# Fontana City Council, District 1

Compare records and positions simply between Phillip Cothran or Nubia Diaz for Fontana City Council, District 1 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Fontana's City Council. The council has five members, a directly elected Mayor and four district members. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day operations. The term is four years. Fontana elects its four districts in staggered pairs. Districts 1 and 4 are up this cycle. Districts 2 and 3 come up next in 2028.

- 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-council-1
- 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: 87 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Phillip Cothran** — Fontana Councilmember / Businessman · Incumbent
- **Nubia Diaz** — Businesswoman / Volunteer Coordinator

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

Incumbent Phillip Cothran, first elected in 2018, seeks a second term representing Fontana City Council District 1 against Nubia Diaz, who is running as part of the five-candidate Fontana United reform slate. Whichever candidate gets the most votes wins outright; there is no runoff.

This seat is one of Fontana's four district Council seats. The city also elects a Mayor directly. Together they make up the 5-member City Council. The council votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. An appointed City Manager runs day-to-day work under Fontana's council-manager government. The term is four years. Fontana's four districts elect in staggered pairs. Districts 1 and 4 are up this cycle. Districts 2 and 3 come next in 2028.

Cothran is a lifelong Fontana resident and a small-business owner. He is seeking a second term. Diaz is a first-time candidate. Diaz is running with the outside-organized Fontana United slate. The slate also backs candidates for Mayor, City Council District 4, City Clerk, and City Treasurer this cycle. They share a platform that opposes further warehouse development. It also calls for wider language access and police accountability.

## Phillip Cothran

Phillip Cothran is Fontana's incumbent District 1 Council Member, first elected in 2018. A lifelong Fontana resident, he began as a teenage volunteer with the Fontana Police Explorers, holds a bachelor's degree and an MBA from California Baptist University, and has run his own local business since 2015, per the city's own biography.

**Strengths:** Eight years on the council, plus deep local roots. He was a teenage police-explorer volunteer. He has run his own small business in the district since 2015.

**Trade-offs:** No independent reporting weighing his record was found. Money figures for this race could not be retrieved. See the note below.

**Keep in mind:** His campaign site highlights local development wins under the name "Fontana Fridays." It does not name specific votes or ordinances he wrote.

## Nubia Diaz

Nubia Diaz is a first-time candidate for Fontana City Council District 1, running as part of the Fontana United slate and filing under the ballot designation "Businesswoman / Volunteer Coordinator." In Diaz's Vote411 questionnaire they say they have lived in Fontana since 1995 and hold a political science bachelor's degree and a postgraduate certificate in leadership and management. They describe work as a congressional campaign manager, deputy field director and organizer, an internship in a state senator's district office, and a role as the elected leader of a local volunteer organization. They also say they are a California notary and offer tax preparation.

Diaz's stated priorities are safer neighborhoods and dependable city services, from streets, sidewalks and lighting to traffic and pedestrian safety and clean parks; growth that supports small businesses and good local jobs while looking beyond warehouse development; and a City Hall that is accessible and transparent year-round, with stronger support for veterans and military families.

**Strengths:** Campaign and organizing experience and a political science degree, by their own account, plus the Fontana United slate's shared platform.

**Trade-offs:** Diaz has not held elected office, so there is no voting record to weigh against the incumbent's eight years on the council.

**Keep in mind:** Diaz's degree, jobs and volunteer role come from their own questionnaire answers, and the platform from the slate's site. Neither is an independent review of Diaz.

## 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" and Phillip Cothran for Fontana City Council 2026 -- campaign site: "Building a better Fontana, for a better tomorrow," a "Fontana Fridays" series highlighting city developments, and a description of Fontana as a diverse, family-oriented city may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides 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. [City of Fontana -- Council Member Phillip W. Cothran's official bio page: District 1, first elected 2018, lifelong Fontana resident, former Fontana Police Explorer, MBA from California Baptist University, local small-business owner since 2015](https://www.fontanaca.gov/3190/Phillip-W-Cothran-Council-Member)
7. [Phillip Cothran for Fontana City Council 2026 -- campaign site: "Building a better Fontana, for a better tomorrow," a "Fontana Fridays" series highlighting city developments, and a description of Fontana as a diverse, family-oriented city](https://www.phillipcothran.com)
8. [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)
9. [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)
10. [League of Women Voters -- Vote411 voter guide, 'City of Fontana City Council Member, District 1' 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 Nubia Diaz. Capture in data/nov-2026/sources/vote411/fontana-council-1.json.](https://www.vote411.org/plan-your-vote)

## The rest of the ballot

Fontana City Council, District 1 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 Council, District 1 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/fontana-council-1 (sources last retrieved October 7, 2026).

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