Rialto decided on Tuesday to hold interviews to decide who will fill Joe Baca Sr.’s city council seat. Baca was sworn in as the city’s new mayor at last night's meeting.
Baca Sr. was elected to the council in 2022, with his term set to run through 2026. State law gives Rialto two options: appoint someone to serve the rest of the term or hold a special election.
Community members petitioned the city to appoint the next highest vote-getter from the recent council election to the vacant seat. Under this scenario, Ana Gonzalez, who finished third behind Andy Carrizales and Karla Perez, would have been the person to take the seat.
But the council voted to support Councilman Ed Scott’s recommendation of conducting interviews for interested candidates instead. The council is expected to come back with a decision on who to appoint to the empty seat by next month.
Baca Sr., the sole dissenting vote, said he supported the community’s recommendation of appointing Gonzalez. Scott replied to Baca by sharing he believed Gonzalez was a strong candidate too, but wanted to make the process fair.
“So all I'm saying is to make it a clear, transparent process that we go through interviews and anybody that wants to apply, like we've done in the past, we allow them to do so,” said Councilman Ed Scott.
Most public speakers during the meeting disagreed with the city’s existing process and pushed for the next highest vote-getter approach.
“The proposal of this appointment comes off as shady because it lacks transparency and it is incredibly undemocratic,” said Ulises Mora.
Meanwhile, Gonzalez told KVCR before Wednesday’s meeting that, if appointed to the position, she would pursue available funding to improve Rialto’s infrastructure and improve support services.
Regardless of what happens, Gonzalez says she’s already looking ahead to 2026.
“One of the things that I've committed to the community, to give them a peace of mind, is that I will not give up,” said Gonzalez. “I will be running again.”
By law, the city has 60 days to fill the vacancy. If they don’t, they’ll need to schedule a special election.
