The incumbents in City Council races to represent the Hill and Leisure World will run unopposed.The deadline for candidates to file ended Friday, Aug. 10. No new candidates had filed in any of the three 2018 council races since Monday, Aug. 6.
Incumbent District Three Councilman and Mayor Mike Varipapa qualified to run on that date. Fellow incumbent Sandra Massa-Lavitt, of District Five, qualified on Aug. 6, the same date she filed papers, according to the Seal Beach City Clerk’s Office.
“It will be a unique experience to run unopposed,” said Massa-Lavitt. “It’s nice to know that the people that could have run against me didn’t because they have confidence in my ability to make decisions.”
Varipapa said: “I am pleased to be running unopposed but more importantly I am honored to serve the people of District 3 and the great city of Seal Beach. I look forward to four more years on the city council and working effectively with the city staff and council members Sustarsic, Moore and Massa-Lavitt and the newly elected District 1 council member – whom ever that may be.”
No new candidates filed in the District One (Old Town and Surfside Colony) race, which already has four contenders seeking to succeed Councilwoman Ellery Deaton, who concludes her second term this December.
The four District One candidates are: Peter Amundson, a small businessman from Surfside; and Old Town residents Joe Kalmick, a retired business owner; Scott Levitt, an attorney/business owner and John Waller, an entrepreneur and securities trader.
In Seal Beach, if a council candidate does not get 50 percent of the vote, plus one, the race goes into a runoff between the top two vote-getters.
