Upcoming city council elections in Napa County’s five municipalities were set in stone this week, with deadlines passing as of Aug. 17.
Council elections in Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville and American Canyon will proceed on Nov. 8. Additionally, Calistoga, St. Helena and Yountville residents will be electing new mayors this year, with the long-time mayors of all three municipalities deciding not to run.
It’s possible an election could go forward in the city of Napa, but no one filed to run against incumbents Mary Luros and Liz Alessio in the Napa City Council race, so the Napa council is scheduled to decide on Tuesday whether to simply reappoint them.
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Up in Calistoga — which has roughly 5,000 residents — two current council members, Gary Kraus and Don Williams, will be facing off for the mayoral seat, which carries a two-year term. Mayor Chris Canning announced he wouldn’t be running in July, after serving a decade as mayor and two years as a City Council member.
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Kraus is a 23-year Calistoga resident and has been a member of the council for the past 16 years. He came to Calistoga from Yuba City to take the job of fire chief, and served in that role until being elected to the City Council in 2006, according to past reporting from The Weekly Calistogan.
Williams has been a Calistoga resident since 1974, and was first elected to the council in 2018. He previously owned and ran a hardwood flooring business in Calistoga, and also taught math at Napa Valley College for 20 years, according to The Weekly Calistogan.
The two Calistoga City Council seats currently held by the mayoral candidates are also up for grabs this year, and three candidates are running for them.
That includes Curtis Winslow, a technology services provider and owner of Winslow Technology Services and Studio who’s been a Calistoga resident since 2006. Scott Cooper, Calistoga resident of over 30 years and chair of the city’s planning commission — and member of the commission for nine years — is also running. And so is 30-year resident Kevin Eisenberg, a former principal and teacher in the Calistoga Joint Unified School District.
In St. Helena — which has roughly 4,500 residents — Councilmembers Paul Dohring and Eric Hall are vying for the two-year mayoral seat. Mayor Geoff Ellsworth, who has held the seat for four years, announced he wouldn’t be seeking a third term as mayor back in June, and subsequently he wouldn’t be running for a regular council seat either in August.
Dohring is an attorney with a Calistoga law practice; he was first elected to the City Council in 2014 and then reelected unopposed in 2018. Hall, who has a background in the private sector, was first elected to the council in 2020 as a political newcomer. Because Hall still has two years on his council term, he would remain on the council if he loses in the mayoral contest.
Three candidates are vying for the two available St. Helena City Council seats. That includes incumbent Anna Chouteau as well as challengers Billy Summers and Amy Beaudine.
Chouteau first joined the City Council in 2018. She works as an organization development consultant and ran for the 3rd District Napa County Board of Supervisors seat this year, but fell in the primary contest.
Three candidates are running for two American Canyon City Council seats on the Nov. 8 ballot — incumbents Mark Joseph and David Oro and challenger Jesse Corpus.
American Canyon is the second-most populous city in Napa County — the city of Napa is first — with more than 20,000 residents. It is a hot spot for housing growth and has busy Highway 29 as its thoroughfare.
Joseph was American Canyon city manager for almost 12 years before resigning in 2005. He has been on the City Council since 2010 and is seeking a fourth term.
Oro was appointed to the City Council in February 2017 to finish Belia Ramos’ term after Ramos became a Napa County supervisor. He was the first Filipino American on the council. He won election in 2018.
Corpus is a martial arts instructor and is a public defender investigator for Solano County. He has lived in American Canyon since 2007.
Yountville — which has a population of roughly 3,500 — has four candidates running for mayor of the Town Council. They include current Town Council member Majorie Mohler — who’s been on the council since 2008 — as well as Robert Moore, Pamela Reeves and Ken Clarke.
Current mayor John Dunbar, who’s served in that role since 2010, is running instead for the 3rd District Napa County Board of Supervisors seat in the Nov. 8 general election.
For the two Yountville Town Council seats, three candidates are running — Robin McKee-Cant, Scott Owens and Hillery Trippe. All would be newcomers to the council.
Register reporter Barry Eberling contributed to this story.
It’s the first day of school for Napa Valley Unified students, and McPherson elementary school kids are ready to go.
The Napa City Council voted 4-1 to approve the cactus-inspired public art sculpture “Circulation,” set to go near the city’s triad of downtown roundabouts, on Tuesday.
Jason Alexander, who was once married to Britney Spears for 55 hours, has been jailed in Napa County on warrant charges, according to the sheriff’s office.
Steers, swine, goats and lambs could all be had for a price at the Napa Junior Livestock Auction.
Construction is starting on a 588-bed student housing complex at Napa Valley College this month. It’s set to open in Fall 2024, and will provide affordable and below market-rate housing to students.
Twelve people at the Napa fair needed an assist from a ladder truck to get off a carnival ride that broke down Saturday night, according to Napa Fire.
A four-home subdivision has previously been approved for a 12.5-acre vacant parcel along Milliken Creek, but the owner of the parcel is now proposing a campground there to have the project pencil out.
Napa’s OLE Health plans to merge with the similar, Davis-based CommuniCare Health Centers, creating an entity to cover 71,000 patients in three counties.
The Calistoga Tribune, the only remaining newspaper that solely serves Calistoga, will cease publication, likely at the end of next month, according to a Thursday report from the Yountville Sun.
Meadwood Napa Valley showed the county plans to rebuild the resort sections damaged by the Glass Fire.
You can reach Edward Booth at 707-256-2213.
