Incumbents Bill Halldin and Jill Gayaldo face challenger Walter Moore as voters consider public safety, growth, finances and Rocklin’s next chapter
Rocklin, Calif. (Rocklin Online) –Rocklin voters will have the chance to elect two members of the City Council in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. Incumbents Bill Halldin and Jill Gayaldo are running against a single challenger for the available two seats. Placer County’s election database now lists Halldin, Gayaldo and challenger Walter Moore as qualified candidates for the two Rocklin City Council seats. The election occurs as Rocklin faces continued growth in population and economy, as well as investments in policing, firefighting, infrastructure, parks and long-term preservation of open space.
The three candidates are qualified for regular ballot listing, according to the Candidate Watch report by Placer County printed Aug. 28. However, qualified write-in candidates still have time to qualify until Oct. 20 according to the Placer County’s election calendar, so other write-ins can still become eligible to run before Election Day. Candidate qualification filing for regular candidates ended in August.
Rocklin has a five-member at-large City Council. As a result, all Rocklin voters will vote on all the candidates for the council and will be able to vote for two in the upcoming election. City Council members are elected to serve four-year terms and there are no term limits. A council member gets chosen each year as the mayor by the other City Council members. Rocklin uses the council-manager government form with an appointed city manager overseeing city operations.
Halldin, incumbent, seeks third term
INCUMBENT — Bill Halldin, the city’s current vice mayor, was first elected to the Rocklin City Council in November 2018 and reelected in 2022. Halldin will have been serving on the City Council for nearly eight years by the November election. Halldin served as mayor in 2022 and was appointed vice mayor for 2026.
Bill Halldin has the background of being the founder and operator of his own public relations firm for about two decades, followed by experience in corporate media relations. Halldin has served as a Sierra College trustee, as well as taking leading positions within the Rocklin Area Chamber of Commerce and Sierra College Foundation before joining the City Council. Halldin currently holds assignments for regional economic development, waste management and transportation organizations within the city.
Halldin’s 2026 campaign focuses on such issues as public safety, finance management, citizen engagement, infrastructure, parks and open space, youth sports and collaboration with local schools.
According to Placer County, Halldin’s campaign telephone number is 916-718-1251, email address is bill@billhalldin.com, mailing address is 967 Anvil Circle, Rocklin, CA 95765. Halldin’s city email is bill.halldin@rocklin.ca.us. Bill Halldin campaign website
Gayaldo, incumbent, seeks reelection
INCUMBENT — Jill Gayaldo was also first elected to the Rocklin City Council in 2018 and reelected in 2022, meaning that she is also entering her third four-year term on the City Council in 2026. Gayaldo served as Rocklin’s mayor in 2021 and again in 2025. For 2026, Gayaldo is the chair of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the region’s planning agency that covers Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, Yuba, Sutter and El Dorado counties.
Prior to joining the Rocklin City Council, Gayaldo has worked as an administrator in public education and retired in 2018 as the director of transportation of the Elk Grove Unified School District where she was responsible for managing more than 200 employees and a budget of about $14 million annually. Gayaldo’s other background includes small-business ownership and participation in local business and historical organizations.
Jill Gayaldo’s campaign for reelection highlights such issues as police and fire services, financial stability, attracting and retaining business, parks and trails and preserving open space within the city.
According to Placer County, Jill Gayaldo’s telephone number is 916-632-8288, campaign email is jillgayaldo@gmail.com. Jill Gayaldo’s city email is jill.gayaldo@rocklin.ca.us. Jill Gayaldo campaign website
Moore, challenger, joins race
CHALLENGER — Walter Moore is the Placer County-registered candidate who has the ballot designation as Pastor/Nonprofit President. Moore is not a current member of the Rocklin City Council and has no known Rocklin City Council service in the past based on the research of the relevant city records for this article.
