This is how last seat on divided Ceres City Council should be filled

Voters should decide who will represent them on the divided Ceres City Council, in a summertime special election if needed.

It looks like it will be needed.

It’s rare that an elected panel like the Ceres Council can’t agree how to fill a vacant seat. It only happens when office holders with opposing views are hopelessly deadlocked and not one person is willing to give in.

Such is the case in Ceres. Former Councilman Channce Condit in November was elected to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, creating the vacancy. But the four remaining council members aren’t close to being on the same page.

It’s a division of old guard v. new, and the stakes are high, with the direction that Ceres might take hanging in the balance.

The old guard — Councilmembers Linda Ryno and Bret Silveira — make a compelling argument for filling the vacancy with Laurie Smith, a 14-year Ceres planning commissioner and longtime public servant whose day job is running Modesto’s parks and recreation department.

The new guard — Mayor Javier Lopez and Vice Mayor Couper Condit, Channce’s brother — were elected just in November. They see their ascension as a signal that voters are ready for change, for new blood and a fresh vision for Ceres, the third-largest of Stanislaus’ nine cities behind Modesto and Turlock.

Both sides know that the fifth council member will be a swing vote with power to settle differences between the old and new guards. That raises the selection of a fifth member — a ho-hum vote akin to housekeeping for panels with like-minded members — to urgency status.

Both sides also are right. Smith is the most experienced candidate, no question. But she’s not the right candidate if you value new direction above experience.

Lopez and Condit could be onto something.

Leadership changes from Stanislaus to White House

Change has been in the air, sweeping new leaders into office on many levels from the U.S. presidency to local leadership.

Prevailing outsiders include Modesto Mayor Sue Zwahlen’s landslide victory over former Councilman Doug Ridenour. Other examples include Buck Condit (the Ceres brothers’ cousin) beating Modesto Councilman Bill Zoslocki for another county supervisor seat, and Channce’s win over Tom Hallinan, a municipal attorney and former longtime elected community college representative.

No turnover was more stunning than Lopez’s victory over former Councilman Bret Durossette, considered by many the heir apparent to Ceres’ helm because of his 13 years on the council, against Lopez’s none. Faced with a stark choice between fresh and new versus tried and true, Ceres voters chose fresh and new by a margin of more than 11 percentage points.

So the idea that Ceres is ready for something different is every bit as compelling as Smith’s impressive resume.

When agencies are faced with such stalemates, the fix is as obvious as it is required by state law: a special election.

Both sides have appealed to the other’s sense of economic thrift, noting that a special election could cost Ceres about $40,000, and urging the other side to cave in to save that expense. The argument pales when taken in context — that Ceres’ very future is at a tipping point.

If the four council members fail to agree yet again at a March 4 special meeting, a special election could be scheduled around Aug. 31 among candidates yet to be announced. No doubt some will be cast as tried and true, and others, fresh and new. And the winner will be decided by voters in northwest Ceres’ District 1 — exactly as it should be.