# South Pasadena City Council, District 4

Compare records and positions simply between Michael Cacciotti or Nevin Stanton-Trehan for South Pasadena City Council, District 4 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat on South Pasadena's five-member City Council. They vote on the city budget, zoning, land use, and city laws. The council does not elect its Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem directly. Members choose two of their own for those ceremonial titles each year. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations.

- Jurisdiction: City of South Pasadena
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/south-pasadena-council-4
- 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 12 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Michael Cacciotti** — South Pasadena Councilmember · Incumbent
- **Nevin Stanton-Trehan** — Nonprofit Executive/Father

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

South Pasadena elects one of its five City Council seats -- District 4 -- on November 3, 2026, and it is a genuine two-candidate race. The city is separately cancelling the ballot for District 5 and City Treasurer because each drew only one qualified candidate, but District 4 was not part of that cancellation. Incumbent Michael Cacciotti, on the council since 2013, faces first-time candidate Nevin Stanton-Trehan, who chairs the city's own Finance Commission.

Each winner serves a 4-year term on South Pasadena's 5-member City Council. The council sets the city's budget, zoning and land-use rules, and municipal ordinances. The council does not elect its Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem directly. Members rotate those largely ceremonial titles among themselves each year. Day-to-day operations run through an appointed city manager.

The choice comes down to continuity versus a first-time run. Cacciotti has represented the district since 2013 and brings a state legal and regulatory background. Stanton-Trehan has no prior elected office. They chair the city's own Finance Commission. Their campaign centers on public finance, infrastructure, and street safety.

## Michael Cacciotti

Michael Cacciotti is South Pasadena's sitting District 4 councilmember, first elected in 2013, seeking another term. He is a Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice and has served on the South Coast Air Quality Management District's governing board since 2008. He is running with a newly registered 2026 campaign committee and an endorsement from the South Pasadena Police Officers' Association.

**Strengths:** Thirteen years on the council. He is a Deputy Attorney General and has sat on the AQMD board since 2008. He also has the South Pasadena Police Officers' Association endorsement.

**Trade-offs:** No campaign platform statement was found beyond his own site's general fiscal management pledge. Long tenure also cuts the other way for a voter seeking a change in representation.

**Keep in mind:** His campaign filed a Form 460 with the city's NetFile portal. It covered January to June 2026. No matching filing had posted to the state's CAL-ACCESS system. That is a documented system gap, not a claim about his fundraising.

## Nevin Stanton-Trehan

Nevin Stanton-Trehan is a first-time candidate for the District 4 seat, a father of two Marengo Elementary School students who chairs the city's own Finance Commission and works as Executive Vice President of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. Their platform centers on public finance, infrastructure, walkability and bikeability, public safety, and parks and recreation. They have a newly registered 2026 campaign committee and endorsements that include sitting Councilmember Jon Primuth and former Mayor Robert "Bob" Joe.

**Strengths:** Stanton-Trehan chairs the Finance Commission. Their YMCA and Educational Foundation board roles are confirmed. They also have endorsements from a sitting councilmember and a former mayor.

**Trade-offs:** They have no prior elected experience. Their five platform pillars are broad priorities, not specific proposals. Most of what is verifiable is their Finance Commission role, not a governing record.

**Keep in mind:** Their committee is active with the state. Like their opponent's, it has filed no Form 460 with CAL-ACCESS this cycle. Unlike their opponent, no committee for them appears in the city's own NetFile directory. That is a documented absence, not a claim about fundraising.

## Review notes

- Michael Cacciotti -- own 2026 campaign site: Deputy Attorney General (CA DOJ, 2001-2020) and Deputy State Attorney (Caltrans, 1991-2001); South Coast AQMD Governing Board member since 2008 and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy advisory board member since 2001; endorsed by the South Pasadena Police Officers' Association and Nevin Stanton-Trehan -- own 2026 campaign site: father of two Marengo Elementary students, Executive Vice President of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, Chair of the city's Finance Commission; platform pillars are public finance, infrastructure, walkability/bikeability, public safety, and parks/recreation (FPPC #1492901) may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

