A surprise challenge for a LAFCO seat stands to shift the balance of power.

As candidates start campaigning for elections this year, voter outreach is already underway. But there is another election currently happening for a position that wields considerable local influence, even if it’s not in the spotlight. The Local Agency Formation Commission of Monterey County (LAFCO) regulates boundaries of cities and other government jurisdictions, like water boards and fire districts. Its decisions are rarely uncomplicated, and sometimes quite political.

The seven-member commission is composed of a specific mix of representatives: two are members of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors; two are city council members from Monterey County’s 12 cities; one is a public member, unaffiliated with any local government agency; and two are from one of Monterey County’s 42 special districts.

Each of these positions is selected in its unique way. With a four-year term coming to an end this May, there are four candidates on the ballot seeking a special district position on LAFCO. Each special district is invited to vote for a candidate and the highest vote-getter will become the next special district commissioner.

(After that, a second ballot will circulate for an alternate. David Kong, the current alternate on LAFCO and a member of the Greenfield Cemetery District and the Greenfield Public Recreation District, is seeking reappointment as an alternate – while his name is one of the four that appears on the ballot, he is running for second place, something he almost definitely will win. Bill Lipe, of the Resource Conservation District, is also seeking appointment as an alternate.)

Mary Ann Leffel of the Monterey Regional Airport District board of directors is seeking another four-year term, even after she drew criticism after voting against granting authority to the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District to become a water retailer in its journey to take over California American Water. That vote on LAFCO prompted a halfhearted (and failed) attempt to recall her from the MRY board, and she was reelected to that seat in 2024.

But now she faces a challenge from one of her own MRY colleagues, Jonathan Ahmadi. The relative newcomer to Monterey County was elected in 2024 to the airport board, and now is seeking a seat on LAFCO.

“I knew it could create a bit of a stir,” Ahmadi says – but he decided to throw his hat in the ring anyway.

He joined his own special district board, MRY, in voting for Leffel on their ballot – a class act in expressing solidarity after he realized she was a shoo-in.

“It’s important that people run for the positions they believe they are qualified for,” Leffel says.

She is so far the clear front-runner, earning votes from at least 10 districts including Castroville Community Services, Monterey County Regional Fire, Mosquito Abatement District and others. Ahmadi has secured votes from just three, Carmel Valley Parks & Rec, Cypress Fire and Marina Coast Water District. 

Ahmadi would bring a different kind of politics to LAFCO than Leffel, a more progressive vision for what the county can look like. His campaign platform, however, is focused less on politics and more on listening: As he addresses special district boards – which have until March 6 to return their ballots – he says he’s found some special district reps seem to have no idea that they even have two LAFCO seats.

“I have an opportunity to try to make a difference,” Ahmadi says. “I am not going to sit on the sidelines, even if there’s a political cost. The stakes are too great. We’d be a lot better off if more people stepped up.”

You too can step up and self-nominate to serve on LAFCO. The public member term ends in May, and the deadline to apply is Friday, Feb. 20. The only qualification is that you “have an interest in the operation and organization of local governments,” according to LAFCO’s criteria.

“It is not enough for us as voters to just vote,” Ahmadi says. “We need to be engaged in the power structures in our community if we want to make meaningful change.”

Nowhere is that more true than right here at the local level, in the sometimes esoteric corners of government.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com.