# San Marino City Council Compare records and positions simply between Tony Chou, Calvin Lo, John Dustin, or Shelley Boyle for San Marino City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of three seats up this cycle. The seats are on San Marino's City Council. The council has five members, elected to staggered four-year terms. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. The council selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor. The Mayor's term is one year. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. - Jurisdiction: City of San Marino - 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/san-marino-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 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Tony Chou** — Incumbent - **Calvin Lo** — Incumbent - **John Dustin** - **Shelley Boyle** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. San Marino elects three of its five City Council seats on November 3, 2026 -- and for once in this small, affluent city, it's a real contest: four candidates for three seats. Incumbents Tony Chou (Mayor) and Calvin Lo (Vice Mayor) are seeking reelection. The third seat opened when Councilmember Gretchen Shepherd Romey, who pulled nomination papers to run again, did not appear on the city's final Qualified Candidates list -- and first-time candidates Shelley Boyle and John Dustin are competing for it. Each winner serves a 4-year term on San Marino's 5-member City Council, which sets the city's budget, zoning and land-use rules, and municipal ordinances for one of LA County's smallest, most affluent cities. The council doesn't elect its mayor directly -- members rotate the largely ceremonial title among themselves each year -- and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. Two of the four candidates already sit on the council and are asking to continue; the other two have no council record and are running only for the seat an incumbent left open. With no campaign statement reachable for any of the four -- every one 404s on the city's own file server -- the practical choice comes down to how much weight you give continuity on the council versus a clean changeover. ## Tony Chou Tony Chou is San Marino's sitting Mayor -- a title the City Council rotates yearly among its own members -- and a councilmember first elected in 2022, now seeking another term. No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable. Chou's 2022 campaign committee remains listed active with the state but has filed no report for the 2025-26 cycle as of this dataset's retrieval. **Strengths:** Sitting Mayor and a councilmember since 2022 -- the most direct familiarity with the current council's business of any candidate but Lo. **Trade-offs:** No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, so there's little beyond their existing record to weigh against. **Keep in mind:** Their 2022 campaign committee is still listed active with the state but has filed no 2025-26 disclosure -- a small-race pattern, not necessarily a claim about their fundraising. ## Calvin Lo Calvin Lo is San Marino's sitting Vice Mayor and the longest-tenured of the four candidates, with a council campaign committee on file since 2017 and reelection bids since. No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable. Their 2017 campaign committee is likewise still listed active with the state but has filed no report for the current cycle. **Strengths:** The longest council tenure in the race, on file as a candidate since 2017 -- the deepest institutional continuity of the four. **Trade-offs:** No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, so there's little beyond their existing record to weigh against. **Keep in mind:** Their 2017 campaign committee is still listed active with the state but has filed no 2025-26 disclosure -- the same pattern as Chou's. ## John Dustin John Dustin is a first-time council candidate running for the seat sitting Councilmember Gretchen Shepherd Romey is leaving open. A 2016 San Marino Tribune report names a John Dustin sworn onto the city's Design Review Committee; this dataset could not independently confirm it's the same person. No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, and they have no campaign committee on file with the state. **Strengths:** Running for an open seat rather than against a sitting incumbent, and a 2016 report -- not independently confirmed as Dustin -- ties a John Dustin to the city's Design Review Committee. **Trade-offs:** No council record to evaluate, and no campaign committee on file with the state, unlike either incumbent in this race. **Keep in mind:** The Design Review Committee connection rests on a single 2016 local-news report and a name match in a small city; it is flagged, not confirmed, as the same person. ## Shelley Boyle Shelley Boyle is a first-time council candidate running for the same open seat as Dustin. A 2020 San Marino Tribune profile names her a sitting Planning Commissioner and a contractor consultant offering strategic planning, marketing, and PR services. No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, and she has no campaign committee on file with the state. **Strengths:** A 2020 profile places her on the Planning Commission and credits her with co-founding the city's Women's Business Club -- land-use and small-business experience relevant to the council's work. **Trade-offs:** No council record to evaluate, and no campaign committee on file with the state, unlike either incumbent in this race. **Keep in mind:** The Planning Commission and Women's Business Club roles are confirmed from a 2020 report, six years old; her current committee or board status was not reverified for this cycle. ## Sources 1. [City of San Marino — City Clerk, Elections page: confirms the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election is for three (3) City Council seats (terms staggered so three seats are up one cycle, two the next); links the city's own "Notice of Offices and Nominations" (nomination period July 13 - Aug. 7, 2026, extendable to Aug. 12 for non-incumbents) and "Notice of Last Day to Submit Arguments" for the concurrent Measure U parcel-tax renewal](https://sanmarinoca.gov/government/elections/index.php) 2. [City of San Marino — "2026 City Council Candidates" page: states the nomination period closed Aug. 7, 2026, and names the certified roster directly — "Qualified Candidates for the Election: Shelley Boyle, Tony Chou, John Dustin, Calvin Lo" — for the three open seats](https://sanmarinoca.gov/government/elections/2026_city_council_candidates.php) 3. [City of San Marino — Mayor & City Council page: names the sitting five-member council as Tony Chou (Mayor), Calvin Lo (Vice Mayor), Hunter Chang, John Chou, and Gretchen Shepherd Romey — used to confirm Chou's and Lo's incumbency and that Chang's and John Chou's seats are not up this cycle](https://sanmarinoca.gov/government/mayor___city_council_/index.php) 4. [California Secretary of State — CAL-ACCESS campaign-finance filer search, checked by candidate name 2026-08-31: no filer found for Shelley Boyle or John Dustin. Tony Chou: "Chou to San Marino City Council 2022; Committee to Elect Tony" (Filer 1455385), status ACTIVE, no Form 460/461/450 e-filed for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval. Calvin Lo: "Lo for City Council 2017; Committee to Elect Calvin" (Filer 1396253), status ACTIVE, same — no 2025-2026 cycle filing on record.](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx) 5. [San Marino Tribune (Outlook Newspapers) — "Local Businesswomen Find Strength in Numbers" (Oct. 17, 2020): names Shelley Boyle a member of the city's Planning Commission and a contractor consultant offering strategic planning, marketing, and PR services, who co-founded the city's Women's Business Club and worked with its Economic Development Team](https://www.outlooknewspapers.com/sanmarinotribune/news/local-businesswomen-find-strength-in-numbers/article_09b4f083-bee3-5713-a1d5-8f7fc6b49fbe.html) 6. [San Marino Tribune (Outlook Newspapers) — "San Marino DRC Members Sworn In, New Leadership Elected" (Aug. 18, 2016): names a John Dustin, a former alternate, sworn in as a member of the city's Design Review Committee. Same small city and name; not otherwise confirmed as the same person as the 2026 candidate.](https://www.outlooknewspapers.com/sanmarinotribune/archives/san-marino-drc-members-sworn-in-new-leadership-elected/article_345a17d1-3f94-5321-8cc6-79ff3c1a1926.html) 7. [San Marino Tribune (Outlook Newspapers) — "Gretchen Shepherd Romey Announces Candidacy for San Marino City Council" (June 15, 2017): independently places Calvin Lo among the declared candidates for the Nov. 2017 council election, corroborating his multi-term tenure ahead of this cycle's reelection bid](https://www.outlooknewspapers.com/sanmarinotribune/news/gretchen-shepherd-romey-announces-candidacy-for-san-marino-city-council/article_6bb1c614-4720-5202-be44-c86759471b6e.html) ## The rest of the ballot San Marino 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, "San Marino City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/san-marino-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.