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Union City will have two or three new council members after the Nov. 8 election as the municipal government rebuilds after the pandemic economic downturn.

While no city employees were laid off or furloughed, vacant positions were left unfilled, resulting, in the spring of 2021, with over 30% of positions vacant. As the city works to restore its staffing, especially filling open police posts, it also needs long-term budget stability. A key part of that is the Measure Z extension of the city’s half-cent sales tax, also on the Nov 8 ballot.

The other major challenges for the council will be meeting the state’s mandate for nearly 3,000 new housing units over the next eight years — a goal the city can probably meet largely with plans for high-density housing near the BART station — and filling vacant police positions as the chief warns of increasing gun violence.

With Union City this year completing its transition from at-large to district elections, two council members, Emily Duncan and Pat Gacoscos, cannot seek reelection because of the city’s three-term limit.

This is a time when the new council needs to work cooperatively. They don’t have to agree. But they need to be respectful of each other. Unfortunately, there has been some troubling immature behavior by Jaime Patiño, the one council member seeking a new term.

The city needs better. For that, voters should elect Chuck Kennedy to replace Patiño in District 2, on the eastern end of the city: Lee Guio in District 3, in the northwestern portion; and Scott Sakakihara in District 4, in the southwest corner.

District 2 – Chuck Kennedy

Kennedy, a computer software developer who now teaches high school, is currently chairman of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission and served on the General Plan Advisory Committee. He understands the city’s financial and housing demands reasonably well.

He’s running against Patiño, who is completing his first council term and has locked into a feud with Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci that he turned into personal attacks in an over-the-top video with racial overtones posted on Facebook.

Patiño apologized for his outburst. But, after, the video remained on his Facebook site until we asked him about it on Friday. And, in our interview, while saying he was at fault, he continued to try to place blame on the mayor. We supported Patiño in one of his council races, and we expected better from him.

District 3 – Lee Guio

Guio, a national sales manager for an electronics component company, is a member of the city Planning Commission and a former member of the Human Relations Commission.

With an MBA from the University of Southern California, it’s not surprising that he understands the city’s finances, including a solid grasp of the long-term budget forecasts, housing challenges and police staffing problem.

He is, by far, better informed on city issues than his two challengers, Kristy Boer, a consultant for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Jeff Wang, a former New Haven school district trustee.

District 4 – Scott Sakakihara

We wish we could clone the two candidates in this race because they’re both smart, respectful of each other and well-informed.

Sakakihara is a Harvard-trained lawyer who manages the financial expenses of a public software company and has served on the Planning Commission for the past five years. It’s that latter experience and his very knowledgeable answers that gives him an edge over his opponent, Vipan Bajwa.

Bajwa is an accountant who has had public and private-sector clients. We endorsed him when he ran for council four years ago and we remain impressed by him. But this time he has a very strong opponent with city experience.