# Yorba Linda City Council Compare records and positions simply between Sean Phayakapong, Raymond Potter, Janice Lim, and 2 more for Yorba Linda City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of two at-large seats up this cycle. Yorba Linda's City Council has five members. They vote on city laws, the budget, and land use. An appointed city manager runs day-to-day operations. Yorba Linda is a general-law city. The Mayor is not separately elected. Each year, councilmembers choose one of their own to serve as Mayor. The term is four years. Members are limited to three terms in a row. - Jurisdiction: City of Yorba Linda - 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/yorba-linda-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: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 4 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Sean Phayakapong** — Engineer/Yorba Linda Commissioner - **Raymond Potter** — Entrepreneur - **Janice Lim** — City Councilmember/Businesswoman · Incumbent - **Robert R. Pease II** — Professional Chemical Engineer - **Carlos Rodriguez** — Mayor/Business Executive · Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Five candidates are running for two of the five at-large seats on Yorba Linda's City Council: incumbents Carlos Rodriguez and Janice Lim against three challengers — Robert R. Pease II, Sean Phayakapong, and Raymond Potter. Vote for up to two — no primary. Council seats carry 4-year terms, with members limited to three consecutive terms. Winners join three other councilmembers as five votes on city ordinances, the budget, and land use, with day-to-day operations run by an appointed city manager. Yorba Linda is a general-law city and does not directly elect a Mayor — each year, the council chooses one of its own members to serve in that role. That seat is not on this ballot. Both incumbents already hold the two seats up this cycle: Rodriguez is the sitting Mayor (chosen by his colleagues for 2026, after also serving in 2022) and Lim served as Mayor in 2024-25. Neither incumbent's official biography publishes a stated 2026 campaign platform — both describe career background and current committee work rather than new proposals. None of the three challengers has published an independent platform or biography found in this pass; each is known only by the occupation and, where applicable, prior city role listed on the county's own candidate filing. ## Carlos Rodriguez Carlos Rodriguez is the incumbent Mayor, on the council since 2018 (Mayor Pro Tem in 2021 and 2024-25, Mayor in 2022 and 2026). He is Senior Vice President of the Building Industry Association of Southern California's Baldy View Chapter; his career also includes work as a senior executive at a statewide public affairs firm, a senior communications director in the California State Senate, and teaching communication courses at Cal State Fullerton. He holds a bachelor's degree from Cal State San Bernardino and a master's from Cal State Fullerton, and has served on the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board, the Southern California Association of Governments Transportation Committee, the city's Parks and Recreation Commission, and the California Commission on Aging. **Strengths:** The longest council tenure in this field, since 2018, including two terms as Mayor, plus regional board seats spanning air quality and transportation policy. **Trade-offs:** No stated 2026 platform beyond continuing his current committee work, so his case rests on record rather than a specific new agenda. **Keep in mind:** His current occupation is in industry advocacy for homebuilders (Building Industry Association), a sector directly affected by the land-use decisions this council makes — a relevant fact, not a claim of wrongdoing. ## Janice Lim Janice Lim is the incumbent Councilmember, on the council since 2023 and Mayor in 2024-25. Her career spans finance and real estate — as a senior financial analyst on projects including the Century Plaza Towers and Vista Del Verde, and in investment-analysis and land-use-planning roles at Charles Dunn Company, Trammell Crow Company, and JF Shea Companies, among others. She holds dual bachelor's degrees from USC's Marshall School of Business and School of Architecture, earned simultaneously, and has served on the boards of the Children's Hospital of Orange County Foundation and UCI's Claire Trevor School of the Arts, and on city committees covering transportation, waste management, and hazard mitigation. **Strengths:** A finance and real-estate career that includes land-use-planning work directly relevant to council decisions, plus service on city committees covering transportation, waste, and hazard mitigation. **Trade-offs:** No stated 2026 platform beyond continuing her current committee work, so her case rests on record rather