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City of Yountville · Statewide General Election

Yountville Town 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 hold one of two seats up this cycle on Yountville's 5-member Town Council (elected at-large) -- town ordinances, the budget, and land use for this Napa County town of about 3,400 residents. A 4-year term.

Five candidates are running for two seats on the Yountville Town Council: incumbents Robin McKee and Hillery Bolt Trippe, and challengers Jessi Bugden, Matthew Chrzanowski, and Jill Turner.

Yountville's Town Council has five members -- an at-large Mayor plus four Council Members, all elected separately by the town's roughly 3,400 residents -- serving staggered 4-year terms. Two Council seats are up this November, alongside the separate Mayor's race.

The central issue in this race is the Yountville Commons, a proposed workforce-housing project on the former Yountville Elementary School site. A resident-led referendum paused the town's zoning approval for it in March 2026, and candidates are split on what comes next -- McKee wants to "scrap it and start over," while Turner wants to "advance the Yountville Commons project." Whoever gets the two highest vote totals wins the two seats outright, with no runoff.

Robin McKee

McKee is seeking a second term after four years on the council. In her filed candidate statement, she says tourism and local businesses are essential to Yountville but "must carry equal weight with resident needs, health and wellness -- not come before them." On the Yountville Commons project, she has called for the town to "scrap it and start over with a plan that reflects our town and our employees' needs." She has an extensive, government-authored biography on the town's own bios page covering her career, education, and committee assignments.

Strengths

Four years of current council experience, plus a clearly stated, specific position on this cycle's central issue (restarting the Commons project).

Trade-offs

Her call to scrap and restart the town's most significant pending development project means more delay before any workforce housing gets built, whatever its merits otherwise.

Keep in mind

In May 2026 she publicly apologized for what she called inappropriate behavior from the dais at a prior council meeting -- worth weighing alongside her policy positions.

Hillery Bolt Trippe

Trippe, a business attorney and former risk-management executive, is seeking a second term. Her filed candidate statement centers on integrity, accountability, and public deliberation -- she says important town issues should be discussed "openly and thoroughly" at public meetings, advocates creating citizen advisory committees to help shape policy, and supports affordable housing and "ongoing stewardship of the town finances." At an August 2026 council meeting, she pressed town staff for more transparency around a $2 million Commons-project contract and a departing town manager's severance package. She has an extensive, government-authored biography on the town's own bios page.

Strengths

Professional legal and risk-management background, four years of council experience, and a documented, active record of pressing for financial transparency on the dais.

Trade-offs

Was publicly criticized by the Vice Mayor at a prior council meeting over how she has questioned colleagues' motives -- a sign of real friction on the current council.

Keep in mind

Her push for competitive-bidding rules and severance-package answers puts her at the center of this cycle's transparency debate, alongside challenger Jill Turner.

Jessi Bugden

Bugden is a registered nurse and, by her own description, a younger resident who would bring "fresh energy" to town government. The Press Democrat's own staff reporting independently identifies her as the Yountville resident who organized and submitted the March 2026 referendum petition that paused the town's zoning approval for the Yountville Commons project, gathering more signatures than the roughly 200 (10% of voters) required. Her filed candidate statement emphasizes fiscal responsibility, transparency, and wanting residents "genuinely included" in civic decisions.

Strengths

A concrete, independently-verified record of civic organizing -- successfully forcing a town-wide reconsideration of its most contested development project.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed office; her statement doesn't say what she'd want to see happen with the Commons project instead, only that residents should be more included in deciding.

Keep in mind

Her campaign is inseparable from the referendum fight -- worth asking directly what plan she'd support if elected, not just what she opposed.

Matthew Chrzanowski

Chrzanowski holds a PhD in chemistry from Case Western Reserve University (research on organogold and organoboron compounds) and a BS from the University of South Florida, per his own campaign site. He has worked in the Napa Valley wine industry at Realm Cellars and Ovid on climate-resilient winegrowing research, and was previously a science educator. His filed candidate statement points to his doctorate as preparation for evaluating evidence and solving problems, his teaching background as strengthening his communication skills, and his wine-industry work as giving him business insight; he emphasizes listening, collaboration, and approaching challenges "from different perspectives."

