Why major donor is switching things up in this year’s race for Modesto mayor
As Modesto Mayor Ted Brandvold runs for re-election he has lost the backing of a prominent local businessman, according to recently released campaign finance disclosures.
PMZ Real Estate CEO Mike Zagaris and his wife, Midge, have each contributed $2,500 to the campaign of Rick Countryman, senior pastor of Big Valley Grace Community Church and one of the five candidates challenging Brandvold in the November election.
Zagaris and his wife contributed a combined $975 to Brandvold’s campaign when he ran for mayor in 2015 (he was elected in a February 2016 runoff election). Zagaris also served on Brandvold’s 100-day budget review committee, which the mayor formed in 2016, fulfilling one of his key campaign promises.
The mayor and Modesto’s other council members are serving an extra, fifth year in office after voters in 2018 approved moving council elections from odd to even years.
Zagaris said family owned PMZ is responsible for about a third of the residential real estate transactions in Stanislaus County. “I have a high regard for Ted Brandvold,” he said in an interview. “However, I think at this time, I think Rick has the personal characteristics and professional skills that this community needs more.”
Zagaris said Countryman has the charisma as well as leadership and communication skills to be a strong champion for Modesto and help reverse its negative image. And he said while Countryman is a pastor he also is an executive who oversees a large, complex organization.
“He’s a team builder and he’s positive,” Zagaris said. “He would work effectively with city staff and elected officials.”
Countryman said in an interview that Big Valley and its ministries — which includes its school — have about 150 to 200 employees and an annual budget of about $12 million. He has said about 3,000 people attend the church.
Brandvold is an architect and employs about a half dozen workers at his firm, Commercial Architecture.
“It’s always interesting to see how these things will play out,” Brandvold said when asked about Zagaris’ decision to back another candidate. “You just never know how these things will land.”
Chamber gives mayor $3,500
But Brandvold’s campaign has plenty of financial support from development and business interests, including $3,500 from the Modesto Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee.
“I’m very proud of all the support I’ve received,” Brandvold said. “I’ve got some good solid support, and I’m very proud of it.”
The City Council has been divided during Brandvold’s tenure, and council meetings can descend into bickering, accusations of bad faith and expressions of mistrust among council members. It has not helped that City Hall has had its share of problems.
That includes hiring a firm for health insurance that offered a low cost that proved to good to be true, leaving the city with several million dollars in unpaid medical claims, and the meltdown of the city’s purchasing and contracting practices that lead to more than $16 million in unauthorized spending.
Brandvold — who is retiring and soft-spoken in public and speaks the least during council meetings — said he has worked to mend the rifts among council members.
“I’ve been working a long time to try to unify this council,” he said. “I’ve even hired consultants to try to work with the council. It’s been a difficult path.”
Zagaris’ and his wife’s contributions are reported on Countryman’s campaign finance form, which covered the last six months of 2019.
The disclosure forms for the last six months of 2019 were due with the city clerk’s office by Jan. 31. Brandvold was the only candidate also to report raising money during the first six months of 2019 on a previous disclosure.
The forms show Brandvold raised $76,999 during 2019, including $35,000 in loans from the mayor and his company, Commercial Architecture, with most of that raised during the first six months of last year.
Countryman raised $57,451, which includes $5,100 he lent to his campaign.
Indivisible Stanislaus leader raises $19,550
Naramsen Goriel — one of the founders of Indivisible Stanislaus, part of a national effort to elect progressives, enact progressive polices and oppose the Trump administration — reported raising $19,550, the third most among Modesto’s mayoral candidates.
Goriel raised much of his money from family members, friends, fellow Assyrian Americans and local activists. He said he did not start raising money until November, and held his first fundraiser last month, after the reporting period for these campaign finance disclosures.
Councilman and mayoral candidate Doug Ridenour reported raising $5,450, but said he is not focused on raising money until after the March 3 primary election.
Ridenour — a retired Modesto police sergeant and brother of former Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour — said he has been meeting with people, whether over coffee or by speaking before groups.
Mayoral candidates Bert Lippert, the city’s building safety program coordinator, and Armando Arreola, who received 1.1 percent of the vote when he ran for mayor in 2015, did not file campaign finance disclosures with the city clerk’s office.
Former Mayor Carmen Sabatino also had announced his intention to run for mayor. But he died Jan. 1 at the age of 82 after entering hospice.
Brandvold’s contributors include many in the business community, including Basic Resources ($2,000), Beard Land Improvement Co. ($1,000), CoSol Commercial Real Estate ($1,500), land-use consultant Newman-Romano ($1,000), JS West Milling ($2,000) and Stanislaus Food Products ($1,000).
He also received $500 from former Turlock Councilman Ted Howze, who is running as a Republican for the U.S. House of Representatives, and $3,000 from the Operating Engineers Local 3 political action committee.
Brandvold’s disclosure forms show his campaign made two $10,000 payments last year to Petrulakis Law & Advocacy for professional and consulting services. Brandvold said that was for help from George Petrulakis during his first mayoral campaign. He said Petrulakis continues to advise him.
Big Valley friends donate to Countryman
Countryman received contributions from friends and longtime members of his church, including $5,000 from Amy and Jonathan Foster, who is with Foster Farms; $5,000 from Jeffrey Sutton with Stifel Investment Services; and $5,000 from PMZ Realtor Paul Harmon and his wife, Meika.
Countryman said he asked friends whether they would help get his campaign started and has not yet done a fundraiser. “These are people who want to support (my campaign),” he said. “They are just lifelong friends who are members of the church.”
Stanislaus County Supervisor Kristin Olsen contributed $500 to Countryman’s campaign through her supervisorial campaign.
Countryman said he knows Zagaris through his late father-in-law, Brian Velthoen, who died in 2018 and was a commercial real estate broker.
Countryman, 59, said whether he is elected mayor or not he will be taking on a new role at Big Valley after about 40 years with the church. He said the church is recruiting for a new senior pastor, whose duties will include oversight of the church’s and its ministries’ operations.
But Countryman stressed he would stay with Big Valley as a teaching pastor, delivering sermons on Sundays. He said there is no timeline for the hiring of a senior pastor.
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 7:55 AM.
