Breaking News: Whittier Council Unanimously Supports Moving Elections to November, Debates Term Limits and Governance Reforms

WHITTIER — The Whittier City Council voted unanimously Monday night to move forward with exploring a transition from the city’s traditional April elections to November statewide general elections, while continuing debate over term limits, district expansion, and future election structures.

The discussion followed a packed public comment session in which multiple residents urged the council to pursue election reform measures intended to increase voter participation and reshape city governance.

Councilmember Aida Macedo proposed aligning Whittier elections with November statewide general elections, a position that ultimately received support from all councilmembers.

Several councilmembers, however, expressed differing views on how broader reforms should be structured.

Councilmember Aida Macedo initially proposed term limits of two terms for councilmembers and three terms for mayors. But Councilmembers Vicki Santana and Mary Ann Pacheco argued that shorter term limits could weaken institutional knowledge because newly elected officials often spend years learning city procedures, regional governance systems, and intergovernmental issues.

Both Santana and Pacheco instead supported a 12-year limit structure for councilmembers and mayors. Councilmember Cathy Warner said she personally opposed term limits but would support a 12-year structure if voters ultimately choose to adopt them.

Warner also introduced one of the evening’s most significant structural proposals: expanding Whittier from four council districts to five districts following the next census while rotating the mayoral position among councilmembers.

Pacheco strongly opposed adding a fifth district and also expressed reservations about moving elections to November, arguing statewide primary elections may better preserve attention on local races while still improving turnout. Santana similarly argued that Whittier’s founders intentionally placed city elections in April so local races would remain voters’ primary focus. She described statewide primary elections as a compromise between maintaining local visibility and increasing voter participation. During the discussion, City Attorney Keith Collins reminded councilmembers that any term-limit changes would ultimately require voter approval.

City Manager Conal McNamara also cautioned that municipal governance often requires years of experience, including participation in organizations such as the League of California Cities. McNamara said staff would return with additional comparisons and alternatives examining how other California cities structure elections, term limits, and governance systems.

The council also briefly discussed ranked choice voting. Pacheco voiced opposition to the system, saying she preferred traditional single-choice elections. However, in most jurisdictions that have adopted the practice, ranked choice voting does not involve a separate runoff election. Instead, voters rank candidates in order of preference on a single ballot. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, lower-performing candidates are eliminated and ballots are redistributed according to voters’ next-ranked choices during the counting process. The "runoff" would be on the same day and same ballot as the first choice votes. City Clerk Rigo Garcia said the city should be prepared in case California later mandates ranked choice voting or litigation compels cities to consider adopting the system.

Several public speakers also addressed election reform during the meeting, including Stephanie Vallejo, a leading organizer behind the Reform Whittier petition effort advocating for election alignment, term limits, and district expansion. Residents Paul Feinzimmer and Aemiah also urged the council to increase voter participation by aligning Whittier elections with statewide contests.

Whittier 360 News Network has reached out to members of the City Council, election officials, and public advocates involved in the discussion for additional comment regarding the competing election reform proposals. Separate follow-up coverage will be published as responses are received.

Update: 843 am May 13 2026

Responses After the Meeting

Following the meeting, Stephanie Vallejo, one of the leading organizers behind the Reform Whittier effort, told Whittier 360 News Network the group originally favored aligning city elections with statewide primary elections in part to reduce voter fatigue and lower election costs.

However, Vallejo said November general elections “make more sense” if the primary goal is maximizing voter turnout and participation.

Vallejo also expressed support for the emerging 12-year term-limit framework discussed by councilmembers.

“We believe that 12 years is a good amount of time to allow a person to learn the ropes and move their agenda forward,” Vallejo said, adding that term limits could help prevent “an incumbent in power for 20-plus years with a stagnant agenda.”

Meanwhile, District 2 Councilmember Vicki Santana clarified that although she discussed statewide primary elections during council deliberations, she ultimately voted in support of directing staff to prepare ballot language allowing voters to consider aligning Whittier elections with the November general election cycle.

“I believe aligning elections with larger statewide cycles increases voter participation and representation,” Santana told Whittier 360 News Network.

“I’m very pleased that Whittier voters will now have the opportunity to decide this issue themselves,” she added.

Whittier 360 also reached out to Mayor James Becerra, council members Cathy Warner, Aida Macedo, and Mary Ann Pacheco. We also reached out to the city clerk's office because they are the ones who administer the elections for Whittier. As of writing that we have not received any response from them but if we do we will update this article.