than a specific new agenda. **Keep in mind:** A shorter council tenure than Rodriguez (since 2023 versus 2018), though she has already served a term as Mayor. ## Robert R. Pease II Robert R. Pease II is a challenger for one of the two council seats. Pease's filed ballot designation is "Professional Chemical Engineer." Beyond confirming their candidacy on the county's certified filing, no platform, biography, or prior city office was found for them in this pass. **Strengths:** No public source documents any relevant background, experience, or endorsement for Pease beyond their confirmed candidacy and filed occupation. **Trade-offs:** No published platform, prior city office, or public record to weigh against the other four candidates. **Keep in mind:** Nearly nothing beyond Pease's name and occupation is publicly confirmed; if their campaign publishes a platform, the weekly refresh will catch it. ## Sean Phayakapong Sean Phayakapong is a challenger for one of the two council seats. Phayakapong's filed ballot designation is "Engineer/Yorba Linda Commissioner," indicating current service on a city board or commission — but the city's own Boards & Commissions listing could not be reached in this pass, so which commission and in what role remain unconfirmed. Beyond the county's certified filing, no platform or independent biography was found for them. **Strengths:** Phayakapong's own filed ballot designation states current service as a Yorba Linda commissioner, suggesting some city-government involvement -- though which commission is unconfirmed. **Trade-offs:** No published platform, and no independent source could confirm or detail the commission service their ballot designation claims. **Keep in mind:** This is a documented sourcing gap (the city's commissions page returned an error when checked), not a claim that no such record exists. ## Raymond Potter Raymond Potter is a challenger for one of the two council seats. Potter's filed ballot designation is "Entrepreneur." Beyond confirming their candidacy on the county's certified filing, no platform, biography, or prior city office was found for them in this pass. **Strengths:** No public source documents any relevant background, experience, or endorsement for Potter beyond their confirmed candidacy and filed occupation. **Trade-offs:** No published platform, prior city office, or public record to weigh against the other four candidates. **Keep in mind:** Nearly nothing beyond Potter's name and occupation is publicly confirmed; if their campaign publishes a platform, the weekly refresh will catch it. ## Sources 1. [OC Registrar of Voters -- Contest/Candidate Proof List, General Election 11/3/2026 -- City of Yorba Linda section (pages 166-168 of 188, fetched directly and parsed locally with pypdf across all 188 pages, since a plain fetch returns undecodable PDF stream data): confirms exactly one "CITY OF YORBA LINDA Member, City Council" contest (Contest 529), ON BALLOT, Vote for 2, 5 qualified candidates -- incumbents Carlos Rodriguez and Janice Lim flagged "Elected," plus challengers Robert R. Pease II, Sean Phayakapong, and Raymond Potter -- with every candidate's filing date and filed ballot designation; no other Yorba Linda contest, including no separate Mayor contest, appears anywhere in the document](https://ocvote.gov/fileadmin/user_upload/data/candlog/GEN2026/candlog.pdf) 2. [City of Yorba Linda -- City Council page: confirms the sitting 5-member at-large Council (Carlos Rodriguez, Mayor; Peggy Huang, Mayor Pro Tem; Tara Campbell, Janice Lim, and Shivinder Singh, Councilmembers), 4-year terms with a three-consecutive-term limit, and the Mayor chosen annually by councilmembers from among themselves rather than directly elected](https://www.yorbalindaca.gov/190/City-Council) 3. [City of Yorba Linda -- official biography, Mayor Carlos Rodriguez: council service since 2018 (Mayor Pro Tem 2021 and 2024-25, Mayor 2022 and 2026), career at the Building Industry Association of Southern California and in California State Senate communications, CSUSB/CSUF education, and regional board seats (SCAQMD, SCAG)](https://www.yorbalindaca.gov/746/Council-Member-Carlos-Rodriguez) 4. [City of Yorba Linda -- official biography, Councilmember Janice Lim: council service since 2023 (Mayor 2024-25), finance and real-estate career, dual USC Marshall School of Business/School of Architecture degree, and community-board seats (CHOC Foundation, UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts)](https://www.yorbalindaca.gov/195/Council-Member-Janice-Lim) ## The rest of the ballot Yorba Linda 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, "Yorba Linda City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/yorba-linda-council (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026). 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