# Santa Fe Springs City Council Compare records and positions simply between Johnny Hernandez, Julian Jackson, and 4 more for Santa Fe Springs City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of three seats up this cycle. Santa Fe Springs' City Council has five members. Seats are elected at-large to four-year terms, with no term limit. They vote on the city budget, zoning rules, and other city laws. The council picks one of its own members to serve as Mayor each year. An appointed city manager runs daily operations. - Jurisdiction: City of Santa Fe Springs - 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/santa-fe-springs-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: 78 out of 100 (Mixed), across 11 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Johnny Hernandez** — Retiree - **Julian Jackson** — MPA - **Annette Rodriguez** — Incumbent - **Bill Rounds** — Incumbent - **Odalys Valladares** — Business Owner - **Juanita Martin** — Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Santa Fe Springs elects three of its five City Council seats at-large on November 3, 2026, and six candidates qualified for them: incumbents Juanita Martin, Annette Rodriguez, and Bill Rounds are each seeking reelection, challenged by first-time candidates Johnny Hernandez, Julian Jackson, and Odalys Valladares. Each winner serves a 4-year term on Santa Fe Springs' 5-member City Council, with no limit on how many terms a member may serve. They vote on the city budget, zoning and land-use rules, and municipal ordinances -- including this year's council vote to stand up the city's own police department by 2028. The council rotates the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem titles among its own members each year rather than electing them directly, and day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager. All three incumbents have active, continuously fundraising 2026 campaign committees; none of the three challengers has formed one, and only Valladares has a reachable platform statement. The choice comes down to how much weight you put on continuity from three sitting members against a fresher field with far less campaign infrastructure behind it. ## Johnny Hernandez Johnny Hernandez is a first-time City Council candidate carrying the ballot designation "Retiree." No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable. They have no 2026 campaign committee on file with the city -- only the state-required candidate-intention and economic-interests forms. **Strengths:** A first-time candidate with no committee to weigh, and a self-described 65-year residency that would make Hernandez one of the longest-tenured residents among the six candidates. **Trade-offs:** No council record, no campaign platform statement for this cycle, and no fundraising activity to compare against the sitting incumbents. **Keep in mind:** Hernandez's Instagram account states they have lived in Santa Fe Springs for 65 years -- a claim from their own campaign that this dataset could not independently verify against a public record. ## Julian Jackson Julian Jackson is a first-time City Council candidate carrying the ballot designation "MPA." No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable. They have no 2026 campaign committee on file with the city -- only the state-required candidate-intention form. **Strengths:** A first-time candidate holding a Master of Public Administration designation, running on their own account as a lifelong Santa Fe Springs resident. **Trade-offs:** No council record, no campaign platform statement for this cycle, and no committee on file to compare against the sitting incumbents. **Keep in mind:** Jackson's Instagram account describes them as a lifelong Santa Fe Springs resident -- a claim from their own campaign that this dataset could not independently verify against a public record. ## Juanita Martin Juanita Martin is a sitting City Council member seeking reelection, carrying the ballot designation "Incumbent." No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable. Martin's reelection committee has been itemizing contributions from PACs and out-of-area LLCs throughout the cycle. **Strengths:** A sitting councilmember with a continuously active reelection committee that has drawn thousands of dollars from waste-management and legal-industry PACs and LLCs this cycle. **Trade-offs:** No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, and several of Martin's largest donors also gave to a fellow incumbent this cycle. **Keep in mind:** A California Waste Recycling Association PAC gave $2,000 to both Martin's committee and Rounds', and several of the same LLCs gave $5,000 to each -- a shared donor pattern, not evidence of coordination. ## Annette Rodriguez Annette Rodriguez is Santa Fe Springs' sitting Mayor Pro Tem and City Council member seeking reelection, carrying the ballot designation "Incumbent." No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable. Rodriguez's reelection committee, active since 2018, filed its mid-year finance report on schedule this cycle. **Strengths:** A sitting councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem with a campaign committee active since 2018, and a mid-year finance report filed on schedule this cycle. **Trade-offs:** No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, and this dataset could not pull Rodriguez's committee's itemized dollar totals from the filed report. **Keep in mind:** Rodriguez's committee filed its mid-year Form 460 on schedule (July 30, 2026), but this dataset did not extract that filing's itemized totals from the PDF -- an acknowledged reachability gap, not a claim about their fundraising. ## Bill Rounds Bill Rounds -- named "William" on the certified candidate list, and "William K. Rounds" on the city's own Notice of Election -- is a sitting City Council member seeking reelection, carrying the ballot designation "Incumbent." No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable. Rounds's reelection committee has been itemizing contributions from PACs and out-of-area LLCs throughout the cycle. **Strengths:** A sitting councilmember with