Calistoga will not hold a city election this November. With exactly three candidates filing for three open council seats, the city council voted yesterday to cancel the race entirely and appoint Kevin Eisenberg as the town's next mayor, alongside two council colleagues, without a single ballot being cast.
The vote, taken at a special meeting that lasted roughly six minutes, installed Eisenberg as mayor, reappointed Scott Cooper to a second four-year council term, and brought newcomer Lana Richardson onto the council for a four-year term, according to The Press Democrat. Because Eisenberg and Cooper were themselves candidates, both were recused from the decision, leaving the appointment to pass 3-0 with votes from outgoing Mayor Donald Williams, Vice Mayor Lisa Gift, and Councilmember Irais Lopez-Ortega, according to Calistoga Currents. Eisenberg and Cooper were both entirely absent from yesterday's meeting.
California Elections Code Section 10229 allows a city council to appoint uncontested candidates rather than hold an election, as long as the number of nominees does not exceed the number of open seats and the appointment happens by the 75th day before the election, according to Justia Law. That deadline also legally cuts off the door to any last-minute write-in campaign. City staff estimated that canceling Calistoga's November 3 election would save the city between $35,000 and $60,000, per the same staff report cited by the Press Democrat.
Why the Mayor's Seat Opened Up
The mayoral vacancy traces back to July, when incumbent Mayor Donald Williams announced he would not seek re-election, creating Calistoga's first open mayoral seat since 2022, as reported by Calistoga Currents. That announcement prompted Councilmember Eisenberg, first elected to the council in 2022, to run for mayor rather than seek another council term, leaving his own seat open alongside Cooper's and creating three total vacancies for the fall ballot.
During the meeting, three council members present described canceling the election as fiscally responsible, noting that nobody else had stepped up to run. Vice Mayor Gift, who is not up for election herself, encouraged residents willing to invest the time to run for office in the future, and said, per The Press Democrat, “It’s important that we have a voice representing all members of our community, and not just one very specific group.” Gift also expressed gratitude that Richardson had stepped up to serve on the council.
Who Is Taking Office
Eisenberg moved to Calistoga in 1994 and spent 13 years as principal of Calistoga Elementary School before becoming principal of Calistoga Junior/Senior High School, according to the Napa Valley Transportation Authority. He also served as Rotary District Governor for Northwestern California in 2014-15. He will begin a two-year mayoral term in January, after campaigning on a pledge to update and strictly enforce Calistoga's 1996 formula business ordinance restricting chain stores, while prioritizing workforce housing and infrastructure investments, per Calistoga Currents.
Richardson moved to Calistoga from the East Bay area around Walnut Creek roughly three decades ago and has served on the city's Housing Advisory Committee since 2021, where she worked on Calistoga's 2023-2031 housing element outlining how the city will accommodate various types of housing. She founded Gourmet Retreats at Casalana, which combined culinary classes with a vacation getaway. Richardson has said the city needs more engagement with its Latino population, which, per U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimates, makes up 50.2% of Calistoga's 5,111 residents, with non-Hispanic white residents at 47.2% and a median age of 49.7.
The Fairgrounds Looms Large
Richardson has said she plans to prioritize long-term planning for the 70.6-acre Calistoga Fairgrounds property, including pursuing grant opportunities and developing a master plan for the site. Calistoga purchased the fairgrounds from Napa County for $2 million in early 2024 after years of negotiations, following the state's 2011 elimination of funding for county fairgrounds, according to Napa County. The land was originally assembled between 1935 and 1976 using state horse-racing tax revenues.
How the incoming council handles that property is already a point of local tension. The city tabled a fairgrounds lease proposal in July over traffic and master-planning concerns, a decision that contributed to Calistoga losing its only community preschool when Hearts and Hands Preschool lost its lease and could not secure a city-owned relocation space, as Hoodline previously reported.
Housing Targets Still Loom
The incoming council also inherits state-mandated housing obligations. Under the Association of Bay Area Governments' 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Allocation for 2023-2031, Calistoga must plan for 119 new housing units, including 50 designated for lower-income residents, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments. The city had permitted 68 of those 119 required units by early 2026.
The election cancellation reflects a broader pattern among small California cities that use Section 10229 to avoid the cost of uncontested municipal races, even though it forecloses write-in options and skips the debates that typically accompany a campaign. For Calistoga, the trade-off means a new mayor and council take office in January, having faced no opponents and no public forum, even as they confront fairgrounds planning, housing mandates, and a downtown still working through commercial shifts, including the temporary pause of dining and bar service at the historic 1868 Calistoga Depot less than a year after its restoration, as Hoodline reported in March.
