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City of Scotts Valley · Statewide General Election

Scotts Valley City Council

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person would hold one of two open at-large seats on Scotts Valley's 5-member City Council, serving a 4-year term: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Santa Cruz County city of about 12,224 residents (2020 Census). Scotts Valley elects its Council entirely at large, with no council districts.

Three candidates are running for Scotts Valley's two open at-large City Council seats: incumbent Greg Wimp and challengers Michael Zeller and Danny Reber. The two with the most votes win.

Scotts Valley's City Council has five members, all elected citywide to four-year terms; the city has no council districts. Two of the five seats are up this November; the other three, held by Mayor Donna Lind, Vice Mayor Steve Clark, and Council Member Krista Jett, run through December 2028.

Both seats up this cycle are currently held by Derek Timm and Greg Wimp, whose terms expire December 2026. Timm did not refile for re-election and does not appear on the city's Notice of Nominees, leaving Wimp as the only incumbent in a three-candidate field for the two seats.

Greg Wimp

Greg Wimp is the incumbent seeking his first election to the seat: the City Council appointed him to fill a vacancy last fall, and he's now asking voters to keep him there. His own candidate statement describes 26 years living in Scotts Valley since he and his wife married here, a career that included tech-industry leadership roles before he moved into local small-business ownership -- he now owns Togo's Scotts Valley -- and helping lead the Measure A campaign that rebuilt the city's middle school. He cites honors including Scotts Valley Man of the Year, Santa Cruz County Hometown Hero, and the Rotary Club's Paul Harris Award, and says he completed the Scotts Valley Citizen's Academy and Leadership Santa Cruz County to better understand the community's needs.

Strengths

Roughly a year of hands-on Council experience already, a long local business track record, and a specific cited civic achievement (the Measure A school-rebuild campaign).

Trade-offs

No independent news coverage of his short council tenure was found this pass -- the only account of his record is his own campaign statement.

Keep in mind

As the sole incumbent, re-electing him is a vote for continuity from an appointee who has not yet faced voters for this seat.

Michael Zeller

Michael Zeller is a first-time candidate for Scotts Valley City Council. His candidate statement describes his current role as Director of Programming and Project Delivery at a regional transportation agency, where he says he manages millions of dollars in funding and builds consensus across diverse partners to get infrastructure built, and cites 20 years in public service. He states his priorities as a Town Center agreement with "real community benefits," pursuing financing tools that bring developers to the table on the city's terms rather than under state mandates, reviving the city's dormant silent-second mortgage program to help teachers, nurses, and first responders buy homes locally, supporting roundabouts and safe routes to schools, and disciplined budgeting.

Strengths

Two decades of public-sector funding/project-delivery experience at a regional agency, plus a specific, detailed policy platform (Town Center financing, housing assistance, traffic safety).

Trade-offs

No prior Scotts Valley elected or appointed office, and no independent news coverage of his campaign was found this pass beyond his own statement.

Keep in mind

His professional background is in regional transportation funding, not city government specifically -- relevant experience, but not the same as prior council or commission service.

Danny Reber

Danny Reber is a first-time City Council candidate with a long local civic resume. His candidate statement describes over a decade as Executive Director of the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce, where he says he built community relationships, grew the Scotts Valley Art Wine & Beer Festival, created the Scotts Valley Economic Recovery Task Force, and provided community updates and behind-the-scenes support during the CZU Fires. He currently serves as Executive Director of Valley Churches United, a 501(c)(3) year-round food pantry, and has served as an elected member of the Scotts Valley Water Board since December 2012. He is a past president of Scotts Valley Rotary and was named "Scotts Valley Man of the Year" in 2006, and has also served on the boards of Leadership Santa Cruz County, the Silicon Valley Chamber Coalition, and the Scotts Valley Historical Society.

Strengths

Over a decade leading the Chamber of Commerce plus more than a decade as an elected Water Board member -- direct experience with both local business and elected local governance.

Trade-offs

No prior City Council seat specifically, and no independent news coverage of his campaign was found this pass beyond his own statement.

Keep in mind

His current elected seat on the Water Board is a different, narrower body than the City Council; whether he'd continue serving both isn't addressed in his statement.

Source review: Strong (86/100) · 15 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

  • votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov (opens in a new tab)Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections -- own "Contests on the November 3, 2026 ballot" page: lists, under City Contests, "City of Scotts Valley, Councilmember - 2 Seats" -- confirming the office/seat count independently of the city's own site. Names offices only, not candidates; the county explicitly runs no county-section contest for Santa Cruz this cycle.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Scotts Valley -- own "Elections" page (sitemap-confirmed lastmod 2026-08-28): states two City Council seats are up this cycle (4-year terms), names incumbents Derek Timm and Greg Wimp, gives the nomination period (July 13-Aug. 7, extended to Aug. 12), and lists the three qualified 2026 candidates alphabetically -- Danny Reber, Greg Wimp* (incumbent), Michael Zeller -- each linked to a filed candidate statement, plus the city's Notice of Election, Notice of Nominees, and election resolutions.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Scotts Valley City Clerk's Office -- official "Nominees for Public Office" notice, signed by City Clerk Cathie Simonovich, dated Aug. 28, 2026 (after the nomination period closed): "For Members of the City Council -- Vote for no more than two: Greg Wimp, Michael Zeller, Danny Reber" -- the final certified ballot order. Also names Measure G (a transient-occupancy-tax increase), out of scope as a ballot measure.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Scotts Valley City Clerk's Office -- official "Notice of Election," dated July 3, 2026: confirms two City Council Member seats, each a four-year term expiring November 2030, a nomination period of July 13-Aug. 7, 2026 (extendable to Aug. 12 if an incumbent fails to refile), and the same TOT ballot measure.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Scotts Valley -- own "City Council" roster page: names the current five-member Council -- Mayor Donna Lind and Council Members Steve Clark (Vice Mayor), Krista Jett, Derek Timm, and Greg Wimp -- and each one's term-expiration date, confirming Timm's and Wimp's terms both expire December 2026 (the two seats up this cycle) while Lind, Clark, and Jett all run through December 2028.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Scotts Valley -- own "Election & Committee Campaign Statement Reports" page: lists each 2026 candidate's actual filed FPPC disclosure documents and dates -- Danny Reber (Form 501, 7/28/2026; Form 410, 8/28/2026), Greg Wimp (Form 501, 7/30/2026; Form 410, 8/11/2026), and Michael Zeller (Form 501, 6/1/2026; Form 410, 6/8/2026; Form 460, 7/21/2026) -- each linked directly, hosted on the city's own site rather than a third-party portal like NetFile.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)Greg Wimp's filed candidate statement for Scotts Valley City Council (downloaded and read directly): describes 26 years living in Scotts Valley since marrying his wife, leading the Measure A campaign that rebuilt the middle school, a career including tech-industry leadership and now local small-business ownership (Togo's Scotts Valley), honors including Scotts Valley Man of the Year, Santa Cruz County Hometown Hero, and the Paul Harris Rotary Award, completion of the Scotts Valley Citizen's Academy and Leadership Santa Cruz County, and states the City Council appointed him to fill a vacancy "last fall."
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)Danny Reber's filed candidate statement for Scotts Valley City Council (downloaded and read directly): describes over a decade as Executive Director of the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce (building community relationships, growing the Scotts Valley Art Wine & Beer Festival, creating the Scotts Valley Economic Recovery Task Force, and CZU-fire community support), his current role as Executive Director of Valley Churches United (a 501(c)(3) year-round food pantry), elected service on the Scotts Valley Water Board since December 2012, past presidency of Scotts Valley Rotary, and the 2006 "Scotts Valley Man of the Year" honor.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)Michael Zeller's filed candidate statement for Scotts Valley City Council (downloaded and read directly): describes himself as Director of Programming and Project Delivery at a regional transportation agency, managing millions in funding and building consensus across partners on infrastructure projects, cites 20 years in public service, and states his priorities as a Town Center agreement with real community benefits, financing tools that bring developers to the table, reviving the city's dormant silent-second mortgage program, roundabouts and safe routes to schools, and disciplined budgeting.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)Greg Wimp's filed FPPC Form 501 (Candidate Intention Statement) for Scotts Valley City Council, received by the City Clerk 7/30/2026, downloaded and read directly: a nonpartisan-office filing for the 2026 primary/general election.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)Danny Reber's filed FPPC Form 501 (Candidate Intention Statement) for Scotts Valley City Council, received by the City Clerk 7/28/2026, downloaded and read directly: a nonpartisan-office filing in which he checked that he does not accept the voluntary campaign expenditure ceiling for the 2026 election.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)Michael Zeller's filed FPPC Form 501 (Candidate Intention Statement) for Scotts Valley City Council, filed 6/1/2026 per the city's own Campaign Statement Reports page (document downloaded and read directly): a nonpartisan-office filing for the 2026 election.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)"Zeller for Scotts Valley City Council 2026" committee's filed FPPC Form 460 (semi-annual campaign statement, FPPC ID 1492059, Treasurer Michael Zeller), covering 1/1/2026-6/30/2026, filed 7/21/2026, downloaded and read directly: $125 in monetary contributions this period (one itemized $100 contribution from Dan Kelly, listed occupation "Unemployed," plus $25 unitemized under $100 each), a $35.36 loan, for total contributions received of $160.36; $16.06 in expenditures; and an ending cash balance of $144.30 as of 6/30/2026. The only 2026-cycle Form 460 on file for any of the three candidates -- Wimp's and Reber's campaign committees were both formed (Form 410) after this reporting period closed.
  • scottsvalley.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Scotts Valley -- own "City Manager" department page: confirms the city has a separately staffed, appointed City Manager office, consistent with the council-manager form of government standard among California general-law cities this size; the page itself does not name the current officeholder.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia, "Scotts Valley, California": used narrowly for the fixed 2020 Census population figure (12,224); the article's own Government section covers only state and federal legislative representation, not municipal structure, and is not used for that.

Last updated September 2, 2026.