The political season for Garden Grove, Stanton and Westminster starts Monday in races for city council seats and school board posts in the Nov. 6 election.
For city council posts, the nomination period begins on July 16 and continues through Aug. 10 at 5 p.m. If an incumbent hasn’t filed by that date, the nomination period will be extended to Aug. 15.
In Garden Grove, the seats open will be the mayor’s post (now held by Bill Dalton, who is “termed out”) and those held by Councilmen Kris Beard and Steve Jones.
Garden Grove voters will also be asked to approve an increase in the hotel visitors’ tax from 13 to 14.5 percent.
In Westminster, three city council spots are also contended. Long-time mayor Margie Rice has announced she will not seek another term. Rice was first elected mayor in 2000.
Other council seats up for grabs will be those held by Frank Fry and Tyler Diep. Fry has also announced he will not seek re-election. He has been on the council since he was first elected in 1966.
Stanton will elect two members to its council. Seats now held by Carol Warren and Al Ethans may be contested.
In the Garden Grove Unified School District, seats held by Linda Reed, George West and Bao Nguyen will be up for election. The GGUSD serves most of Garden Grove and parts of Stanton and Westminster as well as other cities.
The Westminster School District, which operates elementary and middle schools in most of Westminster (and a part of Garden Grove), will have to fill seats held by Sergio Contreras and Jo-Ann Purcell.
