With the Registrar of Voters scheduled to mail ballots for the Nov. 8 election to Santa Clara County residents in a little over a week, the Palo Alto Weekly is compiling its coverage of the key races so that local voters can make informed decisions.

The voter guide is central to the Weekly's mission to provide accurate and reliable information to our community and to empower residents to make a difference through their actions. The Palo Alto Weekly team of reporters, editors, designers and our visual journalist have spent hundreds of hours in recent weeks pulling this coverage together.

Among the governing bodies electing new members are the Palo Alto City Council, which has three seats open and seven candidates — but no incumbents — in the race. The Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education has two open seats; one incumbent is among the field of four running for the board.

Over the next two weeks, we'll bring you profiles of candidates so that you can get to know the people behind the lawn signs, assess their views and see how they stack up with your own.

This week, in part 1, you can learn about the contenders for Palo Alto City Council in our cover story, which starts on page 18. As in past election years, we've brought back our popular "issues grid," which allows voters to compare the candidates' stances on key issues: In 2022, those are housing, rail crossings, sustainability and public safety.

Additional election articles in this edition include a recap of the Palo Alto school board debate hosted by the Weekly on Sept. 20; coverage of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's forum with the two candidates; an article on the Valley Water incumbent and his challenger for the District 7 seat; profiles of the seven people running for two spots on the East Palo Alto City Council; and an article about the Ravenswood City School District school board race.

Next week, in part 2, we'll bring readers a cover story on the four candidates for Palo Alto school board; articles on Palo Alto's measures K and L, the business and utilities transfer tax; and the latest on candidates' campaign finance reports. Also, the Weekly's editorial board will weigh in with its endorsements in the key local races.

If you'd like to see and hear those running for office, check out our videos of the candidate forums for Palo Alto City Council, Palo Alto Unified Board of Education and Santa Clara County sheriff at PaloAltoOnline.com/youtube.