Strengths

A research-scientist's problem-solving background paired with direct, local wine-industry experience relevant to Yountville's economy.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed local office; his statement is broad on approach (listening, collaboration) without a specific position on the Commons project.

Keep in mind

Of the three challengers, he's the only one without a specific stated position on this cycle's central Commons-project fight -- worth asking him directly.

Jill Turner

Turner is a businessperson and longtime Yountville homeowner (since 1998), founder of Rodin & Shelley Associates, a marketing, PR, property-management, and investment-consulting firm, with an earlier career at Colgate-Palmolive, the Botsford-Ketchum ad agency, and as VP of Marketing at World Savings, per her own campaign site. At an August 2026 council meeting, the Yountville Sun independently reported that she read a public-comment letter questioning a six-figure severance payment to the town's former manager, asking directly, "Why was he paid severance that he was not entitled to receive?" Her filed candidate statement says she wants to help "advance the Yountville Commons project" and strengthen engagement among residents, businesses, and veterans.

Strengths

A marketing and business-consulting background plus a documented, public record of pressing town officials for financial transparency.

Trade-offs

No prior elected or appointed local office; her support for advancing the Commons project puts her at odds with McKee's call to restart it from scratch.

Keep in mind

Her transparency push (the severance-package questions) mirrors incumbent Trippe's -- but her Commons-project position (advance it) is the opposite of McKee's (scrap it) -- a real policy fork for voters.

