City Council candidate filing period extended through Wednesday

Santa Clarita City Hall, as pictured on February, 26, 2020, is located on the 23900 block of Valencia Blvd. Dan Watson/The Signal
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Wednesday marks the official cutoff date for those interested in running for the two Santa Clarita City Council seats open for the November ballot. 

The seats up for election are currently held by Mayor Cameron Smyth and longtime Councilman Bob Kellar. While Smyth will run once again, Kellar has stated he will not run for re-election after serving on the council for more than 19 years, including four one-year terms as the mayor. 

Potential candidates had from July 13 through Aug. 7 to file but if an incumbent whose term expires in 2020 does not file during that period, the filing period is extended to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, according to the city’s website. 

City Clerk Mary Cusick confirmed Monday the deadline had been extended. 

A memorandum Cusick filed Friday read that seven candidates officially qualified for the election: Aakash Ahuja, a psychiatrist; Smyth, who joined the council in 2000 and served as the 38th District assemblyman in 2006; Selina Thomas, owner of 6 Degrees HR Consulting; Kelvin Driscoll, who previously ran for the 38th Assembly District, and returning candidates Doug Fraser, Jason Gibbs and Chris Werthe. 

While not listed as of Monday, Kenneth Dean and William Braun have filed statements of intent to run. 

Jonathan Ahmadi, who served as the senior congressional district representative for the 25th District under former Rep. Katie Hill, filed his intent to run in January but announced in March he was suspending his campaign to focus on starting a committee that would develop district maps to suggest to the city as it looked to transition to district-based elections. His statement of termination was filed on July 2 and he said in a previous interview he was “committed to the work to help engage people on the topic of redistricting.” 

Many of those who have qualified have made announcements on social media about their campaigns and official filings. 

The election is set to take place on Nov. 3. 

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