# Culver City City Council Compare records and positions simply between Franklin Carvajal, Freddy Puza, Thomas Aujero Small, and 2 more for Culver City City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of Culver City's five at-large City Council seats. They vote on the budget, land-use and zoning decisions, and city ordinances. The term is four years. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly -- members choose one of their own to serve as mayor and vice mayor each year, presiding over meetings but casting only one vote like every other member. Day-to-day operations run through a city manager the council appoints. - Jurisdiction: City of Culver City - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 2 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/culver-city-council - 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 14 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Franklin Carvajal** — Psychologist - **Freddy Puza** — Mayor/Education Director · Incumbent - **Thomas Aujero Small** — Urban Development Strategist - **Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin** — Small Business Owner - **Kimberley "Kim" Griffin** — Community Volunteer A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Two of Culver City's five at-large council seats are on the November 3 ballot. Incumbent Mayor Freddy Puza, elected in 2022, is seeking a second term; his fellow 2022 classmate, Councilmember Dan O'Brien, chose not to run again, leaving his seat open. Five candidates are competing for the two seats: Puza, former Mayor Thomas Aujero Small, small-business owner Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin, psychologist Franklin Carvajal, and retired law-enforcement officer Kimberley "Kim" Griffin. Whoever wins joins a five-member council. The council sets the budget, land-use and zoning decisions, and city ordinances. Culver City has roughly 40,000 residents and sits between LA's Westside and the South Bay. It is home to Sony Pictures Studios and Amazon Studios. The term is 4 years, expiring December 2030. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly. Each year, members choose one of their own as mayor and one as vice mayor. The roles rotate. The mayor presides over meetings but casts only one vote, like every other member. Day-to-day operations run through a city manager the council appoints. Because two seats are open, voters can back one candidate or two. The top two vote-getters win outright, with no runoff. The clearest divide in the race is continuity versus a reset. Puza and Small are cross-endorsing each other and defending the current council's direction. That includes its financing of the Jubilo Village affordable-housing project. Wisnosky Stehlin and Griffin are campaigning on financial oversight and doubt about that same spending. Carvajal is the field's outsider, not aligned with either bloc. ## Freddy Puza Freddy Puza is Culver City's current Mayor and a first-term councilmember, elected in 2022 and chosen by his colleagues as the city's first openly LGBTQ+ mayor. He's running for a second term on expanding housing affordability, advancing the Better Overland safe-streets project, and continuing the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Mobile Crisis Team. He led the council to its first balanced budget in three years, and at an August candidate forum defended the city's reserve loans to the Jubilo Village affordable-housing project. **Strengths:** He is the sitting Mayor, with incumbent experience. He is endorsed by Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Supervisor Holly Mitchell, and a state senator. He led a first balanced budget in three years. **Trade-offs:** He owns the current council's record. That includes the reserve loan and Section 8 vouchers that financed Jubilo Village. It was the forum's most contested vote among the five. **Keep in mind:** He defended that financing as a response to the state rescinding redevelopment housing money. He said "we never had invested in affordable housing in this way." Weigh that against Wisnosky Stehlin and Griffin's oversight critique. ## Thomas Aujero Small Thomas Aujero Small is a former Culver City Mayor and councilmember (2016-2020), now an architectural and urban-planning consultant, seeking a return to the seat he left in 2020. He's campaigning on his record championing renter protections, the Ballona Creek Bikeway extension, and downtown revitalization, and on six years of regional planning work since leaving office. His campaign launched with the endorsement of Mayor Puza and Vice Mayor Fish, the sitting council's current leadership. **Strengths:** He served a prior term as Mayor and councilmember, from 2016 to 2020. He adds six years of regional planning work. He is endorsed by Mayor Puza and Vice Mayor Fish, the sitting council's leadership. **Trade-offs:** This is a comeback bid after four years away from the dais. His own council record is now six years old. It covers renter protections, Measure RE, and the Ballona Creek Bikeway grant. **Keep in mind:** He took the forum's most guarded position on Jubilo Village. He called municipal bonding standard practice, while adding "I might not have voted for that." That stance reads as neither full defense nor real challenge. ## Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin is a small-business owner and nonprofit executive director who served as a Culver City Cultural Affairs Commissioner from 2016 to 2024. She's running on parks and neighborhood quality of life, affordability, homelessness, street and pedestrian safety, and what she calls fiscally responsible leadership that listens to residents. This is her second run for a council seat, and at the August candidate forum she challenged the council's use of reserves to fund Jubilo Village. **Strengths:** She served eight years as a Cultural Affairs Commissioner, from 2016 to 2024. She also served on CCUSD bond oversight. She is endorsed by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and State Treasurer Fiona Ma. **Trade-offs:** She holds no prior elected office. Her platform names broad priorities such as affordability, safety, and parks. It lacks the office-holding record Puza and Small can point to. **Keep in mind:** At the forum she argued the city was "borrowing towards our reserves." She pointed to a roughly $3 million industry-average municipal affordable-housing contribution against the city's much larger one. The city disputes that comparison. ## Franklin Carvajal Franklin Carvajal is a clinical psychologist and small-business owner who immigrated alone from Caracas, Venezuela at age 16 and later earned two PhDs. They're running on public safety, clean streets and parks, thoughtful development, and government transparency, under the banner of a city that is "safe, clean, quiet, beautiful, and accountable." They're the field's lowest-profile candidate: unlike the other four, Carvajal did not appear at the August 17 candidate forum Culver City Democrats United hosted for the race. **Strengths:** Carvajal is a clinical psychologist and small-business owner. They cite their own path, arriving alone from Venezuela at 16, as grounding their focus on practical, everyday city services. **Trade-offs:** Carvajal has no prior city commission or elected experience. They have the lowest public profile of the five. Carvajal did not appear at the August 17 CCDU candidate forum the other four attended. **Keep in mind:** Carvajal's platform of safety, clean streets, and transparency reads as broadly compatible with any of the other four. Without a forum appearance, there is less independent record of how they'd handle a specific vote like Jubilo Village. ## Kimberley "Kim" Griffin Kimberley "Kim" Griffin is a Culver City resident with more than two decades in local law enforcement, running as a community volunteer and public-safety professional. She's campaigning on connecting unhoused residents with services, affordable housing, small-business support, and infrastructure investment, plus what she calls stopping wasteful spending and making City Hall more transparent. She argued at the August forum that the Jubilo Village financing decision should have gone to voters. **Strengths:** She has more than two decades in local law enforcement. She is endorsed by Culver City Democrats United and the Heart of LA Democratic Club, after the club's candidate forum. **Trade-offs:** She has no prior elected or commission experience. Her ballot designation, "Community Volunteer," understates the public-safety career her campaign otherwise leads with. **Keep in mind:** She argued the Jubilo Village financing "should have gone to a ballot" for voter approval. That is the race's sharpest process critique. She has not proposed how the project would otherwise have been funded. ## Review notes - Franklin Carvajal for Culver City Council -- campaign site, Freddy Puza for Culver City Council -- campaign site (bio as the city's first openly LGBTQ+ Mayor, priorities, endorsements), Kimberley Griffin for Culver City Council -- campaign site, Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin for Culver City Council -- campaign site, and Thomas Small for Culver City -- campaign site may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [City of Culver City — Official List of Qualified Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (dated 2026-08-14; names in randomized-alphabet order per the CA Secretary of State's 2026-08-13 drawing; ballot designation, campaign address, campaign manager and/or treasurer, and qualification date for each candidate)](https://www.culvercity.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/documents/city-clerk/election-info/2026-nov-3-election/2026-08-14__official-list-of-qualified-candidates__final.pdf) 2. [City of Culver City — Upcoming Election Information (city-hosted, full first-person candidate statements for all 5 qualified City Council candidates)](https://www.culvercity.gov/City-Hall/Election-Information-Updated/Upcoming-Election-Information) 3. [City of Culver City — How to Run for City Council (states "Number of City Council Seats: Two" for the November 3, 2026 election, plus the filing period and nomination requirements)](https://www.culvercity.gov/City-Hall/Election-Information-Updated/How-to-Run-for-City-Council) 4. [City of Culver City — City Council (current member roster with term dates; Freddy Puza and Dan O'Brien both listed with a 1st Term of 12/12/2022-12/14/2026)](https://www.culvercity.gov/City-Hall/City-Council) 5. [Public Portal for Campaign Finance — Culver City (NetFile, Inc.): candidate/officeholder and committee search, current as of retrieval](https://netfile.com/public/CUL/campaign/search-entities) 6. [Culver City Crossroads — "Candidates Discuss Housing, Transportation Policies at Council Forum" by Clara Carvalho (the August 17, 2026 CCDU candidate forum: Puza, Small, Wisnosky Stehlin, and Griffin on the Jubilo Village affordable-housing financing question)](https://culvercitycrossroads.com/2026/08/20/candidates-discuss-housing-transportation-policies-at-council-forum/) 7. [Culver City Crossroads — "Small Announces Candidacy for City Council" (Thomas Aujero Small's council record 2016-2020, regional planning work since, and endorsements from Mayor Puza and Vice Mayor Fish)](https://culvercitycrossroads.com/2026/08/05/small-announces-candidacy-for-city-council/) 8. [Culver City Crossroads — "Wisnosky Stehlin Qualifies for City Council Race" (confirms 2 open seats and a field of 4 announced candidates as of 2026-08-05; her second run for office)](https://culvercitycrossroads.com/2026/08/05/wisnosky-stehlin-qualifies-for-city-council-race/) 9. [Culver City Crossroads — "CCDU Endorses Griffin in City Council Race" (Kimberley Griffin's law-enforcement background, June candidacy announcement, and endorsements from Culver City Democrats United and the Heart of LA Democratic Club)](https://culvercitycrossroads.com/2026/08/25/ccdu-endorses-griffin-in-city-council-race/) 10. [Freddy Puza for Culver City Council — campaign site (bio as the city's first openly LGBTQ+ Mayor, priorities, endorsements)](https://www.freddypuza.com) 11. [Thomas Small for Culver City — campaign site](https://www.smallforculvercity.com) 12. [Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin for Culver City Council — campaign site](https://jeannine4culvercity.com) 13. [Franklin Carvajal for Culver City Council — campaign site](https://www.carvajalforculvercity.com) 14. [Kimberley Griffin for Culver City Council — campaign site](https://www.griffin4culvercity.com) ## The rest of the ballot Culver City City Council 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, "Culver City City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/culver-city-council (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.