Source review: Strong (86/100) · 13 cited sources

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

  • napacounty.gov (opens in a new tab)Napa County Registrar of Voters (John Tuteur) -- "Roster of Candidates, Qualified Candidates Only" (CFMR037), General Election 11/3/2026, print date 2026-08-13: Contest 5071 (City Council District 1, City of Napa) lists one qualified candidate, Christopher DeNatale ("Appointed Incumbent"), flagged "On Ballot: Yes." Contest 5073 (District 3) lists two qualified candidates, Mary Luros ("Councilmember/Attorney/Mom") and Jim Hinton ("Caregiver"), both "On Ballot: Yes," both with a candidate statement filed.
  • townofyountville.com (opens in a new tab)Town of Yountville -- "2026 Elections" page: "Three positions will be on the ballot in November 2026: the Mayor seat and two Council Member seats." Names Marjorie Mohler and Joe Tagliaboschi for Mayor, and Jessi Bugden, Matthew Chrzanowski, Robin McKee, Hillery Bolt Trippe, and Jill Turner for Council Member; gives the nomination-period dates (July 13-Aug 7, 2026) and links each candidate's NetFile campaign-finance page.
  • townofyountville.com (opens in a new tab)Town of Yountville -- official "Mayor and Council Members Bios" page: Mayor Margie Mohler "was elected as Mayor of the Town of Yountville on November 8, 2022," having previously served on the Town Council since 2008. B.A. in Microbiology, University of Kansas; graduate studies at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Career at UC Riverside (from 1977), Genentech (from 1984), and Johnson & Johnson (pharmaceutical development); founded Ciencia Group, LLC, a drug-development consulting firm, in 1999. Serves on the Cal Cities Environmental Quality Policy Committee, the Napa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Board, and the Napa Valley Transportation Authority.
  • townofyountville.com (opens in a new tab)Town of Yountville -- "November 2026 Elections Notices" page, linking Resolution 26-4427 calling the November 3, 2026 general municipal election for the Mayor's seat and two Council Member seats (plus Measure Y, a town appropriation-limit measure this dataset does not render).
  • pressdemocrat.com (opens in a new tab)The Press Democrat (byline Edward Booth) -- "Here's who is running for Napa County's council, mayoral seats in 2026 election" (published online Aug. 11, 2026): independently corroborates District 1's geography (north of Trancas Street and Redwood Road) and DeNatale's unopposed status; District 3's geography (the city's eastern area) and the Luros-Hinton contest, including Luros's 2015 appointment / 2018 election / 2022 unopposed run and Hinton's prior candidacy (finishing near 5.6% of the vote) and history of attending Council meetings.
  • napavalleyregister.com (opens in a new tab)Napa Valley Register -- "Who'll lead Yountville next? Election forum set for Sept. 21" (byline Register Staff, published Aug. 30, 2026): the Yountville Chamber of Commerce is hosting a candidate forum Sept. 21, 2026; names "incumbent Marjorie Mohler and Joe Tagliaboschi" for Mayor and "Jessi Bugden, Matthew Chrzanowski, Jill Turner, and incumbents Robin McKee and Hillery Bolt Trippe" for Council -- an exact, independent match to the town's own election page and the county's certified roster.
  • yountvillesun.com (opens in a new tab)Yountville Sun (byline Lisa Adams Walter) -- "Yountville Candidates outline priorities in mayor, council races" (published Aug. 27, 2026): reports on the candidate statements filed by all seven mayor and council candidates. For Council: Bugden, "a registered nurse," emphasizes fiscal responsibility, transparency, and being a younger resident bringing "fresh energy"; Chrzanowski cites his chemistry PhD, teaching experience, and wine-industry work, emphasizing listening and collaboration; McKee (seeking a second term) says tourism "must carry equal weight with resident needs" and that the town should "scrap" the Yountville Commons housing project "and start over"; Trippe (seeking a second term, a business attorney and former risk-management executive) centers integrity, accountability, and public deliberation, and advocates citizen advisory committees; Turner, "a businessperson and longtime Yountville homeowner," cites her marketing/consulting/property-management background and says she wants to help "advance the Yountville Commons project."
  • pressdemocrat.com (opens in a new tab)The Press Democrat (byline Edward Booth) -- "Referendum against proposed Yountville workforce housing pauses project questioned by Thomas Keller and others" (published Mar. 18, 2026): reports that a referendum against the Yountville Commons workforce-housing project "was submitted to the town on March 3 and organized by Yountville resident Jessi Bugden," gathering more than the 200 signatures required (at least 10% of Yountville voters) to pause the town's zoning-change ordinance for the project.
  • mattchrz.com (opens in a new tab)Matt Chrzanowski for Yountville Town Council -- his own campaign site (mattchrz.com): PhD in chemistry (Case Western Reserve University, organogold/organoboron compounds), BS from the University of South Florida; worked at Realm Cellars and Ovid in the Napa Valley wine industry doing R&D on climate-resilient winegrowing; former science educator; moved to Napa Valley after his daughter was born.
  • jillforyountville.com (opens in a new tab)Jill Turner for Yountville Town Council -- her own campaign site (jillforyountville.com): founder of Rodin & Shelley Associates (marketing/PR/property-management/investment consulting); prior career at Colgate-Palmolive, the Botsford-Ketchum ad agency, and as VP of Marketing at World Savings; degrees from the University of Denver, University of Strasbourg, and Thunderbird School of Global Management; a Yountville homeowner since 1998; six years on the Vintage community board.
  • yountvillesun.com (opens in a new tab)Yountville Sun (byline Kimberly Cook & Lisa Adams Walter) -- "Calls for civility, transparency dominate Yountville Town Council meeting" (published Aug. 6, 2026): reports on an Aug. 4 council meeting where residents pressed for meeting decorum, questioned a six-figure severance payment to the former town manager, and sought more financial oversight; Jill Turner is reported reading a public-comment letter questioning the severance package.
  • en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia -- "Yountville, California": 2020 Census population 3,436 (up 17.1% from the prior decade); "The Town of Yountville has a council-manager form of government."
  • netfile.com (opens in a new tab)NetFile public campaign-finance portal for the Town of Yountville (agency code TOY) -- a negative-result access attempt: each of the seven candidates' filing pages linked from the town's own election page loads only a client-rendered "Public Portal" shell with no server-rendered filing data reachable by this session's fetch tooling.

Last updated September 2, 2026.