Six individuals are vying for an appointment to finish recently elected Mayor Paul Akinjo’s unexpired term on the Lathrop City Council.

The council meets Monday, Jan. 6, at 5 p.m. at city hall, 390 Towner Centre Drive, to decide who to appoint.

The six applicants are:

*Paul Camarena, a current planning commissioner who is a senior PG&E gas engineer working out of San Ramon who also has a podcast dubbed “All Things Lathrop”.

*Stephen Dresser, a three-term former Lathrop council member who retired after 13 years as the technology coordinator for Escalon Unified and Jefferson school districts.

*Mansoor Fazel, a former mortgage banker and insurance company claim liaison who was a council candidate in the Nov. 5 election.

*Fadwah Majid, a political science instructor in the Peralta Community College District with extensive experience in the community service sector including working with California Rural Legal Assistance.

*Padma Mariam, director of business development and operations for Workly Inc. who volunteers assisting food banks.

*Susan Zaca, a Kaiser Permanente product manager for developing and implementing national PPO plans, current community advisory board member for River Islands, and Lathrop’s representative on the San Joaquin County Mosquito & Vector Control District board.

Whoever is appointed will serve through early December 2026.

The council term Akinjo was elected to expires then. The seat will be up for a citywide vote on Nov. 3, 2026.

Also on Monday, Akinjo’s predecessor as mayor — Sonny Dhaliwal — will be sworn in as the Third District San Joaquin County Board of Supervisor representing Manteca, Lathrop, the Delta region and parts of northwest Stockton.

Dhaliwal replaces Tom Patti who was termed out.

Robert Rickman, who was re-elected to a second term, will also take the oath of office.

Rickman represents Ripon, rural south Manteca, Tracy, and Mountain House.

The 10 a.m. ceremonies take place In the supervisors’ chambers at the county administration center in downtown Stockton.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabuletin.com