# Montebello City Council, District 5 Compare records and positions simply between Ricardo "Ric" Alonzo or James Santana for Montebello City Council, District 5 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on Montebello's 5-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, land use, and the budget. - Jurisdiction: City of Montebello - 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/montebello-council-5 - 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: 92 out of 100 (Very strong), across 4 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Ricardo "Ric" Alonzo** — Engineer/Councilmember · Incumbent - **James Santana** — Caretaker/Business Owner A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Councilmember Ric Alonzo, appointed to the District 5 seat in January 2025, is running for their first election to the seat. Alonzo faces James Santana, a small-business owner and former chair of the city's Parks and Recreation Commission. Whoever wins takes office in December for a four-year term on Montebello's five-member City Council, which sets city ordinances, decides land-use and development matters, and adopts the annual budget — work shared with the other four district representatives and the city staff who run day-to-day operations. Like the District 4 race next door, this pits an appointed incumbent making their first appeal to voters against a first-time candidate with a different kind of city experience — an appointed council seat against service on an advisory commission. Both district priorities and citywide council powers are on the ballot here. ## Ricardo "Ric" Alonzo Ric Alonzo is the appointed District 5 councilmember, an engineer who was appointed to the seat in January 2025. They point to a police community resource center, refurbished park restrooms, a community garden, and repaved streets in South Montebello during their time in office, and say they will keep working on the same issues. They have not previously won a Montebello election. **Strengths:** About a year and a half of hands-on experience already in the seat, and a specific, itemized list of completed projects — a resource center, park repairs, a community garden — they point to. **Trade-offs:** Alonzo has never won a Montebello election; their only time in the seat has been by council appointment, so this is voters' first chance to weigh in on them directly. **Keep in mind:** Alonzo describes their approach as strictly procedural — reading every staff report, voting independently — a style claim, not a policy commitment; their project list is the more checkable part. They have filed only a candidate statement and a committee registration. ## James Santana James Santana is a small-business owner and homeowner in Montebello who chaired the city's Parks and Recreation Commission and founded a civic group, MontebelloUnited. They say they will hold monthly District 5 office hours, create a commission for seniors and caregivers, and weigh every contract and budget item against residents' interests. They have not previously held elected office in Montebello. **Strengths:** Direct civic experience chairing the Parks and Recreation Commission and founding a neighbors' group, plus more than 20 years of business and community involvement in District 5 specifically. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected office, and Santana's commission chairmanship, while real city experience, carries no vote on ordinances or the budget the way a council seat does. **Keep in mind:** Santana's statement commits to specific, checkable steps — monthly office hours, a seniors' commission — which gives voters a concrete promise to hold them to if elected. They have a NetFile campaign-finance filer record; its detail was not reviewed for this guide. ## Sources 1. [City of Montebello — Certified List of Qualified Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election (certified 2026-08-13)](https://www.montebelloca.gov/UserFiles/Servers/Server_58672/File/Departments/Administration/City%20Clerk's%20Office/Elections/2026/November%203,%202026%20-%20Certified%20List%20of%20Qualified%20Candidates..pdf) 2. [City of Montebello — Candidate statements filed for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election](https://www.montebelloca.gov/departments/administration/city_clerks_office/elections_voting_information/2026_general_election) 3. [City of Montebello — Elected Officials (current councilmembers, districts, and terms) and Mayors of Montebello](https://www.montebelloca.gov/government/elected_officials) 4. [City of Montebello — Public campaign-finance disclosure portal (NetFile)](https://netfile.com/public/BELLO/campaign) ## The rest of the ballot Montebello City Council, District 5 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, "Montebello City Council, District 5 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/montebello-council-5 (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.