The most surprising result of three contested City Council races on the November ballot, at least to outsiders, was the victory of incumbent Watsonville City Councilmember Jimmy Dutra over former Councilmember Trina Coffman-Gomez (our recommended choice) in the city’s 6th District. Dutra, who declined to appear before the Editorial Board to discuss his candidacy, is a well-known name in Watsonville, a town where family connections and familiarity often prove telling in political campaigns.

Earlier this year, a civil court jury found Dutra liable for $1.1 million in damages on complaints he sexually assaulted a youth in 2005. While that verdict would have doomed most political candidates, Dutra has been an effective councilmember over two terms and his service and familiar name seemingly swayed voters.

In Capitola, voters choose two new members: Gerry Jensen, who has received 34% of votes tabulated, and Melinda Orbach, who’s received 28.5%.

Jensen, a Capitola planning commissioner and widely admired in the city for his work in civic and volunteer efforts, was, based on endorsements and letters to this newspaper, the people’s choice from the start. Orbach, a family nurse practitioner and mother of three who lives on the western side of Soquel Creek, made an effective argument that that side of the city needs more representation on the council. She criticized efforts to bring development and community space at the lagging Capitola Mall, among other points.

The pair far outdistanced incumbent Margaux Morgan (whose reelection we recommended, along with Jensen) and Enrique Dolmo Jr. Jensen and Orbach will replace Morgan and current Mayor Kristen Brown, who lost in her bid to become a county supervisor in the 2nd District.

Capitola leaders will be hard at work finding consensus on adding housing — no easy task since the state is requiring the city of approximately 10,000 people add 1,336 units. Finding sites for this housing while dealing with neighborhood and business complaints likely will dominate council discussion in the next year along with the enduring controversy over where and how the county rail trail will proceed through the city.

Capitola voters also voted (67% in favor) to raise the city sales tax rate to 9.25% from 9%.

In Scotts Valley, no real surprises on the City Council vote. Donna Lind was easily reelected to a fourth term with 22.4% of votes counted so far. Former Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark has 18.8% and Krista Jett, a registered nurse and mom, has 18%.

A divided Editorial Board recommended all three, although we settled on Lind and Clark along with Dustin Lopez, who assisted in modernizing the city’s website and the city’s business tax modernization measure that was approved with 72%. Lopez and Mercedes Malloy, both 24, would have brought a younger perspective to the council, along with Jett.

Clark and Jett, both well versed on city issues, will replace incumbents Randy Johnson, first elected in 1996, and Jack Dilles, elected in 2016; both chose not to run for reelection. All will be faced with finding a way to comply with the state mandate on adding 1,200 housing units in a small city, and on the long debated plans for a city Town Center.

Two fire-agency bonds were defeated, coming short on the two-thirds majority needed. In Mid-County, Central Fire District’s whopping $221 million bond, has received 57% of votes. The bond was far too much of an ask for tax-strapped property owners. The measure’s chances were not helped after the district agreed in October to pay nearly $1 million to a firefighter who alleged his coworkers attacked him and district leaders retaliated against him for speaking up about unfair treatment.

In Scotts Valley, a $24.5 million bond that would have provided funding to replace and resite an aging fire station, went down to a second defeat in two years, with about 61.5% in favor (below the in-favor percentage of votes for the 2022 measure). But a parcel tax measure in the small Zayante Fire District to add daily staffing and replace and maintain equipment won easily with nearly 72% of the vote.