Incumbents Long, Gibbs Head Group of Nine Candidates

Mayor Alan Long (center) addressed the media a day before the first planned arrival of undocumented immigrants.

Nine candidates will campaign for three seats on the Murrieta City Council heading into the Nov. 4 election.

Incumbents Alan Long and Rick Gibbs are among those who were certified by the Registrar of Voters to be on the ballot. A third incumbent, Gene Wunderlich, chose not to run for re-election after serving only since June, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy created when Kelly Bennett left the council.

Long, currently serving as mayor, was first voted onto the council in 2010. A resident of Murrieta since the 1970s, he also is a battalion chief for a Southland fire department. He was thrust into the national spotlight in July when Murrieta became the focal point of protests concerning undocumented immigrants who were scheduled to be processed at the local U.S. Border Patrol station.

Gibbs (left), who served 32 years in the military, has been a Murrieta resident since 1999 and has been a council member since 2005. He served as vice chairman of the General Plan Advisory Committee in 2004 and 2005.

Among the other candidates is Ruthanne Taylor Berger, chair of the Planning Commission; Diana Serafin, a community activist and frequent speaker at council meetings; and residents Matthew Alvernaz, Brian Barton, Jonathan Ingram, Kent Leeper and James Richardson.

Stay tuned to Murrieta 24/7 for profiles of the candidates as the campaign season heats up.