# Fontana City Treasurer

Compare records and positions simply between Joe Armendarez or Kamal Namou for Fontana City Treasurer at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person oversees the city's cash and investments. They report on Fontana's financial position. This is a technical role, not a policymaking one. The term is four years. This is an open seat. Incumbent Treasurer Janet Koehler-Brooks did not file for re-election.

- Jurisdiction: City of Fontana
- 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/fontana-city-treasurer
- 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: October 7, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Joe Armendarez** — Businessowner / Financial Officer
- **Kamal Namou** — Deputy Public Defender

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

City Treasurer is an open seat this cycle: incumbent Janet Koehler-Brooks did not file for re-election. Two candidates are running to succeed her -- Joe Armendarez and Kamal Namou, who is running as part of the five-candidate Fontana United slate. Whichever candidate gets the most votes wins outright; there is no runoff.

Fontana's City Treasurer is directly elected citywide and oversees the city's cash and investments, reporting on its financial position -- a technical, non-policymaking role. The term is four years.

Neither candidate has held elected office before. Armendarez's filed ballot designation is "Businessowner / Financial Officer"; no independent profile or readable campaign site was found for Armendarez in this research pass. Namou, a Deputy Public Defender, is running with the outside-organized Fontana United slate. That slate also backs candidates for Mayor, City Council Districts 1 and 4, and City Clerk this cycle.

## Joe Armendarez

Joe Armendarez is a candidate for Fontana City Treasurer, filing under the ballot designation "Businessowner / Financial Officer." No independent information about their background or platform was found beyond their filed ballot designation.

**Strengths:** Armendarez's filed ballot designation, "Businessowner / Financial Officer," points toward relevant financial background, though it is self-described and not independently verified.

**Trade-offs:** No campaign site, news coverage, or independent profile was found beyond the filed ballot designation.

**Keep in mind:** A first-time candidate with no public record yet is not necessarily weaker -- only less documented; weigh the ballot designation on its own.

## Kamal Namou

Kamal Namou is a candidate for Fontana City Treasurer, running as part of the Fontana United slate and filing under the ballot designation "Deputy Public Defender." In Namou's Vote411 questionnaire they describe being a licensed attorney and a Deputy Public Defender for the County of Riverside. They cite more than two decades of financial management experience that they say built their analytical and auditing skills. They also describe grassroots organizing around local schools, volunteering with education programs, and sustainability efforts.

Namou's three stated priorities are restoring public trust through transparency; independent financial oversight as a taxpayer watchdog, not a "rubber stamp for special interests"; and protecting the city's long-term financial health so it can keep funding services, infrastructure, parks and libraries. Namou ties fiscal responsibility to progressive, pro-worker values.

**Strengths:** A licensed attorney who describes two decades of financial management, plus a platform centered on independent oversight of city funds.

**Trade-offs:** Namou ties the office to progressive, pro-worker values; voters who prefer a strictly administrative Treasurer would give that up. No independent reporting on Namou was found.

**Keep in mind:** Namou's financial-management experience is self-described and was not independently verified. The platform comes from Namou's answers and the slate's site.

## Review notes

- Fontana United -- coalition campaign site naming a coordinated 5-candidate slate across this cycle's Fontana races: Joz Sida (Mayor), Nubia Diaz (Council District 1), Ben Vasquez (Council District 4), Joe Alvanez (City Clerk), and Kamal Namou (City Treasurer); self-describes as "an inclusive alternative" to incumbent leadership with a shared platform opposing warehouse expansion, backing evening meeting times and language access, and supporting police accountability and opposing "federal immigration abuses" may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

