Recently elected members of the Ceres City Council will be sworn into office Thursday evening but for the first time ever the public will not be allowed to attend. The event will be viewable on Zoom at 5:30 p.m..

Political newcomer Javier Lopez was elected mayor on Nov. 3 in a contest against Councilman Bret Durossette. Lopez succeeds Chris Vierra who has served as mayor since 2011. 

Also new to the council are:

• Planning Commissioner Bret Silveira who won with 1,900 votes, edging out Juan Pablo Vazquez who collected 1,325 votes. Third and fourth place finishers, respectively, were Mohinder Singh Kanda with 807 votes and Brandy Meyer with 708 votes. Silveira assumed the District 3 being vacated by Durossette.

• Former Planning Commissioner Couper Condit who defeated Mike Kline in his bid to stay in the District 4 seat. Condit received 1,229 votes to Kline’s 757 votes. Eric Gonzalez received 626 votes while Daniel Martinez received 606 votes.

The Council District 1 seat will be vacant until it’s either filled by appointment or a special election is held. Channce Condit is leaving midway into his term after being elected to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors District 5 seat. He replaces Jim DeMartini, who decided to step down after 16 years of service. Condit defeated attorney Tom Hallinan in a 60 percent to 40 percent advantage. The final vote tally showed Condit receiving 18,616 votes to Hallinan’s 12,409 votes.