Candidates for local and state offices took to debate stages in Ceres and Modesto this week to let voters know where they stand on the issues with less than eight weeks until Election Day.

Turlock mayor Amy Bublak and challengers Jim Reape and Kelley Coelho, as well as District 3 Councilmember Cassandra Abram and challenger Ryan Taylor, met at the Government Resources Center Be Informed Summit in Ceres on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Be Informed Summit hosted Democrat Jaron Brandon, a Tuolumne County supervisor, and Republican Alexandra Duarte, who are running to replace Marie Alvarado-Gil as the state Senator from District 4.

Brandon and Duarte also met in Modesto on Thursday morning at a similar event hosted by the Stanislaus County League of Women Voters, Modesto Rotary clubs and the Modesto Focus.

Bublak, who has served on the on the Turlock City Council since 2008, is seeking her third term as mayor. Reape, a soon-to-be retired physician assistant, serves on the city’s planning commission. Coelho, a private investigator who has served one term on the Stanislaus County Veterans Commission, has been the most outspoke critic of Bulak and city hall, going so far as to filing a lawsuit against the city – in which Bublak is a named defendant – in federal court.

Thursday’s mayoral forum was devoid of any of the expected fireworks, as the candidates answered five questions – focusing on leadership style, downtown revitalization, transportation, listening to a diverse constituency, and workforce development – in between opening and closing remarks.

Here are a few highlights of those debates:

What priorities would you set for infrastructure improvements, and how would you fund them?

• Reape: “Just like the rest of the folks who work in Turlock, I’m very proud of our roads program and the work that’s been done. My expectation is that by the time we get another five or ten years down the road, our roads are going to be some of the best in the state … One concern I have is we’re making all these repairs now and all these surfaces have a similar life expectancy. Are we gonna be in a similar position 30 or 40 years from now, where everything is falling apart at the same time? I think budget-wise, we need to plan for that.”
• Coelho: “I think we need to stop putting a temporary Band-Aid on the issue. I think we really need to hit the issue from the core and fix the roads the way they need to be fixed and stop wasting our taxpayer dollars on that.”
• Bublak: “We’re not putting lipstick on a pig any longer. We were doing that before. Now, it’s taking so much longer because we have to go in, storm drains, the sidewalks, all of that is being taken care of now. We’re not doing it unless we can do it right, and that’s why it’s taking longer, but it’s actually getting done for the first time. And I’m super proud of that. The maintenance is coming; we’ve already talked about it … We are absolutely doing what we’d said we’d do, and that is huge in politics; nobody ever does that. So, our roads are good.”

What plans do you have to attract new businesses to Turlock, support small business growth, and strengthen the local economy?

• Abram: “The city of Turlock takes on a lot of different endeavors to support small businesses, and I would continue to support the ones that are going well. To name a few things, I was proud to support the Turlock Partnership Initiative Program, which gives $3,500 grants to small businesses in the city of Turlock. I’ve also been proud to support what’s called Fresno State RISE, which are free courses for anybody in the city of Turlock to gain more experience on business topics and personal development topics … I would support the things that are working and push for tackling those really big, kind of structural things that we need to fix.”
• Taylor: “Small businesses are the backbone of Turlock. That is what makes our city so great. We have great coffee shops like Allison’s Cafe … along with bigger brands like Chick-fil-A that just recently came to town. Without all these stories coming together and making what Turlock is today, it brings us the culture. It brings us the life and the energy we have. Whether you’re on Main Street or you’re in the giant complex with all the other big box stores, that is what Turlock is, and I’m proud to say that those businesses are here, and we need to support them.”

Proposition 3 would make permanent the state’s higher income tax rates on top earners to support education and health care. Do you support Proposition 3 and why?

• Duarte: “This is another classic state tactic. ‘Let’s increase taxes; we’re out of money.’ My opponent did vote to raise his pay. He voted to raise taxes. And then he fired nearly two dozen people in Tuolumne County. This is a strategy that does not work. Increasing taxes will not fix the problem. We need to make sure that our businesses can provide a sound economy so that California can be the amazing state that it has the ability to be.”
• Brandon: “In a second, I’m going to actually answer the question. But I will say how quickly some people turn when they say we want to reduce the cost of government … but then suddenly lament the decisions that are actually difficult in public office. I’ve had to lay off people, I’ve had to manage budgets, I’ve had to close programs. That is the reality of making hard choices. I’m prepared to make hard choices because I’ve been doing that for many years. … When we talk about Prop. 3, this is an already existing income tax at the highest increment for households that make income amounts over $700,000. There may be some folks in the room in that category, in which case I would say thank you. Because this means $5 billion to $15 billion a year for education.”

To watch the Jaron Brandon/ Alexandra Duarte debate, visit: https://bit.ly/4cCE5Kv

To watch the Turlock Mayoral debate, visit: https://bit.ly/3UD7Zs1

To watch the Turlock City Council District 3 debate, visit: https://bit.ly/3UD7Zs1