Two UC Berkeley students will square off in a special election this spring to represent the campus-adjacent Southside neighborhood on the City Council.
Friday was the deadline for candidates to qualify for the April 16 election, which will fill the Council District 7 seat left vacant when former Councilmember Rigel Robinson unexpectedly resigned last month.
The race to replace Robinson will be between James Chang, a graduate student in the Haas School of Business, and Cecilia Lunaparra, an undergraduate senior. Chang is a former member of Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board who now works as chief of staff for Councilmember Ben Bartlett; Lunaparra is a member of the Zoning Adjustments Board and former president of the Cal Berkeley Democrats and the transit advocacy group Telegraph For People.
Two other candidates, People’s Park activist Aidan Hill and Juan Antonio Jasso, did not qualify for the ballot, according to the city clerk’s office.
Council District 7 covers much of the UC Berkeley campus and the dense neighborhood just south of it, including the north end of Telegraph Avenue, several university dorms and People’s Park.
The race between Chang and Lunaparra will be the first of two special elections this spring to replace council members who resigned from office unexpectedly. Another election will be held in Council District 4, which covers downtown and Central Berkeley, to replace outgoing Councilmember Kate Harrison; that election has not yet been scheduled.
