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City of Seaside · Statewide General Election

Seaside 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 serve on Seaside's five-member City Council -- the citywide budget, land use, and policy oversight for this Monterey County city of about 32,366 residents (2020 Census), alongside a separately elected Mayor who is not part of this race. All four Council seats are elected at large (citywide) on a nonpartisan ballot to rotating 4-year terms; two of the four seats are up this cycle, and the top two vote-getters win the two seats outright.

Five candidates are running for two seats on the Seaside City Council: incumbent Rita Burks, and challengers Annalisa Mitchell, Karla Lobo, Ken Fittro, and Lacey Raak. The two highest vote-getters on November 3 win the two seats; there is no runoff.

Seaside elects its City Council at-large, not by district: alongside a separately elected Mayor who is not part of this race, four councilmembers set the budget, land use policy, and city ordinances for this Monterey County city of about 32,366 residents (2020 Census), while an appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. These two seats carry 4-year terms; the other two council seats, not up this cycle, are held by Dave Pacheco and Alexis Garcia-Arrazola.

Candidate depth in this race is uneven, and this dataset states that plainly rather than smoothing it over. Coverage found this pass ranges from a serious, on-the-record matter involving Lobo to a candidate for whom nothing beyond a name and ballot designation could be found -- see each candidate's own profile below for what was and was not available.

Rita Burks

Rita Burks is Seaside's incumbent Councilmember, first elected in 2022 and seeking a second term. The county's own candidate filing lists her ballot designation as "Educator/Councilmember." Her own listed campaign website returned a broken hosting error on every attempt this pass, and no dedicated news coverage of her 2026 candidacy was found; this dataset's account of her candidacy is limited to her incumbency, ballot designation, and the city's own council roster confirming her seat.

Strengths

A full term as sitting Councilmember to run on, plus an "Educator" self-description suggesting relevant background for youth and community programs.

Trade-offs

No campaign website, filed statement, or news profile was found this pass -- no account of her specific priorities for a second term or a record of specific votes.

Keep in mind

As the only incumbent in this field, a vote for her is in part a referendum on the current council's direction, distinct from the four challengers' outsider bids.

Karla Lobo

Karla Lobo, whose county filing designation is "Mother," previously ran for Seaside Mayor in the 2024 general election, finishing behind now-Mayor Ian Oglesby in a three-candidate field, and currently serves on the city's Parks and Recreation Commission. In February 2025, Seaside Police arrested her on five charges -- two felonies relating to an alleged assault of her 15-year-old son while she was intoxicated, and three misdemeanors including driving under the influence and a probation violation -- after an incident police say occurred Feb. 23, 2025 that sent her son to the hospital, per Monterey County Weekly's reporting, independently corroborated by KSBW. Lobo, through her attorney and in her own statement to the paper, disputed several particulars: she denies being intoxicated, denies being charged with a DUI specifically, and disputes that her son received hospital treatment. As of the last update to that reporting, she had not been charged by the District Attorney, and no coverage of the case's resolution was found this pass. Her own campaign website is currently a bare placeholder with no biographical or platform content.

Strengths

Prior name recognition from a 2024 mayoral run and ongoing civic service on the Parks and Recreation Commission.

Trade-offs

A February 2025 arrest on felony and misdemeanor charges tied to an alleged assault of her teenage son, which she disputes through her attorney; no campaign platform beyond her ballot designation.

Keep in mind

These are reported allegations and an arrest, not a conviction; as of the last available reporting she had not been charged by the District Attorney, and this dataset found no more recent update on the case's status.

Ken Fittro

Ken Fittro, a 40-year Seaside resident, is a retired special-education teacher, administrator, and union negotiator, per his own campaign website. He founded and for three decades served as head coach of the Seaside Dolphins, a USA Swim Team he built in partnership with the city, and continues coaching high school swimming and water polo in retirement; his county filing designation is "Retired Education Specialist." His stated platform emphasizes listening to residents, supporting local businesses, and public safety, drawing on what he describes as decades of volunteer work with youth programs, senior services, and regional swim organizations.

Strengths

A long local record of community involvement (three decades coaching a city-partnered youth swim club) and a background in special-education teaching and union negotiation.

Trade-offs

As a first-time candidate, no voting or governing record exists yet; his platform is stated in general terms (listening, support, safety) without specific policy commitments on his own site.

Keep in mind

His decades of visibility through the swim program are a form of name recognition distinct from Burks's incumbency or Lobo's prior mayoral run.

Lacey Raak

Lacey Raak's county filing designation is "Nonprofit Executive Director." Her own campaign website describes her as an "Advocate and Leader" and lays out a four-part platform: attainable housing, food access, and childcare; making it easier to start and operate a small business in Seaside; street infrastructure that is accessible for pedestrians, bicycles, and cars and free of potholes; and public safety built through partnership with fire and safety officers and community and youth groups. She describes Seaside as a "dynamic, multi-cultural community." No further biographical detail or dedicated news coverage of her candidacy was found this pass.

Strengths

A stated nonprofit executive-director background and a detailed, multi-part platform in her own words spanning housing, business, infrastructure, and safety.

Trade-offs

As a first-time candidate, no governing or voting record exists; no independent news profile was found to verify or expand on her self-description, and her site does not name the nonprofit she leads.

Keep in mind

Her platform's breadth across four distinct issue areas is presented in general terms rather than specific proposals.

Annalisa Mitchell

Annalisa "Lisa" Mitchell's county filing designation is "Regional Director." No campaign website, filed candidate statement beyond the county's own scanned filing, or dedicated news coverage of her candidacy was found this pass; this dataset's account of her candidacy is limited to her name and reported occupation as confirmed by the county's own filing.

Strengths

Not established by available public record -- no statement, site, or profile was found beyond her name and ballot designation, confirmed by the county's own filing.

Trade-offs

Her near-total absence from public record beyond the county filing is itself the trade-off: no filed statement, interview, or campaign material in her own words was found.

Keep in mind

This thin record reflects what could be found, not a shortcut taken here -- a challenger's record in a race with an incumbent and a higher-profile former mayoral candidate can be this sparse.