## Sources

1. [City of South Pasadena — City Clerk's Office, Elections page: confirms the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election is for two Council seats (Districts 4 and 5) plus City Treasurer, on a 5-member by-district council with staggered 4-year terms; nomination period July 13 - Aug. 7, 2026 (extended to Aug. 12 for non-incumbents)](https://www.southpasadenaca.gov/Your-Government/Department-Service-Areas/City-Clerks-Office/Elections-1)
2. [City of South Pasadena City Clerk's Office — "2026 List of Certified Candidates" (updated 8/14/2026): the official candidate-filing-status table naming, for City Council District 4, Michael Cacciotti (ballot designation "South Pasadena Councilmember", qualified 8/4/2026) and Nevin Stanton-Trehan (ballot designation "Nonprofit Executive/Father", qualified 7/30/2026); District 5 (Janet Braun) and City Treasurer (Zhen Tao) each show a single qualified candidate](https://www.southpasadenaca.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/management-services/2026-list-of-certified-candidates.pdf)
3. [City of South Pasadena — "Notice That There Are Not More Candidates Than Officers to Be Elected," linked from the city's own Elections page, covering District 5 and City Treasurer (not District 4)](https://www.southpasadenaca.gov/Your-Government/Department-Service-Areas/City-Clerks-Office/Elections-1)
4. [City of South Pasadena's own NetFile campaign-finance public portal, Elections section for the Nov. 3, 2026 General Election: lists "Cacciotti, Michael" as the sole registered committee for the City Council - South Pasadena - 4 seat, and shows Cacciotti for City Council 2026's filing history (Form 501 and 410 filed 7/13/2026, Form 460 filed 8/4/2026 covering 1/1/2026-6/30/2026); Nevin Stanton-Trehan has no committee registered in this local system](https://netfile.com/public/spas/campaign/elections)
5. [The South Pasadenan — "August 19 Agenda | South Pasadena City Council Navigating License Plate Readers, Street Safety & Uncontested Election" (Aug. 14, 2026): reports the City Council is set to cancel the Nov. 3, 2026 election for District 5 and City Treasurer after Chief City Clerk Nikima S. Newsome certified those races uncontested; District 4 is not part of that cancellation](https://southpasadenan.com/august-19-agenda-south-pasadena-city-council-navigating-license-plate-readers-street-safety-uncontested-election/)
6. [City of South Pasadena — Your City Council page: confirms Michael Cacciotti holds the District 4 seat, first elected to the council in 2013](https://www.southpasadenaca.gov/Your-Government)
7. [City of South Pasadena — Finance Commission page and 2026 meeting agendas/minutes: name Nevin Stanton-Trehan as the commission's Chair (term ends 12/31/2027), independent of his own campaign material](https://www.southpasadenaca.gov/Boards-Commissions/Finance-Commission)
8. [Michael Cacciotti — own 2026 campaign site: Deputy Attorney General (CA DOJ, 2001-2020) and Deputy State Attorney (Caltrans, 1991-2001); South Coast AQMD Governing Board member since 2008 and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy advisory board member since 2001; endorsed by the South Pasadena Police Officers' Association](https://www.michaelcacciotti.com)
9. [Nevin Stanton-Trehan — own 2026 campaign site: father of two Marengo Elementary students, Executive Vice President of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, Chair of the city's Finance Commission; platform pillars are public finance, infrastructure, walkability/bikeability, public safety, and parks/recreation (FPPC #1492901)](https://www.nevinstantontrehan.com)
10. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS — "CACCIOTTI FOR CITY COUNCIL 2026" (Filer #1359318, a renamed continuation of his 2013/2018/2022 committees), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed with CAL-ACCESS for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval (a Form 460 covering 1/1/2026-6/30/2026 was filed with the city's own NetFile portal on 8/4/2026 — see sopas-netfile-elections-2026)](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1359318&session=2025)
11. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS — "STANTON-TREHAN FOR CITY COUNCIL 2026; NEVIN" (Filer #1492901), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed with CAL-ACCESS for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval, and the committee does not appear in the city's own local NetFile candidate/committee directory](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Committees/Detail.aspx?id=1492901&session=2025)
12. [The South Pasadenan — "Decisive Victory | Council Member Michael Cacciotti" (Nov. 8, 2018): reports his re-election to the District 4 seat and lists endorsements from sitting council members at the time](https://southpasadenan.com/lopsided-victory-council-member-michael-cacciotti/)

## The rest of the ballot

South Pasadena City Council, District 4 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 Pasadena City Council, District 4 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/south-pasadena-council-4 (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026).

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