Three candidates are vying for two council seats in Del Rey Oaks while the mayor is running unopposed.

As Del Rey Oaks voters approach the Nov. 3 election, they won’t have a choice between candidates for mayor since Mayor Scott Donaldson is running unopposed for the second time, but they do have a choice between three candidates for two seats.

The contenders for those two four-year seats are incumbent Jeremy Hallock, civil engineer Cheryl Parker and community volunteer Shelley Cabanillas.

This is the second go around for Hallock, a general contractor who won his seat in 2022, after serving on the city’s Planning Commission. According to his candidate statement, he said he will remain focused on fiscal responsibility, transparent government and “thoughtful development.”

“I am seeking another term because there is still important work to do,” he said.

One of the top challenges facing the city includes the impact of construction of the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway, FORTAG, on the city, Hallock tells the Weekly.

“While we understood that we’d need to endure certain changes and related conditions, the project has come with its share of delays and complications beyond expectation,” he says. "The city needs to hold agencies accountable in seeing that the work is finished as quickly as possible.”

Hallock says he intends to champion that effort and ensure that “DRO is presented with a capital improvement project that proves to be an asset, rather than a liability to our community.”

When the project is finally done, he says he expects to do several laps around the Frog Pond on his bike and enjoy some quiet in the redwood grove.

Another challenge facing the city, Hallock says, is potential housing built on former Fort Ord land, which he acknowledges has “gone nowhere.” He points to the hope that recent discussions with a “very reputable and entirely capable development team,” will prove fruitful in developing the land, possibly within the next four years. He says public participation in the process will be important.

Long term, Hallock sees new residential districts, restaurants, cafes, galleries, boutiques, entertainment venues, parks and other amenities that will bring revenue to the city.

Parker says she’s running because as a public servant for nearly all of her career she’d like to continue “in that spirit of service, as a councilmember." She believes her 18 years as a civil engineer gives her the technical background in public infrastructure, something she believes is missing in DRO’s small government that lacks an engineering department on staff.

She believes there has been a pattern of the city not listening to residents—she says city staff waived off her offers to help on an engineering issue—and that frustration led her to running for council.

Parker lists development of city property on the former Fort Ord for affordable housing as a top issue, as well as developing new revenue streams with businesses that add to the City’s coffers but also serves and benefits residents.

Like Hallock, Parker notes the toll that FORTAG construction has taken on residents, which she credits in part to the lack of an on-staff city engineer.

“I see gaps where the city failed to do enough up front to plan for that impact or help residents live with it,” she says.

Parker says she and her family are already using the trail to walk to Safeway and is excited to not have to play “real-life Frogger,” to get across Canyon Del Rey to reach the Frog Pond.

“That’s exactly why completing this project matters so much: Once it’s finished, being able to move around town without fighting that road is going to be amazing,” Parker says.

Cabanillas says she’s running because she wants to give back to the city that’s been her home for the past 15 years as she’s raised three girls.

“Being of mixed heritage, I also would be proud to represent the Latina community on the council, if elected,” she says. She points to experience in working with people, including in the past as a counselor, as well as collaborating with, leading and mentoring others in her work as a community volunteer.

FORTAG is also at the top of Cabanillas' list of challenges to the city. Like Hallock, she says she would work to see that the finished product is built to the level that was promised by the Transportation Agency for Monterey County.

Increasing financial revenue to meet rising costs is another top issue for Cabanillas, as well as how the city will oversee the building of homes on the former Fort Ord land.

“I’d like to see the right mix of housing, single/multi-family residences, with the right density,” she says, adding that it’s important to maintain the city’s family-friendly character.

All three candidates say that character and the people who have made the city their home is what makes Del Rey Oaks special.

Cabanillas says she doesn’t know the other candidates well enough to endorse one or the other and Hallock declined to state, saying he wants to cast his vote for someone who genuinely loves DRO and its residents. Parker says she’s not endorsing either Hallock or Cabanillas.

Donaldson has served two terms for mayor since 2022, when he unseated former mayor Alison Kerr, midway through his four-year term as a councilmember. The U.S. Army veteran who moved to the city in 2016 served on the DRO Planning Commission before that. 

Like the council candidates, Donaldson lists FORTAG as a main challenge for the city. He says they must insist on “receiving a quality product built to the standards promised.”

He also lists keeping expenditures in check while seeking new revenue sources as a challenge, along with meeting state housing unit requirements, upgrading South Boundary Road and attracting business opportunities there.

The mayor declined to state if he’s supporting a council candidate, saying instead that “turmoil is a thing of the past. Any candidate who recognizes that success, and will build upon it, deserves to be on the council.”

As for how he’ll mark the completion of FORTAG, he plans to do it “with an overdue ribbon cutting.”