I am so very honored to be given the opportunity by you, the citizens of Turlock, to serve as your Mayor for the next four years. Campaigns are always difficult. People take sides, differences of opinions on issues are debated, and unfortunately elections create winners and losers.

I am grateful to former Mayors, Bates and Soiseth, and Mr. Franco for their participation in this election. Each candidate expressed their view on how as Mayor they would address the issues facing Turlock. This discussion has provided all of us with valuable information on the many issues the council must address as we work together to make Turlock the best City in California.

As Mayor, I will consider all opinions on any issue before reaching consensus with my Council colleagues on how best to address the issue. I strongly support our City Manager form of government and understand that as Mayor I am one of five people given the opportunity by our citizens to make city policy after reaching consensus on any issue facing our city. We are fortunate to have outstanding department heads and city employees committed to serving our residents. Using this expertise, we as a council will rely on our staff’s experience, expertise and instincts along with input from our citizens to provide excellent City services for our residents in the most economical way.

For those of you that did not vote for me, I will work very hard over the next four years with my council colleagues, City staff, local business leaders, and fellow citizens to govern Turlock in an open, transparent manner, making decisions that are always in the best interest of Turlock without a personal agenda as I have done for the last decade as a member of our City Council.

To those of you who worked on my campaign and voted for me, I thank you and will do everything possible to live up to the expectations you have set for me as your Mayor.

While I am committed to addressing the issues we talked about during the campaign, it is not possible to take action each of them at one time. Rest assured, that once I take the oath of office as your Mayor on Dec. 11, we will:

1.       Implement strong fiscal discipline while removing the Mayor as a signatory on any City legal agreement.

2.      Stop any, and all actions on the construction of the $288 million water plant UNTIL we determine a more cost-efficient way to protect our water supply without raising your water rates by over $125 a month.

3.      Establish working groups to immediately address the challenges we all face concerning our homeless population.

4.      Develop a new plan which will revise the utility franchise entrenchment agreement.

5.      Implement a customer service desk and dedicated phone line where citizens may go to get answers to, or report any concern they have concerning City Services.

When I came to Turlock as a college student in the ‘80s I immediately fell in love with our city and knew it was where I wanted to make my home. Being elected Mayor is beyond my expectations and something I never considered possible.

With your help, along with all parties involved that run our city, I am committed to doing everything possible to make Turlock the best city in the state.

Please email me at abublak@turlock.ca.us, or call me, at 209-668-5540 any time you have a thought on how to make Turlock even better.