Councilmember Donna Neville to serve as mayor and Councilmember Gloria Partida to serve as vice mayor for 2026
By SONJA WOOLEY — city@theaggie.org
The Davis City Council unanimously voted to appoint Council Member Donna Neville as mayor and Councilmember Gloria Partida as vice mayor for the year 2026 on Dec. 16, 2025. Neville was elected to the Davis City Council in 2023 from City Council District 3, and served as vice mayor for the 2025 term. Partida was elected to the Davis City Council in 2018 and served as mayor from 2020 to 2022.
The City of Davis operates under a Council-Manager form of government, meaning that Davis mayors have less power than those of other municipalities that operate under a Mayor-Council government. Under the Council-Manager system, new mayors are appointed via consensus each year from among the existing councilmembers. Their position is primarily ceremonial; the mayor’s main duty is to preside over City Council sessions. The vice mayor serves as a substitute who steps in if the mayor is unable to perform their duties.
The city manager, on the other hand, holds more executive and administrative authority in Davis. They are appointed by the City Council and have the power to enforce city ordinances and state laws, manage and appoint city officers and act as a purchasing agent for the city and its agencies, among other duties. Daryel Dunston serves as the current Davis City Manager and was appointed to the position in 2025.
Prior to their vote, the Davis City Council members discussed potential changes to their mayoral selection process. Partida suggested an alternative.
“I think we have to set up a rotation system much like the [Yolo County] Board of Supervisors and the school district, just to have some certainty in where we’re going,” Partida said. “The other thing that I have proposed before is to have the election of mayor at large.”
The Council voted unanimously to direct city staff to compile a list of options for a mayoral rotation system, but did not move to investigate the city-wide election option.
Councilmember and former Mayor Bapu Vaitla questioned the value of the City of Davis having a mayor in the first place.
“I think that, at some horizon — like five years in the future — we should transition [from mayor and vice mayor] to [a Council] chair and vice chair,” Vaitla said. “After having spent this year as mayor, I feel that even more strongly. […] There’s a lot of misunderstanding out in the community about the powers the mayor has. I think it actually does more harm than good to have a mayor or vice mayor. I’m not making any motions right now, obviously I wouldn’t have support for that, but I would urge you to consider the costs and benefits.”
The new mayor and vice mayor began their term on Jan. 6 2026. They will serve until January 2027.
Written By: Sonja Wooley — city@theaggie.org