## Sources

1. [San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- statewide "Report_CandidateList.pdf" candidate-filing report (the same document as sb-candidate-list-2026 above, a different section): within its "City of Fontana" section (pp. 133-142 of 249), five contests appear, each "Number to be elected: 1" -- Mayor (7 candidates on the ballot, 2 with a candidate statement filed), Member of the City Council District 1 (2), District 4 (3), City Clerk (3), and City Treasurer (2); Districts 2 and 3 do not appear anywhere in the Fontana section](https://uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov/ROV/Elections/2026/1103/Report_CandidateList.pdf)
2. [City of Fontana -- "Candidate List, November 3, 2026 Election" (public record, DocumentCenter #50272): alphabetical-by-office roster of all 17 qualified candidates with each candidate's own filed mailing address, phone, email, and campaign website where provided; matches the county's statewide filing report exactly](https://www.fontanaca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/50272/Candidate-List-November-3-2026-Election_Public-Record)
3. [City of Fontana -- "Notice of Nominees for Public Office," dated August 18, 2026 and published in the Fontana Herald Newspaper August 28, 2026 (signed by Chief Deputy City Clerk Christina Rudsell, City Elections Official): the certified, randomized ballot order for all five contests, matching the candidate roster exactly](https://www.fontanaca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/50270/Notice-of-Nominees-for-Public-Office---November-3-2026-Election-English-Spanish)
4. [City of Fontana -- "November 3, 2026 Municipal Election" page: lists Mayor, Council District 1, Council District 4, City Treasurer, and City Clerk as the offices on the ballot (noting Council Districts 2 and 3 next go before voters in 2028) and gives the July 13 - August 7, 2026 candidate-nomination period](https://www.fontanaca.gov/3476/November-3-2026-Municipal-Election)
5. [City of Fontana -- "District Elections" page: the by-district system was adopted in 2017, with the current 4-district map adopted April 12, 2022 after 2020 Census redistricting; states the staggered schedule directly -- Districts 1 and 4 elected November 2022 (up again 2026), Districts 2 and 3 elected November 2024 (up again 2028) -- while Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer remain elected at-large](https://www.fontanaca.gov/2760/District-Elections)
6. [Fontana United -- coalition campaign site naming a coordinated 5-candidate slate across this cycle's Fontana races: Joz Sida (Mayor), Nubia Diaz (Council District 1), Ben Vasquez (Council District 4), Joe Alvanez (City Clerk), and Kamal Namou (City Treasurer); self-describes as "an inclusive alternative" to incumbent leadership with a shared platform opposing warehouse expansion, backing evening meeting times and language access, and supporting police accountability and opposing "federal immigration abuses"](https://www.fontanaunited.com)
7. [City of Fontana's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (agency code FTA, netfile.com/public/FTA), linked directly from the city's own "Campaign Finance Disclosure Statements" page (fontanaca.gov/3515) as public.netfile.com/pub2/?aid=FTA; queried directly by name for all seventeen 2026 candidates via the portal's own name-search and transaction-search tools. Jackie Heredia, Sal Casillas, Mylinda Carrillo, Nicholas Ortega, and Lourdes Goñi Garcia (Mayor) and Daniel Quiroga (City Clerk) have no filer of any kind registered with this portal. Benjamin "Ben" Vasquez Jr. (Council District 4) and Nubia Diaz (Council District 1) have each filed only Form 410/501 committee-registration paperwork, with no Form 460 or itemized transaction on record for either. Incumbent Mayor Acquanetta Warren's committee filed a semi-annual Form 460 for January-June 2026 (amended August 19) and has since filed six Form 497 late-contribution reports; itemized transactions include $2,000 from the California Real Estate PAC, $2,000 from retiree Noel Dunn, and $1,000 from Fontana developer/owner Rima Tahan, against expenditures including $1,700 (twice) to web consultant Blake Burum, $1,061.37 (twice) in online-fundraising-platform fees to Anedot, and $510.56 (twice) in literature costs to Minuteman Press; her committee has also made its own contributions this cycle to other local candidates' committees, including $1,087.50 apiece to Joe Armendarez's City Treasurer committee and Germaine Key's City Clerk committee (both reported in late August/early September 2026), plus contributions to a water-district and a school-board candidate. Jocelyn "Joz" Sida's committee filed a semi-annual Form 460 for January-June 2026 (August 10) plus a late-contribution report; itemized contributions include $3,621 aggregated through the ActBlue online platform, $2,000 from Nathan Schanfein (a project engineer at a local magnetics manufacturer), and $100 from Dan Silver, executive director of the Endangered Habitats League. Phillip Cothran's committee filed a semi-annual Form 460 for January-June 2026 (July 15) and has since filed five late-contribution reports in August 2026 alone totaling $15,600 -- $5,900 from the San Bernardino County Professional Firefighters Local 935 PAC and $2,500-$2,600 each from four logistics/construction businesses (Lord Constructors Inc, Naksas Enterprise LLC, Optimum Logistics Inc, South Start Logistics Inc) and a retiree, Ralph Thrasher. Luz Perez's committee (active since August 2025, despite her own campaign website not rendering readable text in this pass) filed a semi-annual Form 460 for January-June 2026 (July 31); itemized contributions are almost entirely small-dollar, $50-$250 gifts from individual Inland Empire donors (a registered nurse, a teacher, a union organizer, several self-employed workers), plus a $2,500 contribution from a state Assembly candidate's own committee (Juan Carrillo for Assembly 2026) and $686.41 in ActBlue processing fees. John B. Roberts's committee (active since at least 2020) shows a January-June 2026 contribution of $500 from Southern California Edison and $1,500 from a local teacher, Joseph Montalvo II, alongside a recurring pattern of several-hundred-to-several-thousand-dollar sponsorships paid from the committee to local community organizations and events (the Miss Fontana Pageant, Cherish Ministry, Working Dogs for Warriors, the Rescue Task Force, Fontana Middle School) going back multiple cycles. Germaine Key's committee filed a semi-annual Form 460 for January-June 2026 (July 15) and received a $1,087.50 contribution from Mayor Warren's committee in late August 2026. Joe Alvanez has filed only a Form 501 candidate intention statement (July 15, 2026), with no committee or itemized financial activity on record. Kamal Namou's committee filed a Form 410 (July 13) and a Form 501 (May 18), and has since filed a Form 497LCR late-contribution report (August 5, 2026) confirming at least one contribution of $1,000 or more, though the specific amount was not available through the portal's transaction search as of this retrieval. Joe Armendarez has run for local office repeatedly and been well-funded in the past -- a 2024 City Council campaign (its committee since renamed "Joe Armendarez for City Council 2028") raised well over $60,000, including a $13,600 loan from Protect Our County PAC and five-figure spending with a Rancho Cucamonga print shop -- and a City Treasurer-specific committee, "Armendarez for City Treasurer 2026," is confirmed active (it received the $1,087.50 contribution from Mayor Warren's committee noted above), but this dataset could not locate that committee's own filing history or itemized contributions separately from his older, differently named committees in the time available for this pass.](https://netfile.com/public/FTA/campaign/transactions)
8. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Fontana City Treasurer' race (statewide All Races list): each candidate's self-submitted ballot designation and campaign contacts, plus answers to the League's questions -- If elected, what are your top 3 priorities?; What background, experience and/or education qualify you for this elected office? Answers on file from Kamal Namou. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/fontana-city-treasurer.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote)

## The rest of the ballot

Fontana City Treasurer 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, "Fontana City Treasurer — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/fontana-city-treasurer (sources last retrieved October 7, 2026).

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