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Capitola

Capitola to appoint a new council member and vice mayor

By , ,
May 22, 2025 10:28 PM
Published 3:22 PM

CAPITOLA, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The Capitola City Council is set to appoint a new council member and vice mayor at their meeting Thursday night.

The city's former vice mayor, Alexander Pederson, resigned back on May 8th, leaving a vacancy that needs to be filled.

Through an application process, the city has received 14 qualified candidates and will be voting on the next councilmember using ranked choice voting.

Once a new council member is appointed, the council will then nominate and appoint the new vice mayor.

With a vacant city council seat, Capitola begins to weigh its options

CAPITOLA, Calif. (KION-TV) - The Capitola City Council decided on an application process to fill the vacant seat left by Vice Mayor Alexander Pederson, who resigned in early May.

If you would like to apply, you can fill out an application at https://www.cityofcapitola.org/ . The application period will go from May 27th to June 3rd, with community members who applied to join the council in January invited to reapply.

Applicants will be required to attend the June 12th city council meeting, where council members will discuss applicants before voting to appoint one of them. That applicant will be sworn in at that council meeting. As with the last appointment in January, the new member will be asked not to run for office again in 2026.

Original Article - The Capitola City Council is discussing options to fill the vacant seat left by Vice Mayor Alexander Pedersen, who recently resigned.

A city report indicates the council will seek one of two options at their Thursday night meeting.

The first option would be holding a special election

Another option would be appointing someone to serve the remainder of the term, which ends in December 2026.

When former mayor Yvette Brooks resigned in January, the council allowed interested people to apply for two weeks, then selected a new council member.

The city estimates a special election could cost up to $54,000.

Under state law, the council must choose one of the two options no later than July 7. 

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Sergio Berrueta

Sergio Berrueta has been in the news for quite awhile going from studying print media to entering the realm of broadcast.

Originally from Bell Gardens, California, in Southeast Los Angeles. Berrueta started his professional news career in Eureka as a newscast producer for North Coast News (now The Northstate’s News) at KAEF ABC 23 in 2022. He pivoted a year later in 2022 going from behind-the-scenes to in front of the camera as a multimedia journalist for Redwood News Channel 3 (KIEM/KVIQ) also in Eureka.

Berrueta studied journalism at Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) earning his Bachelor’s Degree. Berrueta was a staff writer, page editor, social media manager and editor-in-chief of the university’s El Lenador, the only bilingual publication in all of Humboldt County.

Before moving to the North Coast, Berrueta had earned his Associate’s Degree at East Los Angeles College in 2019 after beginning his educational journey in 2012. He also was on staff for the ELAC’s publication, ELAC Campus News, having been a staff writer, page editor, and online editor.

Outside of news experience, Berrueta has also been in education as an AmeriCorps tutor in East Hollywood from 2017 to 2019 and served in a government role as a National Hometown Fellow for Lead for America with the City of Arcata in 2021.

When not focusing on news, Berrueta is an avid amateur cinephile having written about films in free time. He also writes poetry, attempting to get through a backlog of video games, enjoys visiting new places along the California Coast, and trying to keep up with the latest music and podcasts.

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Jeanette Bent

I’ve been an international professional writer and performer for over 25 years. With a background in journalism, creative writing, dance and aerial, I find the intersection between all of these skills lands itself somewhere under the term “storytelling.”

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Mickey Adams

Morning Producer for KION News Channel 5/46

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