# South Gate City Council Compare records and positions simply between Edgar Pelayo, Jimmy Ozaeta, Joshua Barron, and 2 more for South Gate City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of two seats up this cycle. The seat is an at-large seat on South Gate's City Council. The council has five members with staggered four year terms. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. The council picks a member to serve as Mayor for one year. An appointed city manager runs day to day operations. - Jurisdiction: City of South Gate - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Seats: 2 - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/south-gate-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: 81 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Edgar Pelayo** - **Jimmy Ozaeta** - **Joshua Barron** — Incumbent - **Alfonso (Al) Rios** — Incumbent - **Alan Garcia** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five candidates are running for South Gate's two at-large City Council seats: incumbents Al Rios and Joshua Barron against three challengers — Alan Garcia, Edgar Pelayo and Jimmy Ozaeta. Vote for up to two — no primary. Council seats carry 4-year terms. Winners join three other councilmembers as five votes on the budget, city ordinances and land use, with day-to-day operations run by an appointed city manager. The council also selects one of its own members to serve as Mayor for a 1-year term — that seat is not on this ballot. South Gate faces a structural budget gap of about $9 million a year, and voters are separately deciding a utility tax meant to help close it. Both incumbents sit on the council that placed that measure on the ballot; two of the three challengers are campaigning explicitly against how the council got there. The practical choice in this field is less about differing platforms than about whether continuity or new council voices are the more trustworthy path through the deficit. ## Alfonso (Al) Rios Al Rios is the incumbent Vice Mayor, on the council since a 2017 special election and re-elected in 2022; Rios served as Mayor in 2021. Their campaign has not published a 2026 platform beyond seeking another term. Outside the council they are Dean of Academic Affairs and a political-science professor at ELAC's South Gate campus, a role they have held for 17 years. **Strengths:** The longest council tenure in this field, since 2017, plus regional board seats spanning transit, workforce development and a hospital board. **Trade-offs:** No stated 2026 platform beyond continuing their current committee work, so their case rests on record rather than a specific new agenda. **Keep in mind:** Rios is one of two incumbents whose council placed the utility-tax measure on this same ballot — part of what challengers are running against. ## Joshua Barron Joshua Barron is the incumbent Mayor — chosen by their council colleagues for a 1-year term in December 2025, after their council election in 2022 — running for another council term. Their campaign has not published a 2026 platform; in office they name infrastructure, business growth and reinstating school arts programs among their priorities, per the city's official bio. They are a bank Vice President in financial-crimes investigation, with over 20 years in banking. **Strengths:** A first council term that already includes the Mayor's chair, plus five years as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner before they were elected. **Trade-offs:** No stated 2026 platform beyond continuing their current priorities, so their case rests on record rather than a specific new agenda. **Keep in mind:** Barron is one of two incumbents whose council placed the utility-tax measure on this same ballot — part of what challengers are running against. ## Alan Garcia Alan Garcia is a challenger for one of the two council seats. Beyond confirming their candidacy on the city clerk's certified list, their campaign has published no platform or biography — their Instagram account states only that they are a candidate. No prior city office or public record was found for them. **Strengths:** No public source documents any relevant background, experience, or endorsement for Garcia beyond their confirmed candidacy. **Trade-offs:** No published platform, prior city office, or public record to weigh against the other four candidates. **Keep in mind:** Nearly nothing beyond their name is publicly confirmed; if their campaign publishes a platform, the weekly refresh will catch it. ## Jimmy Ozaeta Jimmy Ozaeta is a challenger and a South Gate Planning Commissioner since 2023, running jointly with Edgar Pelayo as "South Gate For Change." Ozaeta says the city's roughly $9 million budget deficit and a lack of transparency call for new council leadership, and centers their campaign on fiscal responsibility and infrastructure. Born and raised in South Gate, they spent 15 years in YMCA nonprofit leadership, including turning around one YMCA association that was near bankruptcy. **Strengths:** 15 years of nonprofit executive leadership, including a turnaround of a YMCA association's finances, plus three years already inside city government as a Planning Commissioner. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected office, and their campaign's account of the deficit is the incumbents' record recast as a case for change rather than an independent audit. **Keep in mind:** Ozaeta and Pelayo are running as a joint slate, not against each other; the choice in this field is whether either or both should replace an incumbent. ## Edgar Pelayo Edgar Pelayo is a challenger and a South Gate Parks and Recreation Commissioner since 2023, running jointly with Jimmy Ozaeta as "South Gate For Change." Pelayo says the same budget deficit and a lack of transparency call for new council leadership, and points to their real-estate brokerage's fiduciary duty as the model for the fiscal oversight they'd bring to City Hall. They hold an MBA from Pepperdine University. **Strengths:** An MBA and a business-management, finance and real-estate career built on fiduciary duty, plus three years already inside city government as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner. **Trade-offs:** No prior elected office, and their campaign's account of the deficit is the incumbents' record recast as a case for change rather than an independent audit. **Keep in mind:** Pelayo and Ozaeta are running as a joint slate, not against each other; the choice in this field is whether either or both should replace an incumbent. ## Review notes - Alan Garcia (@alang4sg) and South Gate For Change may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [City of South Gate — City Clerk's Office: Elections (November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election notice)](https://www.cityofsouthgate.org/Government/Departments/City-Clerks-Office/Elections) 2. [City of South Gate — List of Qualified Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Election (dated 08/18/2026)](https://www.cityofsouthgate.org/files/sharedassets/public/v/2/government/departments/city-clerks-office/elections/documents/list-of-qualified-candidates-nov-3-2026-general-election-2.pdf) 3. [City of South Gate — City Council (member roster: 5 seats, at-large, staggered 4-year terms)](https://www.cityofsouthgate.org/Government/City-Council) 4. [City of South Gate — Meet the City Council: Joshua Barron (official officeholder bio)](https://www.cityofsouthgate.org/Government/City-Council/Meet-the-City-Council/Mayor-Joshua-Barron) 5. [City of South Gate — Meet the City Council: Al Rios (official officeholder bio)](https://www.cityofsouthgate.org/Government/City-Council/Meet-the-City-Council/Vice-Mayor-Council-Member-Al-Rios) 6. [City of South Gate — Understanding the Budget and Utility Users Tax (UUT): the city's ~$9M structural deficit and the November 2026 UUT ballot measure](https://www.cityofsouthgate.org/Government/Departments/Administrative-Services/Finance/Budgets-Financial-Transparency/Understanding-the-Budget-and-Utility-Users-Tax-UUT) 7. [South Gate For Change — Jimmy Ozaeta and Edgar Pelayo's joint campaign site (platform, biography, and endorsements)](https://www.southgateforchange.com/) 8. [Alan Garcia (@alang4sg) — campaign Instagram, "Candidate for South Gate City Council"](https://www.instagram.com/alang4sg/) ## The rest of the ballot South Gate 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, "South Gate City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/south-gate-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.