Even after the 2024 election, there’s still an open City Council seat in Rialto.

That’s because on Nov. 5, Rialto voters chose City Councilmember Joe Baca — whose term was to end in 2026 — as their next mayor. And that left a gap the remaining City Council members had to fill.

At their Tuesday meeting, the council voted 3-1 to hold a l session before the next regular meeting to interview candidates. The council will appoint its new member at the meeting, scheduled for Jan. 14.

Longtime Inland Empire politician Baca won with 40.52% in November’s election, trailed by sitting mayor Deborah Robertson, who held the seat for 12 years, with 29.39% of the vote.

Behind them both were Councilmember Rafael Trujillo with 23.62%, and newcomer Ché Rose Wright with 6.48% of the vote.

Baca was sworn in as mayor Tuesday by his son, San Bernardino County Supervisor and former Rialto City Councilmember Joe Baca Jr.

“I’m very, very proud of my father,” he said. “I may show a little bias — I know, he’s my father — but I really believe that I’ve learned so much from him: the value of hard work, commitment, family. And he’s going to bring those values to the city of Rialto.”

New Councilmember Karla Perez was also sworn in Tuesday. She was previously appointed to complete Baca Jr.’s term after he was elected to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in 2020.

November’s city election had two seats up for grabs, with incumbent Councilmember Andy Carrizales receiving 22.38% of the vote, followed by Perez with 19.07% of the vote. They beat out five other candidates: Ana Gonzalez, who got 17.40% of the vote; Vickie Davis, who got 13.09%; Kelvin D. Moore, who got 12.88%; Lupe Camacho, who got 9.29%; and Paola Vargas, who received 5.9% of the vote.

With Baca taking over as mayor, the council had a decision to make: Who should it appoint to fill that vacancy?

Members of the public urged the council to appoint the top runner-up in the council election to replace Baca.

“We want Ms. Ana Gonzalez to be up there,” Rialto resident Mirna Reese told the council. “She is very much qualified to be there. She cares for the community. She’s been advocating for the community for many, many years.”

Baca seemed open to the suggestion, but other council members moved to make an appointment in January, when more of the community would be aware of the vacancy and could come forward to seek the appointment.

“Make it a clear and transparent process and go through interviews and anyone who wants to apply — like we’ve done in the past — we allow them to do so,” Councilmember Ed Scott said.

The council voted 3-1, with Baca dissenting, to interview would-be council appointees at a future date.

Under state law, the council has until Feb. 8 to appoint a replacement for Baca on the council.

After the vote, the council directed the city attorney to assemble a report on how other California cities fill vacancies on their councils and to draw a proposed ordinance to standardize the process in the city.