# Camarillo City Council, District 5

Compare records and positions simply between David P. Schlangen or Martha "Martita" Martinez-Bravo for Camarillo City Council, District 5 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of five district seats on Camarillo's City Council. They would vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. Camarillo is a Ventura County city of about 70,000 residents. An appointed City Manager, Greg Ramirez, runs day-to-day operations. The term is four years. A voter-approved rule, 2018's Measure E, limits members to three terms in a row. Camarillo has no separately elected Mayor. Instead, the Council picks one of its own members for the title. It is ceremonial and rotates among members. Whoever wins this seat could later be picked as Mayor by colleagues. That is a separate, later decision, not one voters make directly. Camarillo has elected its Council by district, not at-large, since 2019. Districts 1, 2, and 5 are up this cycle. Districts 3 and 4 are not up this cycle. Kevin Kildee holds District 3, and Tony Trembley holds District 4. Both were last elected in 2024.

- Jurisdiction: City of Camarillo
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/camarillo-council-5
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 1, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **David P. Schlangen** — Director, Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District
- **Martha "Martita" Martinez-Bravo** — Incumbent

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Vice Mayor Martita Martinez-Bravo, a clinical psychologist and nonprofit executive first elected in 2022 by a 21-vote margin, faces David Schlangen, a Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District director.

This person would hold one of five district seats on Camarillo's City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Camarillo is a Ventura County city of about 70,000 residents. It uses a council-manager form of government. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day work. Greg Ramirez holds that job as of this cycle. The term is four years. A limit of three terms in a row comes from 2018's voter-approved Measure E. Camarillo has no separately, directly elected Mayor. The Council picks one of its own members for the largely ceremonial title, on a rotating basis. Martinez-Bravo holds the Vice Mayor title now. Her colleagues appointed her in December 2025.

District 5 is one of three Camarillo districts up this cycle, with Districts 1 and 2. Districts 3 and 4 were last elected in 2024 and are not up. Martinez-Bravo's 2022 win was Camarillo's closest District 5 result on record. She won by 21 votes, with 30.7% in a multi-candidate field.

## Martha "Martita" Martinez-Bravo

The incumbent and current Vice Mayor, Executive Director of Friends of Fieldworkers, a farmworker-advocacy nonprofit. She holds a BA in Psychology & Social Behavior from UC Irvine and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles. A first-generation college graduate and mother of three, she first won this seat in 2022 by 21 votes and was appointed Vice Mayor in December 2025. Her honors include the Ronald E. McNair Research Scholar award, an Earth Charter Award, and the LA Rams pLAymaker Award. The Acorn reports her campaign emphasizes labor advocacy and social equity.

**Strengths:** A doctoral-level clinical background and nonprofit leadership relevant to social-service and equity-focused city policy. She also has recognized social-justice honors and current Vice Mayor service.

**Trade-offs:** Her first win was extremely close, at 21 votes. That is a track record, but a thinner initial mandate than some other incumbents here.

**Keep in mind:** She runs an advocacy nonprofit while serving on a Council that sets policy touching housing and labor. That overlap is disclosed, not hidden. No source found flagged it as a conflict. It is still worth knowing, given her nonprofit's mission.

## David P. Schlangen

His ballot designation reads "Director, Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District." Per the Acorn, he ran citywide for Camarillo City Council in 2006 (before the city's 2019 switch to district elections) and has separately sought a seat on the Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District board.

**Strengths:** Two decades of on-and-off engagement with Camarillo-area elected and appointed bodies. He also holds a currently active local special-district governance role.

**Trade-offs:** His park-district board service could not be confirmed beyond his own filed designation. The district's own board page listed only one director, its chair.

**Keep in mind:** His 2006 run predates Camarillo's 2019 shift to district elections. It was a citywide race rather than a District 5 race. That is a different electoral context, not a prior District 5 track record.

