Skip to main content

Hermosa Beach City Council

This is a sample · See your full ballot

✕

City of Hermosa Beach

Hermosa Beach City Council

This person holds one of Hermosa Beach's five at-large City Council seats. They vote on the city budget, zoning and development rules, and public safety priorities. Hermosa Beach is a small, dense beach city anchored by its pier. The term is four years. The council does not elect its mayor directly. Each year, members choose one of their own as mayor and mayor pro tem. Each rotation lasts roughly 9.6 months. That person leads meetings but has only one vote, like every other member.

Six candidates are running for three of Hermosa Beach's five council seats. Incumbents Dean Francois, Ray Jackson, and mayor Rob Saemann each seek another term. The challengers are Maggie Bove-LaMonica, Eric Horne, and Elka Worner.

Hermosa Beach's council is five members, all elected citywide rather than by district, on staggered 4-year terms; the other two seats -- held by Mayor Mike Detoy and Mayor Pro Tem Michael Keegan -- aren't up this cycle. The council chooses one of its own to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem each year, in roughly 9.6-month rotations, so voters elect a councilmember, not a mayor directly. Whoever wins holds the seat for four years, setting the city budget, zoning and development rules, and public-safety priorities for a small, dense beach city built around its pier and Pier Avenue business district.

All three incumbents up this cycle are seeking reelection, so this reads as continuity-versus-change rather than an open-seat race: Francois is running on fiscal transparency and traffic safety, Jackson on making city government more efficient, and Saemann -- the sitting mayor -- on budget discipline and infrastructure, including the pier. Each challenger is running a distinct case: Bove-LaMonica brings school-board budget and bond experience, Horne brings outside oversight experience and a critique of how the council passed a recent budget, and Worner brings a public-safety and homelessness platform built on a 2024 run. With three seats and six names on the ballot, this is a plurality race decided in one round -- weigh whether you want continuity across all three incumbents, a mix, or a clean sweep of challengers.

Dean Francois

Dean Francois won his council seat in 2022 and served as mayor in 2025. He is running on fiscal transparency, traffic safety, and less red tape for businesses. He is a longtime volunteer with the Red Cross and the Sierra Club.

Ray Jackson

Ray Jackson won their council seat in a May 2021 special election. They want city government to be more efficient and responsive. They are a retired Army colonel and served as mayor in 2023.

Rob Saemann

Rob Saemann is Hermosa Beach's 2026 mayor, seeking a second council term. He is running on budget discipline and infrastructure, including the pier. He has pledged to give his council salary to local civic projects.

Maggie Bove-LaMonica

Maggie Bove-LaMonica is in their third term on the Hermosa Beach City School District board. They want long-term planning for city infrastructure and a budget fix before a crisis. They helped pass two school bonds worth more than $87 million.

Eric Horne

Eric Horne grew up in Hermosa Beach and works at Megafire Action, a wildfire nonprofit. They are running on public safety, fiscal responsibility, and better local government. They say the council passed a $55 million budget in 55 minutes.

Elka Worner

Elka Worner is a Hermosa Beach parks commissioner and a former TV news producer. She is running on public safety, homelessness, and responsible development. She ran for council in 2024 and lost.

Your picks · choose up to 3

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

This is one race on your ballot. Vote or Else shows every contest you will vote on — Congress, the Legislature, your county, city, and school board — each broken down the same way. Enter your address to see your full ballot.