Moore’s campaign biography highlights his 36-year career at Pacific Gas and Electric where he gained experience in corporate operations, management and college recruiting. Additionally, Moore has education in political science and public administration and graduate education in pastoral counseling. Moore has been serving as a senior pastor since 2006 and has also founded a charity organization working on lupus awareness. Community service by Moore includes membership in the board of directors of Tri-City Little League and participation in the Leadership Rocklin program.
Placer County’s official Superior Court records additionally show that Moore has been serving as a foreperson of the Placer County Grand Jury during 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 terms, thus gaining experience in evaluating the operations of county and local governments outside the City Council framework.
Moore’s campaign is emphasizing such issues as public safety, government accountability and transparency and quality of life in Rocklin.
According to the Candidate Watch report by Placer County, Moore has not authorized the release of his telephone number, email address and residential address and mailing address by the county. According to the available public information, Moore’s mailing address is 6617 Kings Canyon Drive, Rocklin, CA 95765. Public telephone number and direct email of the campaign were not found in the reviewed sources. Walter Moore campaign website
By the numbers — Rocklin
Rocklin is now a city of more than 75,000 people occupying close to 20 square miles of southwestern Placer County. The city is about 22 to 25 miles northeast of Sacramento and situated at the intersection of I-80 and SR-65. The city’s borders border unincorporated Placer County to the north and northeast, Lincoln to the northwest, Loomis to the east and southeast, and Roseville to the south and southwest.
Budget of the city for 2025-2026 fiscal year provides for about 268.5 full-time equivalent city employees. Police is the largest city employment category with 94.5 FTEs, while the Fire Department employs approximately 44.5 FTEs. Rocklin’s FY 2025-2026 all funds budget is estimated at about $104.3 million compared to the revenue forecast of approximately $103.9 million.
The city economy involves education, health care, technology, professional services, construction, retail and distribution sectors. Some major employers in Rocklin identified in the city economic development information include Horizon West Healthcare, Sierra College, Rocklin Unified School District, S.E. Scher and Oracle.
Current city leadership consists of Mayor David Bass, Vice Mayor Bill Halldin and councilmembers Ken Broadway, Jill Gayaldo and Greg Janda. Aly Zimmermann is the city manager. Additional senior leadership of the city includes Matthew McOmber, City Attorney, Daniel Choe, City Treasurer and Avinta Singh, City Clerk.
Rocklin City record during incumbents’ current term
Halldin and Gayaldo were reelected in 2022, meaning that the period since that election is a good indicator of how well the city performed during their current four-year terms. As Rocklin is managed by a five-member council and professional city staff, city achievements during that period can be better attributed to the City Council and city accomplishments as a whole rather than any particular council member.
One of the major financial achievements took place in 2024, when Fitch Ratings upgraded Rocklin’s Issuer Default Rating from AA+ to AAA, the highest rating level, and upgraded the city Public Financing Authority’s lease revenue obligations from AA to AA+. Outlook was listed as stable.
In addition, Rocklin has been recognized for its financial reporting and budgeting. The city’s FY 2024-2025 operating budget received California Society of Municipal Finance Officers’ Operating Budget Excellence Award and Government Finance Officers Association’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. Financial reporting of the city has also been recognized by GFOA.
Open-space preservation has become one of the major topics during the term. In 2025, a 402-acre parcel of Clover Valley has been permanently preserved with a conservation easement created through the cooperation of Placer Land Trust, Placer County and funding partners. Rocklin has already allocated $2 million from the General Fund surplus to fund the land preservation effort with provisions for permanent public access, trails and recreational and educational opportunities.
The city has continued to make investments in recreation with the plans for 16 lighted pickleball courts at Sunset Whitney Recreation Area going forward with the construction starting in July 2026. Rocklin’s pump track at Whitney Park became part of the international cycling scene in June 2026, when the city hosted Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships qualifier, the only California venue among a small number of qualifying venues in the United States.
Efforts in economic development during the term have included ongoing funding for Build Up Rocklin, the city’s business support and growth program, which has launched a new cohort in 2026.