an active reelection committee funded by the same PACs and LLCs backing Martin, plus a $5,900 late gift from a Newport Beach surgeon. **Trade-offs:** No campaign platform statement for this cycle was reachable, and several of Rounds's largest donors also gave to a fellow incumbent this cycle. **Keep in mind:** The same California Waste Recycling Association PAC gave $2,000 to both Rounds's committee and Martin's, and several of the same LLCs gave $5,000 to each -- a shared donor pattern, not evidence of coordination. ## Odalys Valladares Odalys Valladares is a first-time City Council candidate carrying the ballot designation "Business Owner" -- they run a Farmers Insurance agency in Whittier and is President of the Metropolitan Little League board. Valladares's own campaign site says "real progress requires leadership that shows up, listens, and puts the people of this community first." Their committee, new for this cycle, is funded mostly by a personal loan and two late contributions. **Strengths:** A local small-business owner and Farmers Insurance agent who also leads the Metropolitan Little League board -- the only challenger with a reachable campaign platform statement. **Trade-offs:** No council record to weigh, and Valladares's campaign is funded mostly by a personal loan rather than outside contributions raised so far this cycle. **Keep in mind:** Valladares's committee formed for this cycle, funded by a $2,500 personal loan to themselves and two late $5,000 contributions in August -- from a Newport Beach engineer and a Santa Fe Springs business, per city filings. ## Review notes - Johnny Hernandez's own Instagram account (johnnyhernandez59_sfs), Aug. 28, 2026 post: "My name is Johnny Hernandez, have been a resident for 65 yrs" of Santa Fe Springs, Julian Jackson's own Instagram account (@jackson4sfs), bio: "2026 City Council Candidate for Santa Fe Springs -- Passionate and Lifelong Resident", and Odalys Valladares for Santa Fe Springs City Council -- her own campaign site: "Santa Fe Springs is a community worth fighting for. But real progress requires leadership that shows up, listens, and puts the people of this community first." may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [City of Santa Fe Springs — Notice of Election (posted July 10, 2026): a General Municipal Election for three (3) Members of the City Council, full term of four years; nomination period July 13 – Aug. 7, 2026](https://www.santafesprings.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1314) 2. [City of Santa Fe Springs — Certified List of Qualified Candidates, General/Special Municipal Election Consolidated with County Elections (approved by the City Clerk Aug. 13, 2026): names all six qualified City Council candidates with their ballot designations — Johnny Hernandez (Retiree), Julian Jackson (MPA), Juanita Martin (Incumbent), Annette Rodriguez (Incumbent), Bill "William" Rounds (Incumbent), Odalys Valladares (Business Owner)](https://www.santafesprings.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1299) 3. [City of Santa Fe Springs — City Council page: confirms all five Council seats are elected at-large to four-year terms with no limit on the number of consecutive terms a member may serve, and that the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem titles rotate annually among sitting members rather than being elected directly](https://www.santafesprings.gov/27/City-Council) 4. [City of Santa Fe Springs — public NetFile campaign-finance portal, checked by candidate name 2026-08-31: Juanita Martin, Annette Rodriguez, and Bill Rounds each have an active 2026 committee on file (Rodriguez's mid-year Form 460 filed July 30, 2026, itemized totals not pulled from the PDF); Odalys Valladares's committee shows a $2,500 personal loan and two late $5,000 contributions in August; Martin's and Rounds's committees each itemize a $2,000 contribution from the California Waste Recycling Association PAC and $5,000 contributions from several of the same out-of-area LLCs; Johnny Hernandez and Julian Jackson have no committee on file, only the state-required Form 501 (and, for Hernandez, a Form 700)](https://netfile.com/public/SFS/campaign/persons) 5. [The Ballot Book — City of Santa Fe Springs 2026 candidates page: an unofficial, automated-monitoring aggregator, corroborating the "1 office, 6 candidates" field for City Council and each candidate's ballot designation, including "Bill 'William' Rounds"](https://theballotbook.com/jurisdictions/927/candidates) 6. [Johnny Hernandez's own Instagram account (johnnyhernandez59_sfs), Aug. 28, 2026 post: "My name is Johnny Hernandez, have been a resident for 65 yrs" of Santa Fe Springs](https://www.instagram.com/johnnyhernandez59_sfs/) 7. [Julian Jackson's own Instagram account (@jackson4sfs), bio: "2026 City Council Candidate for Santa Fe Springs — Passionate and Lifelong Resident"](https://www.instagram.com/jackson4sfs/) 8. [Odalys Valladares for Santa Fe Springs City Council — her own campaign site](http://votevalladares.com) 9. [Farmers Insurance — Odalys Valladares, agent profile: her own insurance agency (DBA Valladares Insurance Agency), 14304 Telegraph Rd, Whittier, serving Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, La Mirada, La Habra, and Pico Rivera, in English and Spanish](https://agents.farmers.com/ca/whittier/odalys-valladares) 10. [Metropolitan Little League — Board of Directors page, listing Odalys Valladares as President](https://www.metrolittleleague.com/Default.aspx?tabid=2023953) 11. [San Gabriel Valley Tribune — "Santa Fe Springs to create its own police department" (Anissa Rivera): the City Council voted to end its 30-year policing contract with Whittier and stand up its own department, targeted to be fully operational by March 2028](https://www.sgvtribune.com/2026/04/28/santa-fe-springs-to-create-its-own-police-department-will-end-policing-contract-with-whittier/) ## The rest of the ballot Santa Fe Springs 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, "Santa Fe Springs City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/santa-fe-springs-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.