Three members of the Ceres City Council took their oaths of office on Monday to embark on new four-year terms and immediately got down to business with a light agenda.
New to the City Council are Daniel Martinez and Rosalinda Vierra while incumbent James Casey, also elected on Nov. 8, embarked on a full four-year term.
Martinez replaces Mike Kline who was appointed to fill the District 4 vacancy left by Couper Condit who resigned eight months into his term. Martinez won the election with 63.5 percent of the vote over John R. Osgood III who had 19.81 percent of the vote and David Carreon, with 16.69 percent. Martinez will only serve out the balance of Condit’s unexpired term which ends in November 2024.
Vierra fills an extended vacancy in District 2 that occurred in March when Linda Ryno resigned from office, citing the stress of serving with Mayor Javier Lopez and Vice Mayor Bret Silveira. Vierra defeated opponent Paula Redfern with 73 percent of the vote.
Casey won his second election in 14 months. He held onto his District 1 seat when he defeated Todd Underwood in a 75.12 percent to 24.88 percent outcome. Casey joined the council in a special election held in September 2021 to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Channce Condit.
Monday’s meeting included recognition for Mike Kline who volunteered to fill a council void in December 2021 at critical time in Ceres’ history. Kline was elected to the Ceres City Council in November 2011 and re-elected in 2015. His term ended in 2019. But when the council found itself deadlocked in who to appoint when Channce Condit resigned, they turned to Kline to fill the term on a short-term basis.
“I want to thank the good Lord for His guidance,” said an emotional Kline. “I want to thank my wife Tami for standing beside me and encourage me to fill this position when needed. Without her support this position would have been difficult to serve.”
He also thanked Lisa Mantarro Moore for encouraging him to accept his appointment to the council. He also thanked the mayor, present and past councilmembers for their support.
Accolades came from his fellow councilmembers and assorted city staff members.
The only substantive order of business was appointing two new members to the Ceres Planning Commission. Laurie Smith decided to retire from the commission and Daniel Martinez resigned due to his election to the council.
Appointed from the nine applicants were Cerina Otero and Ruldip “R.J.” Jammu.
Otero is a records clerk with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department. She was not present at Monday’s meeting.
A 2009 graduate of Ceres High School and U.C. Merced, Jammu is an engineer employed as superintendent of Electrical Services for PG&E. In his capacity he has worked with local planning jurisdictions.
Other applicants were David Carreon, Kelly Cerny, Anthony Flores, Alvaro Franco, Mohinder Kanda, Josh Steeley, Vincent Truffa and Juan Vazquez.
