City of Greenfield City Council Councilmember Drew Tipton

As of Sept. 12, 2023, Drew Tipton is back on the Greenfield City Council, appointed in a 3-0 vote to fill out a term that will expire in November 2024. The appointment happened quickly—too quickly, said one resident. On Oct. 27, Andrew Sandoval filed a lawsuit claiming the council appointed Tipton without proper notification on an agenda, as required by the Brown Act.

How Tipton’s appointment came about is a longer story: The former councilmember lost his seat in the 2022 election, when a switch from at-large to district voting landed him in the same district as fellow Councilmember Angela Untalon. But though Untalon prevailed in the election, she resigned from the council in 2022—at which time Luis Dominguez was appointed. The appointment proved short-lived, as Dominguez moved out of the district less than two months later. And that’s when Tipton entered the picture again.

Elected in 2018, Tipton came into the job with eight years of experience on the Planning Commission behind him, as well as five years on the Greenfield Fire District Board of Directors. Back then he told the GreenfieldNews.com, “I believe I can bring a measure of fairness and transparency to the City, as I have been involved in bringing both growth to the community and better public safety to the city and district. In addition, I have given back to the community in some way for even longer than that, as I was a volunteer firefighter/EMT in Ben Lomond for seven years before we moved to Greenfield.”

Endorsed by the Salinas Valley Leadership Group, Tipton supports a balance between providing economic growth while also promoting public safety and city services. In a Q&A about housing policy, Tipton told Landwatch.org, “I oppose building housing ‘just because.’ Each project needs to be able to come to the planning commission and/or the city council and be able to clearly articulate what the need is within the city and how the project is going to help fulfill that need. I expect them to work closely with LAFCO and the city planning department to get the numbers that support their project.”