Lake Elsinore Mayor Pro Tem Tim Sheridan is seeking reelection to the City Council, where he has represented District 3 since 2018.
Sheridan is currently the only candidate who has qualified for the District 3 seat in the Nov. 3 election.
Sheridan is originally from Syracuse, New York, and has lived in Lake Elsinore since 2013. He earned a juris doctor degree from the University of Akron School of Law and a master’s degree in labor and employment law from Georgetown University Law Center. He has worked in labor and employment law for about 30 years.
Before joining the City Council, Sheridan made two runs for Congress against U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert, in 2014 and 2016. Although he did not win either race, Sheridan said he was glad he ran and learned from the experience.
“It was a great experience,” he said. “I’m very glad I did it. I learned a lot, and after that experience, I thought, you know, I can make a difference if I get involved in local government.”
He won his first City Council race in 2018 and was reelected without an opponent in 2022. He served as mayor that year.
Sheridan said he sees Lake Elsinore’s growth as one reason he’s seeking another term.
“I think it’s that recognition that you’re doing good work in Lake Elsinore,” he said. “Lake Elsinore has been around for a long time, 138 years or so, but what’s happened in the last 20 years, and especially in the last 10 to 15 years, has just been amazing.”
Sheridan serves as the city’s representative to the Downtown Merchant’s Association and said he made downtown one of his priorities while serving as mayor in 2022.
As part of that effort, Sheridan helped establish the Ruth Atkins Speaker Series. It’s a free series that brings speakers to the Lake Elsinore Cultural Center to discuss topics connected to history. The series is a way to bring people downtown.
“That’s really been a very successful thing downtown and I want to continue to grow it,” he said. “Just having a speaker come in and talk about some esoteric issue that is connected to history, I think it’s kind of fun.”
When asked about an accomplishment he is most proud of from his time on council, Sheridan pointed to the addition of a second lane for drivers getting onto northbound Interstate 15 from Railroad Canyon Road. Sheridan said traffic used to back up along Railroad Canyon Road because there was only one lane for drivers entering the freeway.
“One of the things that I started to push pretty hard with the city and then with the state was, look, you need to have a second lane to get onto the 15 to relieve that backup,” he said.
Sheridan said the improvement was especially important to residents of Canyon Hills, as well as people traveling from Canyon Lake and surrounding communities.
“That’s something I was very proud of, because I thought I made a difference, especially for my constituents at Canyon Hills,” he said.
Looking ahead, Sheridan said one of his priorities for another term would be completing a special needs baseball field and park. The project grew out of the work of Elsinore Valley Champions, a group based in Canyon Hills that created a baseball league for children with special needs. Sheridan said the group’s founder approached him about two years ago about having a field of its own.
“That is my goal, to get that special needs park done,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan, who is the Lake Elsinore Storm’s broadcaster on MiLB.com and Bally Sports Live, said he loves baseball and sees it as a way to bring the community together.
“I want to make sure that kids that have special needs have an opportunity to experience it,” Sheridan said.
Sheridan also said he wants to increase awareness of Lake Elsinore and its growth.
“There are so many great things happening in Lake Elsinore,” he said. “I want to make sure everybody knows about it.”
For Sheridan, the decision to seek another term comes down to his desire to continue helping residents and seeing projects take shape.
“When I can get something done, like getting that intersection to have that second lane, I just helped a bunch of people in Canyon Hills,” he said. “I get a lot of self-satisfaction out of making sure that I help people, individually in my job, but more of a collective group, as a member of a council. I think I’ve done good work so far and I want to continue that.”