## Sources

1. [Ventura County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters -- "Contest/Candidate Proof List" (report CFMR001, dated Aug. 18, 2026, on-ballot contests only): confirms Camarillo's three November 2026 city contests -- City Council Districts 1, 2, and 5 -- and names each district's incumbent and full qualified candidate roster: District 1 (incumbent David M. Tennessen; challenger Vishnu K. Patel, "Registered Pharmacist"), District 2 (incumbent Susan Marie Santangelo, "City of Camarillo Councilmember/Nurse"; challengers Dan Gober, "Life Science Executive," and Sylvia C. Garcia, "Nonprofit Director"), and District 5 (incumbent Martha "Martita" Martinez-Bravo; challenger David P. Schlangen, "Director, Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District")](https://clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/cfmcfmr001_contcanddataproof_08-18-2026-on-ballot-alpha-order-applied.pdf)
2. [City of Camarillo -- City Clerk 'Elections' page: confirms City Council Districts 1, 2, and 5 are the three seats on the Nov. 3, 2026 municipal ballot, candidate eligibility requirements, the nomination-period timeline, and links to the city's district-lookup GIS tool and its campaign-disclosure portal](https://www.cityofcamarillo.org/departments/city_clerk/elections_.php)
3. [City of Camarillo -- 'City Council' department page: confirms the five-member, five-district council-manager structure; states 'The Council selects one of its members to serve as Mayor'; lists the current roster by district and that members serve 'four-year terms subject to Term Limits'; links to each councilmember's individual bio page and to the Term Limits ordinance PDF](https://www.cityofcamarillo.org/departments/city_council/index.php)
4. [City of Camarillo -- Measure E / Ordinance No. 1159, 'Term Limits' (Camarillo Municipal Code Section 2.08.050): caps City Council service at three consecutive terms (by election or appointment), applying only to terms of office commencing on or after Nov. 6, 2018; passed by voters at the Nov. 6, 2018 General Municipal Election](https://cms7files.revize.com/camarilloca/Departments/City%20Council/Term%20Limits%20Ord.%201159%20Measure%20E%20-%20Term%20Limits.pdf)
5. [The Camarillo Acorn -- 'Seven compete for city council' (Aug. 22, 2026): confirms all three incumbents (Tennessen, Santangelo, Martinez-Bravo) face opposition; gives District 1's 2022 result (Tennessen 2,727 votes/52.5%, Patel 1,425/27.5%) and Patel's occupation (pharmacy manager) and Camarillo Ranch Foundation board service; gives District 2's 2022 result for Santangelo (1,457/38%) and Garcia (458/12%, fourth place), and Gober's platform (homelessness, Old Town public safety, airport noise, business support, job creation) as a first-time candidate; gives District 5's 2022 result for Martinez-Bravo (won by 21 votes, 1,742/30.7%) and Schlangen's background (ran citywide for Council in 2006; sought a Pleasant Valley Recreation and Park District board seat; listed as a park-district director in his 2026 filing)](https://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/articles/seven-compete-for-city-council/)
6. [The Camarillo Acorn -- 'Filing period opening for City Council' (Jul. 11, 2026): confirms three of five Council seats (Districts 1, 2, and 5) are up this cycle; the filing period runs Jul. 13 - Aug. 7 (extended to Aug. 12 if an incumbent doesn't file); candidates need 20-30 signatures from registered district voters; describes each incumbent's early platform emphasis -- Tennessen on public safety and fiscal restraint, Santangelo on community health, environmental initiatives, and sustainability, and Martinez-Bravo on labor advocacy and social equity](https://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/articles/filing-period-opening-for-city-council/)
7. [The Camarillo Acorn -- 'Who actually runs Camarillo?' (Jul. 18, 2026), an opinion piece: states Camarillo operates under 'a council-manager form of government' meant to 'separate politics from administration'; the Council sets policy, approves budgets, and hires/fires the City Manager but is not the city's chief executive; City Manager Greg Ramirez 'manages the departments, executes the policies and oversees the day-to-day operations'; the mayoralty is 'simply a rotating position among the elected council members,' chosen by rotation rather than direct election, making it 'essentially a ceremonial role'](https://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/articles/who-actually-runs-camarillo/)
8. [City of Camarillo -- Vice Mayor Martita Martinez-Bravo's official bio page: Executive Director of Friends of Fieldworkers, a farmworker-advocacy nonprofit; holds a BA in Psychology & Social Behavior from UC Irvine and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, Los Angeles; a first-generation college graduate and mother of three; first elected to Council in 2022 and appointed Vice Mayor in December 2025; recipient of the Ronald E. McNair Research Scholar award, an Earth Charter Award, and the LA Rams pLAymaker Award](https://www.cityofcamarillo.org/departments/city_council/councilmember_martita_martinez-bravo.php)

## The rest of the ballot

Camarillo City Council, District 5 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Camarillo City Council, District 5 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/camarillo-council-5 (sources last retrieved September 1, 2026).

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