Sentinel staff report–
Unlike elections held prior to 2020, about two out of every five voters in Citrus Heights will not be able to vote in any of the races for City Council this year.
The reason for the change came as the city began transitioning to by-district voting beginning in 2020, with the final three at-large seats now to be replaced by voters only from their specific area of the city. Previously, all five council members were elected by all voters city-wide, whereas council members now must live in their own district in the city and be voted on only by residents of that district.
Seats up for election this year are District 2, in the northeastern area of the city; District 4, covering an area between Sunrise Boulevard and Interstate 80; and District 5, covering the southern portion of Citrus Heights to the east of San Juan Avenue. Residents in Districts 1 and 3 elected their first by-district representatives in 2020 and will again see City Council candidates for their district on the ballot in 2024.
Election 2022: Who’s running for Citrus Heights City Council?
In District 2, four candidates are vying for the seat this year: retired business executive Steve Durham, life coach MariJane Lopez-Taff, planning commissioner Michael Nishimura, and business owner James Tipton.
In District 4, three candidates are seeking the seat: former council member Albert Fox, former council member Jayna Karpinski-Costa, and Construction Board of Appeals member Manuel Israel Perez-Salazar.
In District 5, current Mayor Porsche Middleton is facing Taste of Tuscany business owner Natalee Price.
The city transitioned to by-district voting three years ago after receiving a lawsuit threat that alleged the city was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act. The act favors by-district voting as a way to ensure minorities concentrated in certain areas do not have their votes diluted through “at-large” voting. By-district elections also mean council candidates only need to receive about one-fifth the votes once required to win a council seat when elections were held at-large.
The city’s initial district map, selected in 2019, was required to be considered for having updated district boundaries following the 2020 Census. However, a demographer hired by the city said the existing lines were legally compliant, and the council opted to continue using the same map.
Each council district ranges in population from 17,075 to 18,106, fitting with the roughly 17,570 people needed to match the city’s total population of 87,850, as of the 2020 Census.
