# Costa Mesa City Council, District 4 Compare records and positions simply between Fisher Derderian or Angely Andrade Vallarta for Costa Mesa City Council, District 4 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Costa Mesa's 6-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. The term is four years, capped at two consecutive terms. - Jurisdiction: City of Costa Mesa - 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/costa-mesa-council-4 - 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: August 31, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 80 out of 100 (Strong), across 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Fisher Derderian** - **Angely Andrade Vallarta** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Angely Andrade Vallarta and Fisher Derderian are running for Costa Mesa City Council District 4's open seat. The incumbent, Mayor Pro Tem Manuel Chavez, is term-limited and can't run again. Whichever candidate gets the most votes on November 3 wins outright. There's no runoff. This person holds District 4's seat on Costa Mesa's 6-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, alongside the citywide-elected mayor. The term is four years, capped at two consecutive terms. Both candidates already sit on city commissions -- Andrade Vallarta on Planning, Derderian on Arts -- and both campaign on neighborhood safety and quality of life, with Andrade Vallarta's platform leaning more toward housing and infrastructure and Derderian's toward fiscal accountability and city-hall responsiveness. ## Angely Andrade Vallarta Andrade Vallarta is Director of Corporate Engagement at Orange County United Way. They also sit on the city's Planning Commission. Their background includes public-policy and government-finance work. That work includes time with the Hawaii State Senate. They are a working mother and a PTA member, and they're bilingual. "You deserve a city that feels safe, affordable, and well-run," they say. Their platform centers on affordable housing for families and seniors, public safety, and walkable neighborhoods. It also covers youth and community spaces, parks and green space, and fiscal responsibility. They say they have supported planning decisions for affordable senior housing. They say the same of homeownership programs and expanded parks in the city. **Strengths:** A Planning Commission seat gives them direct, current exposure to land use and housing. Those are the decisions Andrade Vallarta is campaigning on. **Trade-offs:** They have no prior elected office. Their day job is at a nonprofit focused on education, housing, and job access. That overlaps with several of their priorities. **Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was found for their campaign. See Financial info. ## Fisher Derderian He founded Dux Culturae, a consulting firm. He is President of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation. He serves on the city's Arts Commission and was previously its Vice Chair. He helped establish Costa Mesa's Poet Laureate Program. He is a longtime resident raising five children with his wife, Maxine, in District 4. His platform centers on neighborhood safety, smart and livable growth, and quality of life for families and renters. "The measure of leadership isn't how bold an idea sounds," he says. What matters is "whether it results in safer streets, better public spaces." He also wants "a city that works more reliably for the people who live here." He says he ran in part because "District 4 often feels overlooked." **Strengths:** An Arts Commission tenure with a checkable accomplishment. He helped establish the city's Poet Laureate Program. He also has nonprofit-fundraising and institutional-management experience. **Trade-offs:** He has no prior elected office. His professional background is cultural nonprofit management. That is less tied to budgeting or land use than his opponent's Planning Commission seat. **Keep in mind:** No CAL-ACCESS record was found for his campaign. See Financial info. ## Review notes - Angely Andrade Vallarta's own campaign site ("Angely Andrade Vallarta for Costa Mesa City Council- District 4"): her own framing of her candidacy, Planning Commission role, and platform and Fisher Derderian's own campaign site ("Fisher Derderian for Costa Mesa City Council District 4"): his own framing of his candidacy, Arts Commission role, and platform may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [OC Registrar of Voters — Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 (169 contests, 430 candidates filed)](https://ocvote.gov/fileadmin/user_upload/data/candlog/GEN2026/candlog.pdf) 2. [City of Costa Mesa — Mayor & City Council page: term limits (Mayor, 2-year terms, 2-term cap; Council, 4-year terms, 2-term cap) and the sitting roster (Mayor John Stephens; Council Members Mike Buley D1, Loren Gameros D2, Andrea Marr D3, Manuel Chavez D4/Mayor Pro Tem, Arlis Reynolds D5, Jeff Pettis D6)](https://www.costamesaca.gov/government/mayor-city-council) 3. [LA Times/Daily Pilot — "Costa Mesa Council race will see 8 candidates square off for 4 open seats, including mayor": confirms 4 council members terming out in December and 8 total candidates across the 4 open seats, all already serving in city civic roles; retrieved as search-engine snippets, latimes.com itself is not directly fetchable in this pass](https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2026-08-14/costa-mesa-city-council-race-will-see-8-square-off-for-4-open-seats) 4. [Angely Andrade Vallarta's own campaign site ("Angely Andrade Vallarta for Costa Mesa City Council- District 4"): her own framing of her candidacy, Planning Commission role, and platform](https://www.angely4costamesa.com) 5. [Fisher Derderian's own campaign site ("Fisher Derderian for Costa Mesa City Council District 4"): his own framing of his candidacy, Arts Commission role, and platform](https://www.fisher4costamesa.com/about) ## The rest of the ballot Costa Mesa City Council, District 4 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, "Costa Mesa City Council, District 4 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/costa-mesa-council-4 (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.