# Maywood City Council Compare records and positions simply between Maritza Cruz, Mayra Aguiluz, Aleyda Lemus, and 6 more for Maywood City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of three at-large seats up this cycle on Maywood's 5-member City Council. They vote on the city budget, zoning and land-use rules, and city ordinances. The term is four years. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly -- members choose one of their own to preside each year, and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. - Jurisdiction: City of Maywood - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 3 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/maywood-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: 88 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 - **Maritza Cruz** - **Mayra Aguiluz** — Incumbent - **Aleyda Lemus** - **Gabriela A. Bernal** - **Veronica Peral Bernabe** - **Edith Rodriguez** - **Eduardo Eddie De La Riva** — Incumbent - **Gustavo Villa** - **Thomas Ramon Martin** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Nine candidates are running for three of Maywood's five at-large City Council seats on November 3, 2026: incumbents Mayra Aguiluz and Eduardo "Eddie" De La Riva, each seeking another term, against seven challengers — Maritza Cruz, Aleyda Lemus, Gabriela A. Bernal, Veronica Peral Bernabe, Edith Rodriguez, Gustavo Villa, and Thomas Ramon Martin. It's a single-round, vote-for-three race with no primary and no runoff; the three highest vote-getters win outright. Whoever wins serves a 4-year term on a 5-member council that sets Maywood's budget, zoning and land-use rules, and city ordinances for a city of roughly 27,000 people in southeast LA County, one of the most densely populated small cities in the country. The council doesn't elect its own mayor directly — members choose one of their own to preside for a year, and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager, so the job is one vote among five, not an executive post. With three seats and no districts, this is a citywide referendum on the sitting council as a whole. Two of the three incumbents whose terms expire this cycle are seeking another term; the third, Mayor Heber Marquez, isn't on the ballot at all, so one seat changes hands no matter how anyone votes. Weigh whether you want both returning incumbents back, a mix with the open seat, or a clean break to the seven challengers. ## Maritza Cruz Maritza Cruz is a Maywood Planning Commissioner, appointed to Seat No. 5 by this same City Council in April 2026. Cruz is one of seven challengers running for one of three at-large council seats. Beyond that appointment, no campaign platform or public statement from Cruz has surfaced. **Strengths:** A sitting Planning Commission seat, confirmed by the council's own April 2026 vote, gives Cruz direct land-use experience most challengers in this race don't have. **Trade-offs:** Barely four months on an appointed advisory body is not an elected record, and no independent account of their views on the budget, policing, or services has surfaced. **Keep in mind:** Their Planning Commission seat came from this same council; voters weighing continuity versus change should note Cruz was picked by the body they now want to join as a member. ## Mayra Aguiluz Mayra Aguiluz is a Maywood native, licensed therapist, and homeless-services coordinator seeking another term on the council she's served since 2022. Raised by a single immigrant mother from Guatemala, she says that background shaped her focus on the city's most vulnerable residents. She chaired the council as its 2025 Mayor before her colleagues reassigned the title. **Strengths:** A licensed therapist with a master's in rehabilitation counseling, she's spent her career on homelessness and youth financial-aid work — expertise most colleagues don't bring to the dais. **Trade-offs:** Her term already shows the churn voters are being asked to judge: she was removed as the council's appointed Mayor in 2025 by her own colleagues, replaced by Heber Marquez. **Keep in mind:** That removal was a routine reassignment of the rotating Mayor title, not a documented scandal — but voters weighing her record should know the title changed hands mid-term. ## Aleyda Lemus Aleyda Lemus is a longtime Maywood resident challenging for one of three at-large council seats. Public records show Lemus at the same city address for more than two decades. No campaign website, prior office, or news coverage of their candidacy has surfaced; the city's own qualified-candidate list is the only documented account of their run. **Strengths:** Lemus has lived at the same Maywood address for more than two decades, per public records — a long personal stake in the city they're asking to represent. **Trade-offs:** No campaign platform, endorsement, or news coverage documents what they would do in office; voters have Lemus's residency and their name on the ballot, and little else. **Keep in mind:** If Lemus has a platform, it has not surfaced anywhere searchable as of this retrieval — contact the