New mayor vacates Madera City Council seat. Here’s who could be appointed next
Hoping to avoid a costly special election, Madera City Councilmembers nominated two residents to fill the District 1 seat vacated by Mayor Cece Gallegos after the November election.
Tim Riché, nominated by Gallegos, and Rohi Zacharia, nominated by District 2 Councilmember Jose Rodriguez, are scheduled to go through a public interview process during Wednesday’s City Council meeting before a potential vote to decide who will fill the seat. Each will speak for five minutes and take questions from councilmembers.
The vacancy of the District 1 seat means there are six votes on the council right now, creating the possibility for the voting body to gridlock on decisions. The council has until Feb. 2, a Sunday, to either fill the vacant seat or call a special election, which could cost the city an estimated $40,000.
Gallegos held the District 1 seat since 2016 prior to winning last month’s contested mayoral election. Major residential growth is expected in this northwest Madera district that will be home to Village D, a master-planned community that could add commercial storefronts, three elementary schools and more than 10,000 homes at full buildout.
District 1 is geographically the city’s largest, stretching to Avenue 14 on its southernmost boundary, past Road 22 1/2 on its westernmost boundary, past Avenue 17 on its northernmost boundary and to Pine Street on its easternmost boundary. It includes the Madera Municipal Airport, golf course and a portion on the Fresno River.
“It’s the most vocal,” Gallegos said of District 1 during the Dec. 2 meeting. “They have a lot of concerns. Their voices are heard.”
The nominees
Riché, 51, who Gallegos nominated, is the Work Experience program director at Madera Unified. He has a master’s degree in educational leadership from Fresno Pacific University and a bachelor’s degree from Fresno State. He is a member of the Madera County Workforce Investment Board, president of the Valley PBS Community Advisors Board and treasurer of the Madera Olive Foundation, which supports survivors of sex trafficking. Riché previously served on the city’s Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Council.
When it comes to District 1, he said he would like to focus a well-executed integration of Village D into the city, making it not just a neighborhood but a part of the community. Riché’s said another goal is to add more spaces for children to gather and play, pointing out that there is only one park in District 1 north of the Fresno River.
When it comes to a city-wide focus, “we need to strenthen our retention of police officers in Madera,” Riché said. “And the other one is we need to make it an easier place for people to do business ... and we need to figure out ways to make the city more accessible for those builders and contractors.”
Zacharia, 43, who Councilmember Rodriguez nominated, is a member of the city’s Planning Commission. He works for Zaks Security One in Madera and has also served as president of the Greater Madera Kiwanis Club. Zacharia holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Fresno State.
He said serving on the City Council is a jump that makes sense and would allow him to continue work he’s already doing on the Planning Commission in a larger capacity. Zacharia commended Gallegos on her accomplishments as District 1 councilmember and said he wants to build on her success.
The city of Madera is attempting to revitalize its downtown area and has several planned developments. “How that all ties together and, maybe, the new business opportunities that come along because of those developments is something I would like to focus on,” Zacharia said.
Avoiding a 2021 repeat
The City Council only has two regular meetings— Wednesday and one in January — before its Feb. 2 deadline.
Councilmembers closed nominations and opted not to authorize an open application period that could have drawn more potential applicants for the seat. But the Madera City Attorney’s office told The Bee in an email that the “Council retains the option to open the process to additional candidates.”
If necessary, “Council may need to call for special meetings,” the City Attorney’s office said.
If the City Council cannot decide who to appoint to the District 1 seat, it will have to call for a special election. Councilmembers have expressed concern over the cost of a special election and the fact that it could not happen until next November, leaving the District 1 seat vacant until then.
A similar situation happened after Santos Garcia’s election to the mayor’s seat in November 2020 left the District 5 seat vacant. The City Council gridlocked on nominees for that seat in January 2021, forcing a District 5 special election later that year, when Councilmember Elsa Mejia was elected.
“As a resident of District 5, whose district seat was vacant for a whole year, and there was silence in that seat for a whole year, I definitely would not be in favor of a special election,” Mejia said. “In addition to the cost, we all know that when we don’t have a voice here speaking for us, government is slow, and it gets even slower.”
This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
