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Hawaiian Gardens City Council

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City of Hawaiian Gardens

Hawaiian Gardens City Council

This person holds one of three at-large seats on Hawaiian Gardens' five-member City Council. Terms are four years and staggered. Members vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Each year, the council picks one of its own members as Mayor. It also picks another as Mayor Pro Tem. Neither title is separately elected.

Five candidates are running for three at-large seats on Hawaiian Gardens City Council. The incumbents are Dandy De Paula, Maria Teresa Del Rio, and Luis Roa. The challengers are Luis Gonzalez and Jesus Mendoza.

Council seats carry 4-year terms, staggered so either two or three seats are up each cycle — this year it's three, matching all three incumbents in the field. Winners join two sitting councilmembers not up this cycle, Victor Farfan and Ernie Vargas, to make five votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use; the council then selects one of its own to serve as Mayor and another as Mayor Pro Tem — titles that rotate annually rather than being separately elected — and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager.

All three incumbents up this cycle are running together, which makes this less a referendum on any single councilmember and more a choice about whether the current council's composition stays intact or one of two political newcomers, neither with prior Hawaiian Gardens officeholding experience, takes a seat instead.

Dandy De Paula

Dandy De Paula is the incumbent Councilmember, seeking another 4-year term. They were born in the Philippines and moved to the U.S. in 2000. They spent twelve years as Program Director of a Hawaiian Gardens preschool.

Maria Teresa Del Rio

Maria Teresa Del Rio is the incumbent Mayor, seeking another 4-year council term. They work as Project Manager of a program that helps people with substance abuse. They have lived in Hawaiian Gardens for 30 years.

Luis Roa

Luis Roa is the incumbent Mayor Pro Tem, seeking another 4-year term. They moved to Hawaiian Gardens as a toddler in the mid-1980s from Venustiano Carranza, Michoacán. They spent nearly 15 years as the city's Recreation Leader.

Luis Gonzalez

Luis Gonzalez is a challenger running for a seat on the City Council. Their ballot title is Accounting Technician. No campaign website was found, and they have never held office in Hawaiian Gardens.

Jesus Mendoza

Jesus Mendoza is a challenger who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in November 2024. Their ballot title is UPS Package Handler. The same email address links this filing to their 2024 run, per Ballotpedia.

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

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