A college student, probably bearing a good excuse as to why his homework was almost late, became the eleventh candidate to turn in paperwork declaring his candidacy for one of three empty seats on the Santa Clarita City Council.

With the election April 13, residents will choose from a varied list of candidates, some with lots of council experience, some who haven’t even been to a council meeting before but thought it was a good idea to throw their hat in the ring.

Of the 11 who turned in completed paperwork by 5 p.m. Friday, the last was COC student Harrison Katz. Right before him was activist David Gauny; both men’s qualifications are pending because the City Clerk did not have adequate time to verify that all the signatures came from Santa Clarita registered voters before the close of business. That verification – or disqualification, if one of the signatures is found to be invalid – is expected Tuesday (Monday is a city holiday). If one of the candidates are found to have invalid signatures, they have no chance to get new signatures, as the deadline has passed.

Nine others have qualified and they include David Galvan, Johnny Pride, Daniel Henriquez, Frank Ferry, Laurene Weste, Marsha McLean, TimBen Boydston, Henry Schultz and Kenneth W. Mann.

As the election approaches, KHTS will profile each of the candidates and all 11 will be invited to participate in a debate in City Council chambers the evening of March 11. The debate is sponsored by KHTS AM1220, The Signal and SCVTV.