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Elections - Modesto City Council

Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2009

West-side candidates vow to give residents a voice

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Two candidates aiming to represent south and west Modesto on the City Council on Tuesday said the city's switch to district elections would give the poverty- and crime-plagued neighborhoods a chance to get the attention they deserve.

Dave Geer and Al Nava met at the King-Kennedy Memorial Center in west Modesto for a candidate forum organized by the League of Women Voters.

Some residents attended the forum to make sure the winning candidate keeps his promise and sticks up for the neighborhoods as the first council member to represent District 2, which spans areas west of Highway 99 and south of the Tuolumne River.

"That's what we want. A representative that can come to the neighborhood, sit down and talk to the people in their district," said Jackie MacGee, 56, a 12-year west Modesto resident. About 50 people joined her at the forum, submitting written questions to the candidates.

Nava, a 35-year-old Navy veteran from Ceres who returned to Modesto after his service ended almost a year ago, said he wanted to fight urban sprawl by bringing high-rises and condominiums to the city's downtown. He said he would promote economic development projects for west and south Modesto.

"With the upcoming district elections, the old ways of Modesto politics are gone," Nava said. "This community has a heartbeat."

Geer, a 67-year-old federal security officer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said he would prioritize diverting funding away from the city's northward growth. He promised to focus on public safety issues, such as gangs, violence and graffiti.

"It's our turn," Geer said. "We've been neglected too long."

The candidates differed on how to reduce gang violence when they were asked about their opinions on gang injunctions, a tool used by Stanislaus County authorities to limit activities of gang members in south Modesto.

Geer said south Modesto residents welcomed gang injunctions and other residents wanted to see them in their neighborhoods. He said he would work with the district attorney's office to expand the area where authorities can execute the injunctions.

Nava said the injunctions stop the bleeding but that prevention programs are the only long-term solution. He said sports, after-school and community leadership programs can divert young people away from the destructive culture of gangs.

South and west Modesto have a special place in the city's move to district elections this fall because they were the neighborhoods that were considered inadequately represented by residents and by the commission that drew electoral boundaries for November's vote.

West Modesto resident Gene Stout, 68, said he hopes the district's representative will bring a new perspective to the council. "Having City Council members who don't live here, they can overlook a lot of things," Stout said.

Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or 578-2394.