Source review: Mixed (73/100) · 12 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Rita Burks's own listed campaign website (ritaburksforseaside.siteab.com), per the county's candidate list: returned a broken TLS certificate / hosting error on every fetch attempted this pass and could not be reached. A documented access gap, not a claim about its content., Ken Fittro's own campaign website (kenfittro4seaside.com): describes a 40-year Seaside resident raised near Travis Air Force Base, a retired special-education teacher, administrator, and union negotiator, and founder/longtime head coach of the Seaside Dolphins USA Swim Team; stated platform of community-centered leadership, local-business support, and continued volunteer work with youth and senior programs., Karla Lobo's own listed campaign website (karlalobo.com), per the county's candidate list: loads only a bare "Something new is coming" placeholder page with no biographical or platform content, this pass., and Lacey Raak's own campaign website (laceyraakforseaside.com): stated four-part platform of attainable housing/food/childcare access, small-business support, pedestrian/bicycle-friendly infrastructure, and public safety/community partnership with fire and safety officers. may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • ci.seaside.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Seaside -- official "Verified Candidates" graphic, published on the City Clerk's Election Information page under "Verified candidates at the end of the filing period (August 7, 2026)": names two Mayoral candidates (Alex Miller; incumbent Ian N. Oglesby) and five City Council candidates for the two open seats (Annalisa Mitchell, Karla Lobo, Ken Fittro, Lacey Raak, and incumbent Rita Burks) -- the most current official statement of the field found this pass.
  • ci.seaside.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Seaside -- official Election Information page (City Clerk): states the council-manager election cycle ("Two (2) council member seats and one (1) mayor seat are to be voted on every two (2) years. Council members serve a four (4) year term and the Mayor serves a four (4) year term") and lists this cycle's offices directly -- "MAYOR (1 SEAT) ... Incumbent: Ian N. Oglesby, 4-year term, November 2026-2030" and "COUNCIL (2 SEATS) ... Incumbent: Rita Burks, Incumbent: Alex Miller, 4-year term, November 2026-2030" -- the latter listing reflects the offices' sitting incumbents as of the notice's publication, not the final candidate field; see the Verified Candidates graphic for the settled roster, which shows Miller ultimately filed for Mayor rather than Council re-election. Also confirms the nomination period (July 13-August 7, 2026) and that campaign finance disclosures are filed with the City Clerk's Office.
  • ci.seaside.ca.us (opens in a new tab)City of Seaside -- official "Mayor & City Council" page: "The City of Seaside is a General Law City with a Council / Manager form of government. The five-member City Council is a legislative and policy-making body that is elected on a nonpartisan basis"; "The City of Seaside has one Mayor and four Council Members, all elected at-large." Names the sitting roster "as of November 2022" (Mayor Ian Oglesby, Mayor Pro Tem Dave Pacheco, and Councilmembers Alexis Garcia-Arrazola, Rita Burks, and Alex Miller) and separately states "The Mayor serves 2-year terms" -- inconsistent with the newer, election-specific Election Information page's "4-year term" language for this cycle's Mayor seat; this shard follows the newer page for term length, per this dataset's practice of preferring the most current official statement.
  • countyofmonterey.gov (opens in a new tab)Monterey County Elections -- official "Candidate List" page for the November 3, 2026 General Election, reached via a Wayback Machine snapshot (captured 2026-08-23) after the live page 403'd on every direct fetch attempted this pass: within the City section, "CITY OF SEASIDE Mayor, Vote for One" lists Alex Miller ("Father/Councilman/Businessman") and Ian N. Oglesby ("Incumbent"); "CITY OF SEASIDE Member, City Council, Vote for no more than 2" lists Annalisa "Lisa" Mitchell ("Regional Director"), Dennis Volk ("Businessman"), Karla Lobo ("Mother"), Kenneth Fittro ("Retired Education Specialist"), Lacey Raak ("Nonprofit Executive Director"), and Rita Burks ("Educator/Councilmember"). Volk does not appear on the city's own current Verified Candidates roster; see this shard's commentary for how that discrepancy is resolved. Used for each candidate's own filed ballot designation.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Seaside, California": 2020 Census population (32,366); council-manager government structure; used narrowly for population and background, not for anything about the 2026 election.
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer searches for all seven named candidates (Miller, Oglesby, Mitchell, Volk, Lobo, Fittro, Raak, Burks): every query returned only an Incapsula bot-detection challenge page, the same documented access block on file elsewhere in this dataset; Cal-Access's own scope (state-level filings) excludes local candidates in any case.
  • montereycountynow.com (opens in a new tab)Monterey County Weekly (montereycountynow.com) -- "UPDATED: Seaside Police arrest former mayoral candidate Karla Lobo on child assault charges" (twice updated, Feb. 25 and Feb. 28, 2025): reports Lobo's Feb. 25, 2025 arrest on five charges -- two felonies relating to an alleged assault of her 15-year-old son while intoxicated (incident reported to have occurred Feb. 23, 2025) and three misdemeanors including driving under the influence and a probation violation -- with on-the-record detail from Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges and Lobo's own emailed statement and her attorney's comment disputing several particulars (she denies being intoxicated, denies a DUI charge specifically, and disputes that her son was hospitalized). As of the article's last update, Lobo had not been charged by the District Attorney; no coverage of the case's later resolution was found this pass. Independently identifies Lobo as a "former mayoral candidate" and a sitting member of the city's Parks and Recreation Commission.
  • ksbw.com (opens in a new tab)KSBW -- "Former Seaside mayoral candidate arrested for child abuse" (Feb. 26, 2025): independently corroborates Monterey County Weekly's report of Karla Lobo's arrest, confirming the story was covered by a second, independent newsroom rather than resting on a single outlet.
  • karlalobo.com (opens in a new tab)Karla Lobo's own listed campaign website (karlalobo.com), per the county's candidate list: loads only a bare "Something new is coming" placeholder page with no biographical or platform content, this pass.
  • kenfittro4seaside.com (opens in a new tab)Ken Fittro's own campaign website (kenfittro4seaside.com): describes a 40-year Seaside resident raised near Travis Air Force Base, a retired special-education teacher, administrator, and union negotiator, and founder/longtime head coach of the Seaside Dolphins USA Swim Team; stated platform of community-centered leadership, local-business support, and continued volunteer work with youth and senior programs.
  • laceyraakforseaside.com (opens in a new tab)Lacey Raak's own campaign website (laceyraakforseaside.com): stated four-part platform of attainable housing/food/childcare access, small-business support, pedestrian/bicycle-friendly infrastructure, and public safety/community partnership with fire and safety officers.
  • ritaburksforseaside.siteab.com (opens in a new tab)Rita Burks's own listed campaign website (ritaburksforseaside.siteab.com), per the county's candidate list: returned a broken TLS certificate / hosting error on every fetch attempted this pass and could not be reached. A documented access gap, not a claim about its content.

Last updated September 1, 2026.