Channce Condit officially left the Ceres City Council on Monday when he was sworn in as a new member of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.
Condit resigned from his Ceres City Council seat to take the District 2 supervisor’s role while his cousin once-removed Buck Condit now represents District 1, which covers the Oakdale, Riverbank areas.
Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Robert Westbrook conducted the swearing in ceremony while all three supervisors wore masks. Buck Condit congratulated the two others, joking that Hughson’s Vito Chiesa had a “real nail biter” race since he was unopposed to represent District 2.
Channce Condit expressed that society has experience turbulent times with the pandemic but expressed hopes “that better days are on the horizon.” He said he and his colleagues are up to the task of leading the county.
Going into his fourth term, Chiesa praised the professionalism and hard work of county staff members.
“I just look forward to exciting times ahead,” said Chiesa.
On Dec. 2 Manmeet “Mani” Grewal became a supervisor when he was installed to replace the late Tom Berryhill. He became the first Sikh American to serve on a Board of Supervisors in California.
Supervisor Terry Withrow of Modesto, who represents District 3, was not up for election in November.
Channce Condit defeated attorney Tom Hallinan of Ceres in an 18,616 to 12,409 vote outcome, or 60 percent to 40 percent.
Matthew “Buck” Condit, 51, who is son of Burl Condit of Ceres, defeated Bill Zoslocki in a 25,925 to 18,187 vote tally, or 58.77 percent to 41.23 percent. Buck has spent the last 33 years as a firefighter in Stanislaus County and has been a captain a captain with the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District for 20 years.
He said he will retire from the district now that he is a county supervisor.
The two new supervisors have stated that they won’t let family ties interfere with their votes. Buck Condit stated that both will have independent voices and views on county matters.
The District 1 vacancy on the Ceres City Council left by Condit will likely be filled by a council appointment. Filling the seat by a special election would cost the city. The council will officially decide on Jan. 11 the method of filling the seat. If an appointment is to be made, past practice calls for the solicitation of names of registered voters would be made from those only living in Council District 1. The district is located in the northwest section of Ceres, largely west of Moffet Road and north of Evans Road as it jogs down to pick up a finger down to Whitmore Avenue by following Caswell Avenue to Fifth Street. Interested residents will want to consult a map if they are unsure if they reside within District 1.
Also needing to be filled is the Ceres Planning Commission seat vacated by Bret Silveira who is now on the Ceres City Council. The terms of Bob Kachel and Gary Del Nero on the commission is also expiring.
Kachel and del Nero are applying to be reconsidered for a new appointment while four others want to be considered for a seat – Julio Madrigal, Daniel Martinez, Angie Duarte-Smith and Rafael Valencia. The candidates are in the process of being interviewed by a council subcommittee of Linda Ryno and Mayor Jose Lopez.