campaign directly for their positions before voting. ## Eduardo Eddie De La Riva Eduardo "Eddie" De La Riva is the longest-serving candidate in this race, first elected to the council in 2013 and now a program manager for formerly unhoused adults. A lifelong Maywood resident and UCLA graduate who started as a special-education teacher, he served as Mayor in 2015 and is seeking another term. **Strengths:** Thirteen years on the council, including a term as Mayor, is the deepest institutional record anyone in this race can claim — he has navigated a budget crisis and a recall attempt. **Trade-offs:** That same long tenure is the case against him for voters wanting change: he is part of the council majority whose management some challengers are running against. **Keep in mind:** He was among six officials served recall notices in Sept. 2016 over a marijuana-zoning dispute; he told the LA Times he was targeted for opposing the majority, not the zoning. It failed for lack of signatures by March 2017. ## Gabriela A. Bernal Gabriela A. Bernal is a repeat candidate for the Maywood City Council: they placed third of three for two open seats in 2020 with 16.7% of the vote. They're running an active 2026 Facebook campaign, "Gabriela Bernal para el Concejo Municipal 2026," soliciting contributions from residents. **Strengths:** A second run gives Bernal a track record voters can compare to 2020, and an active campaign presence — a paid Facebook page soliciting contributions — most challengers here lack. **Trade-offs:** They lost their only previous bid for this seat by a wide margin, and no news coverage or endorsement has weighed in on what's different this time. **Keep in mind:** Their 2020 platform is not preserved anywhere searchable; judge their current run on their 2026 campaign material, not an assumed repeat of an unknown platform. ## Veronica Peral Bernabe Veronica Peral Bernabe is one of nine candidates for three at-large council seats. The city's own qualified-candidate list carries their name and nothing else — no phone, email, campaign material, or news mention has surfaced anywhere searchable. **Strengths:** No campaign material, endorsement, or news coverage documents their background or platform as of this retrieval — a documented absence, not a judgment on their candidacy. **Trade-offs:** The same absence cuts against Bernabe: voters have no independent account of their experience or positions, only their name on the qualified-candidate list. **Keep in mind:** Judge Bernabe, if at all, on what surfaces before November — nothing public exists yet to evaluate their candidacy against, one way or the other. ## Edith Rodriguez Edith Rodriguez is a Maywood resident challenging for one of three at-large council seats. City meeting minutes show them attending and addressing the council in early 2026; no campaign platform, endorsement, or other public statement has otherwise surfaced. **Strengths:** Rodriguez has shown up and spoken at council meetings this year, per the city's own minutes — direct engagement with the body they're asking voters to let them join. **Trade-offs:** Attending meetings is not a platform: no policy position, endorsement, or campaign material documents what they would do differently in office. **Keep in mind:** Their public council appearances are documented; their positions on the budget, land use, or public safety are not — ask Rodriguez directly before voting. ## Gustavo Villa Gustavo Villa is a longtime Maywood civic figure — an early member of a 1998 water-rate protest group who later ran the city's Mutual Water Company. The state fined him $4,500 in 2014 over a 2012 cash-for-check scheme tied to a wider Southeast LA County influence investigation. He's now a candidate for one of three at-large seats. **Strengths:** Decades of hands-on civic history in Maywood — an early member of a 1998 water-rate protest and later general manager of the city's Mutual Water Company — outrun most of this field. **Trade-offs:** The state Fair Political Practices Commission fined him $4,500 in Jan. 2014 for a 2012 cash-for-check scheme tied to a Southeast LA County political committee and a wider influence probe. **Keep in mind:** News archives under this name and city describe one consistent person across 1998-2018 by age, occupation, and location; no coverage yet addresses the fine against this 2026 run. ## Thomas Ramon Martin Thomas Ramon Martin is a former Maywood councilman who was on the dais through the city's mid-2010s financial crisis, when the LA Times reported the council brought in an outside city manager with no prior municipal experience. Martin is now seeking a return to the council as one of three at-large candidates. **Strengths:** Prior council experience, including through a city financial crisis covered by the LA Times, gives Martin direct experience with the job voters are being asked to fill. **Trade-offs:** That record includes the crisis itself: as a sitting councilman they backed hiring the outside manager the LA Times reported the city needed, and they were a recall target over a zoning