Lacking candidates, Hesperia City Council cancels November election, appoints new member

For the first time since Hesperia's incorporation in 1988, the City Council has voted to cancel its November election because no qualified candidates came forth to run in any of the three districts where seats were up for reelection. 

The council’s 5-0 vote during a special meeting on Wednesday means incumbents Brigit Bennington in District 4 and Cameron Gregg in District 3 will retain their seats for four more years by appointment. Bennington is currently serving as mayor. Neither of them attracted a challenger.

In District 2, Bill Holland chose not to seek a fourth term. He was first elected in 2010. He is currently serving as mayor pro team. 

The city invited District 2 seat nominees to apply after no qualified candidates were found after the Aug. 12 filing deadline with the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters.

During the meeting, the council interviewed seven council nominees and ultimately voted unanimously to appoint businesswoman Allison Lee to the District 2 seat.

In December, Lee will replace Holland. 

Lee was among seven qualified residents, including the incumbents, who were registered voters in their districts and who pulled nomination papers and gathered the required amount of valid signatures. 

During the interview process for District 2, Lee told the council that she was a 22-year resident of Hesperia and that she and her husband, Chris, own a small automotive repair shop.

Lee said if elected, she’d use her decades of business experience to help find workable solutions for the various issues the community will face in the future. 

“I look forward to building infrastructure, focusing on public safety and working on the fiscal health of the city,” said Lee, who admitted she had no government oversight experience but would learn “a lot as I go.”

The Lees have two adult children and a teenage granddaughter.

The other District 2 nominees that come forward to be interviewed included Seth Levi Caveyo, Christopher Sevy, David Bashar Ellis, David Heredia, Andres Rodriguez and Selina Gomez. 

The cancellation of the election will result in the city saving an estimated $130,000, earmarked for consolidated election costs, according to the council.

Bennington and Gregg

In July 2018, Bennington came up short behind former Councilman Jeremiah Brosowske in an interview process by the council to fill the vacant seat of Mayor Russ Blewett, 74, who died two months earlier.

During the November 2018 election, Bennington initially took a lead in the tight, two-candidate race for District 4, but Brosowske eventually pulled ahead and defeated her.

In 2019, Bennington was appointed to her council seat to fill the vacancy left by Brosowske, who was voted off the dais by the council in September.

The following year, Bennington won her council seat when she ran unopposed.

Gregg was first elected in 2018.

City Attorney Eric Dunn said he knew of two other cities that also selected a city council member because of a lack of nominees.

Holland told the Daily Press on Thursday that he chose not to seek reelection because the redrawn district maps selected in 2022 left him residing in District 1, represented by Councilwoman Rebekah Swanson. 

“After 12 years on the council, it’s time for somebody new to come in with new blood, new energy and new ideas,” Holland said. “I have another two months on the council before I ride off into the sunset.”

During the first week of December, the council will bid farewell to Holland, adjourn, then reconvene. Lee will then be sworn in and the council will select a new mayor and mayor pro tem from among themselves. 

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz