Two incumbents face one challenger for two seats
ADELANTO, Calif. (High Desert News Online) —Adelanto’s voters will have a choice between retaining two current members of the City Council and bringing a newcomer on board in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. According to an Aug. 18 filing report of the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, two incumbent City Council members Amanda Uptergrove and Angelo Meza, together with appointee Jayshawn Johnson, who is a member of the city’s planning commission, have met the necessary qualifications for the two openings.
The list is unofficial pending completion of the final ballot preparation. As of Aug. 19, the city’s Qualified Candidates webpage has not been updated. The information about the city council field remained listed as “TBD.” The city’s election webpage confirms that two four-year seats on the council will be elected in the Nov. 3 general election.
This election will give voters a chance to assess the progress that Adelanto has made in the last four years. Adelanto has seen development of new housing, roads, infrastructure, and economic development. At the same time, the city has been struggling with old problems such as deteriorated streets, public safety resources, water and sewer infrastructure, and the price of providing services to the growing desert community.
Three candidates running for two City Council seats
According to an Aug. 18 filing report of the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, there are three people who meet the requirements for the two Adelanto City Council positions.
Amanda Uptergrove seeks re-election. She is listed as an incumbent whose ballot designation is councilmember and business owner. Her term expires in November 2026.
Angelo Meza also seeks re-election. He is listed as an incumbent whose ballot designation is councilmember and manufacturing supervisor. His term also expires in November 2026.
Jayshawn Johnson is the challenger in the City Council race. According to the report, his ballot designation is appointed planning commissioner. Voters will get a candidate who has already been involved in the city government through the planning process, but does not hold a City Council seat.
Both Uptergrove and Meza are nearing the end of four-year terms following the 2022 election. Currently, there are five council members, who include Uptergrove and Meza, the Mayor Gabriel Reyes, the Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Ramos, and the Councilmember Stevevonna Evans. Both Ramos and Evans serve until 2028, and the mayor’s seat is also up for election in November 2026.
Evaluation of Adelanto’s performance in the last four years
When evaluating the performance of incumbents, it is important to distinguish between achievements of individual officials and the city’s progress in general.
Most of the major municipal projects require a vote of the whole council, work of city staff, implementation of projects initiated in the previous administration, and funding from county, state, or federal sources. Consequently, the developments listed below should be evaluated as milestones in the city development, achieved or initiated during the 2022-2026 term, but not personal accomplishments of Uptergrove, Meza, or any other official.
Projects of road improvements underway
Street condition has been a well-known problem in Adelanto for quite a long time, but several projects of pavements improvements have moved forward during this term.
In early 2023, Adelanto has moved forward with the nearly $1 million capital improvement project for the pavement of the portions of Jonathan Street, White Avenue, and Chamberlaine Way in north Adelanto. The value of the contract has been $994,000 plus additional contingency funds. This project has been funded by Community Development Block Grants and transportation-related grants.
The next major transportation project has moved forward in December 2025 when the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority has approved the Measure I allocation for the rehabilitation of Seneca Road from US Highway 395 to Aster Road.
The Seneca Road project has a budget of approximately $1.86 million. The engineering of this project is planned to start in 2026, and the construction will start in 2026. Thus, Adelanto successfully leveraged the regional transportation funds to finance the local pavements project using no city funds.
$2.8 million for the north Adelanto water park
The development of recreation infrastructure has also been an important part of the city development strategy.
The budget of Adelanto for the fiscal year 2024-25 includes the allocation of $2.8 million state grant for the water park in north Adelanto near Chamberlaine Way and Jonathan Street.
This project is important for the city, which has historically been lacking the recreation facilities scattered all around. This state funding gives Adelanto the opportunity to provide new recreational facilities for citizens without involving the city budget.
Construction of housing remains one of the main growth drivers
The acceleration of the residential development is driven by the interest of builders to develop new houses in the relatively inexpensive Victor Valley.
Among the projects that have received the highlight during this term is Oasis 22, which is the 22-home development project near Raccoon and Kemper avenues. There was a groundbreaking for this project in April 2024 after its approval in four months.
According to the current development reports, major homebuilders have constructed 763 single-family residences, with approximately 200 houses being built now and roughly 600 new houses anticipated in seven tracts. These numbers go beyond a term of the council, but they reflect the overall growth trend, which is faced by both the current and the future council.
Of course, growth brings some benefits like increased construction activity, property valuation, and increase in the customer base for the businesses, but it puts additional stress on the streets, water and sewer systems, parks, and public safety services.
Adelanto gets the Prohousing designation
Adelanto joins California cities and counties that have earned the state Prohousing designation.
According to the list published by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, Adelanto has earned the designation. The program recognizes cities and counties that are taking measures for accelerating housing production. Prohousing designation gives some advantages in competition for the state funding of the housing, community development, and infrastructure projects.
For Adelanto, the Prohousing designation is particularly significant because much of the future development of the city is likely to depend on the outside funding of the infrastructure that is necessary for the construction of new homes and businesses.
Industrial and commercial development continue
Adelanto has been working consistently on the diversification of its employment and commercial base.
Some of the examples of the current development in the city include the recently opened Copart vehicle auction facility and the new XPO logistics facility that has about 50,000 square feet of warehouse space and 99 truck doors.
Adelanto plans to continue development in the area of the intersection of US Highway 395 and Air Expressway, which has become more and more important in the process of attracting the retail, logistics, industrial, and mixed-use investments.
The development of renewable energy is also the important component of the local economy. Several large-scale solar power projects have been developed or approved for development in Adelanto or its vicinity due to the availability of desert lands, transmission capacity, and plentiful sunshine in the High Desert.
Cannabis helped reshape Adelanto’s budget before this term
Some changes in the city’s budget have been done even before the current term of the City Council.
After a long period of financial difficulties, Adelanto has been one of the first cities in the Victor Valley region to introduce the commercial cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, and retail businesses. Records of the city show that hundreds of thousands of square feet of the cannabis facilities were developed in 2022, and that the cannabis revenue had generated millions of dollars for municipal government.
This policy aimed at diversification of the tax base that consisted mainly of residential development, correctional facilities, industrial property, and businesses along major transportation corridors.
This council has inherited this economic structure and tried to diversify it during the last four years.
Adelanto’s economic problems have deep roots
The history of the city’s economic development goes back decades.
High Desert economy in general, which includes the areas of Adelanto and Victorville, has been deeply influenced by George Air Force Base that has existed for more than half a century and closed in December 1992. This 5,347-acre base provided jobs for military personnel, civilians, and businesses in the Victor Valley. The parts of this base are used nowadays for the Southern California Logistics Airport and related industrial sites.
The closure of the air force base has caused the difficult economic transition for the region. After that, Adelanto has shifted to residential development, correctional facilities, industrial development, and finally to legal cannabis operations in order to generate revenues and jobs.
Decades of irregular development have left the city with the infrastructure, which has often been struggling with keeping up with the development.
Unfunded infrastructure projects remain the main challenge
Although some projects have been completed or secured with funding, Adelanto still needs to solve many infrastructure problems.
The city estimates the unfunded street and infrastructure projects in excess of $100 million. The documents of the city concerning the proposed 2026 local transaction and use tax indicate that Adelanto has to deal with approximately 250 miles of streets, 130 miles of sidewalks, and hundreds of miles of water and sewer pipelines.
The City Council proposes to place the proposed 1% transaction and use tax on the ballot in the Nov. 3 election. It is estimated that this tax can generate approximately $3 million a year for municipal services and infrastructure if passed. Thus, it will be the voters’ choice whether this additional funding is justified or not.
This tax is a good example of the problem that the city faces. Growth is proceeding, but its cost, in terms of the repair of the existing infrastructure and providing services for the new development, remains high.
Growth will define the agenda of the next council term
The winners of the council seats will face Adelanto that has changed significantly compared to the previous decades.
The city is seeing the expansion of the housing construction, investments of logistics and industrial companies, securing of the funding for parks and roads, and the Prohousing designation that will make the city eligible for more state programs. But the problems of road repair, public safety, water and sewer capacity, development, and financial sustainability remain the main issues.
For Uptergrove and Meza, the election in November will serve in the way of the public evaluation of the direction of the city during their term in office. Voters will be able to choose whether the direction taken by the city during the past four years is correct or not.
Thus, with three candidates for two City Council seats, the 2026 election in Adelanto is likely to be focused not on a particular project, but rather on the bigger question: has the progress of the last four years kept up with the development and the city’s infrastructure needs?