vote. **Keep in mind:** They were among six served recall notices in Sept. 2016 over marijuana-zoning; it failed for lack of signatures by March 2017. Martin shares that history with candidate Eddie De La Riva, on the dispute's other side. ## Review notes - Gabriela Adriana Bernal Garcia (Facebook) and Hilda Solis for Congress may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [City of Maywood — Notice of Election, November 3, 2026 (three City Council seats, full 4-year terms; nomination period July 13 - Aug. 7, 2026; signed by Deputy City Clerk Miguel Leon, published July 2, 2026)](https://www.cityofmaywood.com/DocumentCenter/View/3651) 2. [City of Maywood — Qualified Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (nine names, randomized-alphabet order as approved by the CA Secretary of State; no ballot designations)](https://www.cityofmaywood.com/DocumentCenter/View/3810) 3. [City of Maywood — 2026 General Municipal Election (elects three City Council Members for a four-year term)](https://www.cityofmaywood.com/519/2026-General-Municipal-Election) 4. [City of Maywood — Council Member Mayra Aguiluz (official bio: term expires November 2026; Maywood native, Cal State LA psychology B.A. 2016, rehabilitation-counseling M.S. 2021, licensed therapist and homeless-services coordinator)](https://www.cityofmaywood.com/413/Mayor-Pro-Tem-Mayra-Aguiluz) 5. [City of Maywood — Council Member Eddie De La Riva (official bio: term expires November 2026; lifelong Maywood resident, UCLA B.A., elected to the council in 2013, Mayor in 2015, now a program manager for formerly unhoused adults)](https://www.cityofmaywood.com/189/Council-Member-Eddie-De-La-Riva) 6. [City of Maywood — Mayor Heber Marquez (official bio: term expires November 2026; not on the qualified-candidate list for the seat he currently holds)](https://www.cityofmaywood.com/188/Mayor-Heber-Marquez) 7. [City of Maywood — Regular Meeting Minutes, April 22, 2026 (records the council's motion, moved by Council Member De La Riva and seconded by Mayor Marquez, appointing Maritza Cruz to Planning Commission Seat No. 5; lists Edith Rodriguez among that meeting's public commenters; and heads the roll with the sitting council: Mayor Heber Marquez, Mayor Pro Tem Jaime Flores, Council Members Mayra Aguiluz, Eddie De La Riva, and Frank Garcia)](https://www.cityofmaywood.com/DocumentCenter/View/3607/Meeting-Minutes-4222026) 8. [Los Angeles Times — 2020 Los Angeles County election: Live results (Maywood City Council, vote for two: Jessica Torres 3,748 votes/35.5%, Frank Garcia 2,017/19.1%, Carmen Perez 1,841/17.4%, Gabriela Bernal 1,030/16.7%, of 6,184 total votes cast)](https://www.latimes.com/projects/2020-los-angeles-county-election-live-results/) 9. [Los Angeles Times — State fines ex-Maywood water company head in money-laundering case (Gustavo Villa, general manager of Maywood Mutual Water Company No. 2, fined $4,500 by the FPPC for a 2012 cash-for-check exchange that sent money to a Southeast L.A. County political action committee)](https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-southeast-money-20140107-story.html) 10. [Los Angeles Times — In southeast L.A. County, the Chacons are political power players (names Gustavo Villa, who ran a small water company in Maywood, in the same 2012 cash-for-check episode the FPPC later fined him over)](https://www.latimes.com/la-me-chacon-family-20120226-m-story.html) 11. [Los Angeles Times — Maywood is saddled with financial problems. So it hired someone with no municipal experience to run the city (quotes sitting Councilman Thomas Martin calling the hire 'the right move')](https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-maywood-city-manager-20160620-snap-story.html) 12. [Ballotpedia — City council and official recall, Maywood, California (2017): recall notices served Sept. 14, 2016 on City Clerk Gerardo Mayagoitia, Mayor Ramon Medina, and Councilmen Eduardo De La Riva, Sergio Calderon, Thomas Martin, and Ricardo Villarreal; Medina/Calderon/Martin/Villarreal targeted over marijuana-dispensary zoning, Mayagoitia/De La Riva (per their own comments to the LA Times) for opposing the council majority; none recalled, insufficient signatures by the March 2017 deadline; cites the LA Times (2016-09-15) and LA Wave (2017-06-02) by name and date](https://ballotpedia.org/City_council_and_official_recall,_Maywood,_California_(2017)) 13. [Hilda Solis for Congress — Supporters page (lists 'Maywood Mayor Mayra Aguiluz,' 'Maywood City Councilmember Eddie De La Riva,' and 'Maywood City Councilmember Frank Garcia' among her endorsers)](https://www.hildasolis.com/supporters) 14. [Gabriela Adriana Bernal Garcia (Facebook) — 'Gabriela Bernal's campaign for Maywood City Council 2026' / 'Gabriela Bernal para el Concejo Municipal 2026,' a paid campaign page soliciting contributions](https://www.facebook.com/gabriela.bernal.5) ## The rest of the ballot Maywood 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, "Maywood City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/maywood-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.