All candidates in La Jolla merchants group election win board seats

This year’s La Jolla Village Merchants Association board election came to an end last week with all candidates seeking a seat voted in. 

The results were announced at LJVMA’s Oct. 8 meeting.

Originally, 11 candidates were seeking eight available seats. However, candidate Kiwii Juszczyk is no longer with a La Jolla-based business and therefore was disqualified from the ballot. At the same time, LJVMA board members Carrington Kelso and Jolene Mann resigned from the board due to relocation outside The Village and scheduling conflicts, opening two more seats. 

When resignations happen alongside an election, the board has the option to fill those seats with the top vote-getters on the current ballot rather than fill them at a later date, said LJVMA President AJ Johnson. Thus, a total of 10 candidates sought 10 available seats, and all were elected. 

Incumbents Johnson; Reynaldo Castillo, owner of LoanWorks; Realtor Elnaz Iraj, the board’s vice president; and Jason Peaslee, owner of The Cottage restaurant, were reelected.

Newcomers voted in are Jessica Chepovsky, owner of interior design firm Unscripted Spaces; Fatmeh Muhareb, branch manager at Poppy Bank; Diana Ngo, owner of Shapes to Forms; Nick Petro, owner of Salty Clean cleaning services; Courtney Resch, owner of Ashen Salon; and Suna Singh, owner of Robina Apparel.

The elected board members will be sworn in at the group’s next meeting, and officers will be chosen. 

LJVMA Executive Director Jodi Rudick said others had tried to get on the ballot past the deadline.

“We are so lucky and fortunate … that we have more people that want to serve on this board than we have slots,” she said. “In other communities, they don’t have enough people to serve to make up their board.”

Next meeting: The La Jolla Village Merchants Association next meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the La Jolla/Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave. The agenda will be posted in advance at lajollabythesea.com.