime Pizza, 1900 Allen Ave.; Bob Lucas Library, 2659 Lincoln Ave.

Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive, Altadena. For more call (626) 482-8787 or visit altadenatowncouncil.org. Application fee: $40.