Police, fire and infrastructure
Public safety remains one of the major city services provided by Rocklin. Rustin Banks is the chief of Rocklin Police Department. According to the 2025 annual report of the department, Rocklin has experienced 718 reported crimes in 2025, down from 801 in 2024. Crime rate in the city is now approximately 9.8 crimes per 1,000 residents, violent crime dropped by approximately 27 percent and property crime decreased by approximately 9 percent. Police Department has handled close to 50,000 calls for service and officer initiated activities while communications center processed nearly 70,000 calls.
In addition, the city has emphasized the recognition of its public safety record by outside sources. Rocklin Police is one of a relatively small number of California municipal agencies to receive accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, while Rocklin Fire has an ISO Class 2 fire protection rating. City has also emphasized recognition of Rocklin’s safer communities ranking by the outside sources.
Rocklin Fire Department responded to more than 6,400 calls in 2025. During the tenure of the Fire Chief Reginald Williams, the city has secured about $3.9 million from the federal SAFER grant program for firefighter staffing and preparation for future Fire Station 22 near Sierra College. The station is currently in the planning and environmental review phase and is meant to improve the coverage in eastern Rocklin. Williams has announced his retirement in June 2026, planning to stay through early fall while the city will look for Williams’ successor.
Infrastructure challenges are growing with the Rocklin. According to Public Works operation, the city has 39 full-time employees managing the infrastructure of the city that includes more than 5,600 streetlights, 70+ signalized intersections, 168 miles of drainage pipe, more than 30 bridges and a city fleet of approximately 250 vehicles including police and fire equipment. The city has also completed the Rocklin Road-Pacific Street roundabout project during the current term of the City Council members, a federally funded transportation improvement project aimed at improving traffic circulation at the key city intersection.
From granite and railroads to an employment center
Modern development of Rocklin has its roots in the old transportation and industrial history of the city. It became recognizable as a railroad destination in 1864, at roughly the same time granite quarrying became an important industry for Rocklin. The city was incorporated in 1893, and by 1910 the city had 22 active quarries. In 1912 alone, nearly 2,000 railcars of Rocklin granite were shipped for use in major construction projects including government and commercial buildings in Sacramento and San Francisco.
Other important factor for Rocklin’s history was the former Spring Valley Ranch established by Whitney family in the 1850s that eventually encompassed about 30,000 acres. The ranch built the roads, granite bridges and houses, and started subdividing into smaller parcels in the late 1950s and 1960s creating the basis for Sunset Whitney neighborhood and further Rocklin suburban expansion.
Rocklin began to grow even faster since the 1980s with the low costs of the land, access to highways and proximity to Sacramento attracting tech firms, businesses and residents to the area. Master planned developments of Stanford Ranch, Whitney Oaks and Whitney Ranch neighborhoods have transformed the city. Nowadays, according to the city planning documents, Rocklin has much fewer options for undeveloped large projects than it did during its fast growth decades, which makes redevelopment and infrastructure maintenance and decisions regarding open lands increasingly important.
What voters will decide
The 2026 City Council election provides voters of Rocklin with a relatively clear choice between the candidates. Halldin and Gayaldo are running for reelection after serving eight years on the City Council and having records connected to Rocklin’s financial condition, investments in public safety, parks, economic development and open space decisions. On the other side, Moore is entering the race as the challenger with the background in private sector management, ministry, nonprofit experience and Placer County Grand Jury but with no City Council experience in Rocklin.
For Rocklin voters, the bigger questions go beyond the individual candidates — how fast should Rocklin continue to grow, how much should be invested in staffing of police and fire departments, how should the open spaces be handled, how roads and other aging infrastructure should be financed and how can Rocklin preserve its qualities that attracted residents and accommodate population above 75,000?
The election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. Placer County Elections office is located at 3715 Atherton Road, Rocklin and can be reached by phone at 530-886-5650 or 800-824-8683.
