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The Turlock Mayor and two Turlock City Council Members will be elected on November 2, 2010. The official nomination filing period according to law opened on July 12, 2010 and has been extended to August 11, 2010 after incumbent Kurt Spycher announced he was not running for reelection.
Vice Mayor Spycher announced on July 2nd that he has weighed the pros and cons of the commitment it takes to be a Council Member and opted to prioritize his time with his family and the Church over serving on the Turlock City Council again.
Councilman Ted Howze has closed his City Council campaign account but recently opened a Mayoral campaign account. Howze says it is exploratory at this time and has not officially (or otherwise) announced that he is running for Mayor.
Mayor John Lazar continues to have an open Mayoral campaign account but has not announced his bid for reelection.
When an incumbent does not file for reelection, the nomination period is extended to allow people who may have not run against a certain incumbent to then file once finding out an incumbent is not running for reelection.
To be nominated to run for Turlock City Council, a person must be a citizen of the United States, registered voter and resident of the City of Turlock, and 18 years of age or older. After meeting the candidate eligibility criteria, nomination papers must be pulled and filed with the Turlock City Clerk at Turlock City Hall. The nomination papers must be filed with at least signed by at least 20, but no more than 30, voters proposing a candidate. Voters may only sign to nominate one candidate during an election.
Pulling and filing nomination papers is free unless you want to submit a Candidates Statement to be included in the voter guide. There may be a deposit required upward of $750 if a candidate does submit a statement.
Formally announced candidacies have included Jeremy Rocha (2006 City Council Candidate and CSUS Political Science Graduate), Pat Noda (citizen upset with City’s prioritization of finances, a bus hub, and homeless shelter), Timm LaVelle (former TUSD School Board Member and small business owner), and most recently Forest White (retired former City of Turlock Recreation Manager in the 70’s and San Joaquin County Fair Manager up until 2008).
