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City of Ventura · Statewide General Election

San Buenaventura City Council, District 5

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 represent one of Ventura's seven City Council districts: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Ventura County city of about 110,763 residents (the county seat). The Council appoints a City Manager (Bill Ayub, a former Ventura County Sheriff, as of this cycle) to run day-to-day operations. A 4-year term, staggered so three or four seats are up every two years -- Districts 1, 4, 5, and 6 are up this cycle; Districts 2, 3, and 7 aren't up again until 2028. Ventura has no separately, directly elected Mayor -- the Council selects one of its own members each December to hold the title for a two-year term and preside over meetings. Dr. Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios (District 4, on this year's ballot for re-election) currently holds it, selected by her colleagues in December 2024, with Doug Halter (District 2) as Deputy Mayor. Ventura moved from at-large elections to seven single-member districts in 2018 after a threatened California Voting Rights Act challenge.

Incumbent Bill McReynolds, a residential builder, faces a single challenger: Vernon Alstot, a 53-year Ventura resident and retired fire battalion chief with a 33-year public-safety career.

This person would represent one of Ventura's seven City Council districts: city ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Ventura County city of about 110,763 residents (the county seat). The Council appoints a City Manager -- Bill Ayub, a former Ventura County Sheriff, as of this cycle -- to run day-to-day operations. A 4-year term, staggered so three or four seats are up every two years. Ventura has no separately, directly elected Mayor -- the Council selects one of its own members each December to hold the title for a two-year term and preside over meetings. Dr. Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios (District 4, on this year's ballot for re-election) currently holds it, selected by her colleagues in December 2024, with Doug Halter (District 2) as Deputy Mayor.

District 5 covers East Ventura. It's one of four districts up this cycle, alongside Districts 1, 4, and 6; Districts 2, 3, and 7 aren't up again until 2028. Ventura moved from at-large council elections to seven single-member districts in 2018, after a threatened California Voting Rights Act challenge.

Bill McReynolds

The incumbent. His ballot designation reads "Land Acquisition Executive"; his candidate statement lists his occupation as "Residential Builder." He says he's raising three sons in Ventura and cites public safety, street and sidewalk maintenance, clean water, and homelessness as priorities, along with strengthening the local economy through his business background.

Strengths

Incumbency and a construction/real-estate business background relevant to housing and infrastructure topics his own district cites as priorities.

Trade-offs

His statement is broad and priority-list-style rather than laying out specific proposals.

Keep in mind

His ballot designation ("Land Acquisition Executive") and his statement's occupation field ("Residential Builder") describe the same line of work, phrased differently on two forms.

Vernon Alstot

His ballot designation reads "Retired Batallion Chief" (reproduced here exactly as certified by the county -- the misspelling is on the original filing, not introduced by this dataset). His candidate statement says he has lived in Ventura for 53 years and spent 33 years in public safety -- six as a police officer, then 27 with the Fire Department, rising to battalion chief -- helping establish the city's paramedic and hazardous-materials response programs; he also helped set up hygiene facilities for unhoused residents and sits on the executive board of a Santa Paula homeless shelter.

Strengths

Three decades of direct public-safety leadership experience in the same city he'd represent, plus hands-on regional homelessness-response work.

Trade-offs

A first-time candidate with no prior elected office, running against an incumbent.

Keep in mind

No independent biography or news coverage beyond his own statement was found this session.

Source review: Very strong (93/100) · 10 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

  • clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Ventura County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters -- "Contest/Candidate Proof List" (report CFMR001, dated Aug. 18, 2026, on-ballot contests only): confirms the City of San Buenaventura (City of Ventura) has exactly four contests this cycle -- City Council Districts 1, 4, 5, and 6 -- and names each district's incumbent and full qualified candidate roster
  • clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Ventura County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters -- November 3, 2026 General Election Contest/Candidate Proof List, off-ballot companion document (single-filer and appointed-in-lieu contests under Elections Code Section 10229): carries no City of San Buenaventura entry of any kind, ruling out a Section 10229 cancellation for any of the four council districts
  • cityofventura.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ventura -- Elections page: "the next General Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 for Districts 1, 4, 5, and 6"; also states the 2026 expenditure ceiling ($55,000) and single-source contribution limits ($425 if the ceiling is accepted, $225 if rejected)
  • cityofventura.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ventura -- "November 3, 2026 Election" page: nomination period July 13 - Aug. 7, 2026, with a note that the period is extended five days (to Aug. 12) for any district whose incumbent doesn't run for re-election; links to the City Clerk's Roster of Candidate Activity and the four per-district Candidate Statement PDFs
  • cityofventura.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ventura -- City Council page: names the current Mayor (Dr. Jeannette Sánchez-Palacios, District 4) and Deputy Mayor (Doug Halter, District 2), and lists all seven councilmembers by district, including District 6's Jim Duran -- the incumbent who did not seek re-election in 2026
  • cityofventura.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ventura City Clerk -- "Roster of Candidate Activity, November 3, 2026" (as of Aug. 12, 2026): a per-candidate filing and "Qualified for Ballot" table matching the county's certified roster exactly for all fourteen on-ballot candidates, and additionally showing three people (Katherine "KC" Rodriguez, District 6; Heather May, District 4; Jan Zavolosieck, District 5) who filed a Form 501 but never completed nomination papers and so did not qualify
  • ojaivalleynews.com (opens in a new tab)Ojai Valley News -- 'See who's officially on the ballot for Ventura council, school board, education races' (Grant Phillips, updated Aug. 11, 2026): independently lists the certified Area 2 pairing (Mike Teasdale, incumbent; Debra McIntyre-Sciarrino) and Area 4 pairing (Scott Dettorre, Kristina Pine), with matching geographic descriptions -- Area 2 as Conejo Valley, Area 4 as eastern county including Simi Valley and Moorpark
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Ventura, California," Government section: council-manager government, seven single-member council districts adopted in 2018 after a threatened California Voting Rights Act challenge, 4-year staggered terms, a Council-elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor serving 2-year terms, and the 2020 Census population (110,763); its infobox also names City Manager Bill Ayub, sourced in the page's own wikitext to a Dec. 2023 KVTA News report on his appointment
  • public.netfile.com (opens in a new tab)Ventura's own NetFile public campaign-finance portal (public.netfile.com/pub2/?AID=VNT, linked from the city's own Elections page): a negative-result check -- the portal is a client-rendered single-page app with no static content or reachable public API found this session, so no itemized Form 460/497 contribution or expenditure figures are available for any of the fourteen candidates. Documents the absence of a reachable local financial-disclosure source, not any candidate's actual finances.
  • cityofventura.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)City of Ventura City Clerk -- "District 5 Candidate Statement 2026": official, paid Statements of Qualifications filed by Vernon Alstot and Bill McReynolds

Last updated September 1, 2026.