Four experienced candidates seek to represent northwest Modesto on City Council
Four candidates with a lot of public policy experience seek to represent Modesto City Council District 1 — which covers the northwest part of the city — in the November election.
Rosa Escutia-Braaton, 52, serves on the city’s Planning Commission and worked in the administrations of governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. John Gunderson, 64, is a substitute teacher and former Modesto City Councilman and Stanislaus Union School District board member.
Jennifer Hidalgo, 32, is a field representative for state Sen. Anna Caballero, whose district includes part of Modesto, and was a consultant conducting outreach and engagement for the Altamont Corridor Express in its successful effort to expand commuter train service to Modesto and as far south as Merced. The Modesto service could start in 2022.
Amin Vohra, 47, is the CEO of Advanced College — a private school with three campuses, including one in Salida, that offers vocational nursing and other health-care programs. He serves on the Planning Commission and the Stanislaus County Interfaith Council.
The four are running to replace Councilman Mani Grewal, who was elected in November 2015 and is not seeking a second term. Grewal and the other current council members are getting an extra, fifth year as Modesto moves from odd- to even-year elections.
The district roughly encompasses Bangs Avenue to the north, though the northern boundary stretches along Dale Road to Kiernan Avenue to include the Kaiser Medical Center; Highway 99 to the west; Tully Road to the east before turning west on Rumble Road and then south along Carver Road and then ending along Briggsmore Avenue and Sisk Road to the south.
The candidates hope to represent a city facing challenges, including huge drops in sales and other tax revenues because of the recession brought on by the new coronavirus pandemic.
Modesto already faced budget challenges before the pandemic in its general fund. The roughly $140 million fund makes up about a third of the city’s annual operating budget and more than three-quarters of it is spent on public safety.
A city consultant concluded this year that employee costs, including salaries and pensions, have grown faster than general fund revenues, leaving the city with more employees than it can afford. The city has about 1,200 employees, and the consultant concluded that number would need to be reduced by about 10 percent. Modesto plans to reduce employee numbers through attrition over the next several years.
The seven-member City Council also has been divided, and council members have exchanged heated words and accusations against one another during meetings. But the makeup of the council will change with the November election. Because of incumbents not seeking re-election or running for other offices, the council will have three to five new members.
Rosa Escutia-Braaton
Escutia-Braaton said her top priorities, according to her Bee candidate questionnaire, are “ending the dysfunction in city government” as well as public safety and “smart economic growth.” She wrote the council “needs to put aside personal agendas and political sound bites. We need to work together and set smart goals.”
Escutia-Braaton said Modesto is a family and community centered city and that means public safety is a top concern for residents. She said it’s critical the city maintain and look at how it can increase public safety. She said that means looking for creative ways to find the funding as well as engaging community members to build stronger partnerships with them and to solicit their input.
“I think the community is the one that has the best solutions to our community issues,” she said in an interview.
Escutia-Braaton said Modesto is literally in the heart of California, which means it has lots of untapped potential. She said Modesto has lost out on opportunities that other Northern San Joaquin Valley cities have seized, including a University of California campus in Merced and Patterson landing an Amazon fulfillment center.
Escutia-Braaton spent 25 years in Sacramento before coming to Modesto in 2011. She said during her time in the state capital she held a variety of public policy positions, including as director of public relations for the California State Lottery during the Gray and Schwarzenegger administrations.
John Gunderson
Gunderson was elected to the City Council in 2011 and lost to Grewal when he ran for re-election in 2015.
He said his top priority is homelessness. He said while local officials have made progress recently, with such projects as Stanislaus County’s 182-bed low-barrier shelter, more needs to be done.
He said he has been canvassing District 1 since July, knocking on voters’ doors (while wearing a mask and practicing social distancing). He said homelessness and the blight and other problems caused by some homeless people are voters’ top issues even during the pandemic.
He would like to see high school students get involved in a project to build micro and tiny homes for homeless people. Gunderson said that’s great experience for students; the homes can be turned around quickly; and housing homeless people is the right thing to do. He envisions the building materials being donated, and the homeless receiving services in their new homes.
“There is a great deal of outcry,” Gunderson said about homelessness. “It’s probably the No. 1 thing on people’s minds. People want something done. They don’t want people wandering around and creating problems. Homeless people need structure and purpose and a way to improve their lives.”
Jennifer Hidalgo
Hidalgo said her first priority, according to her candidate questionnaire, is helping Modesto and its residents and businesses get through the pandemic.
“It has been devastating to our local economy and has upended all of our lives,” she wrote in the questionnaire. “... We must be proactive and set policies that will prevent small businesses and families from feeling the pending economic shortfall we have already begun to see ... .”
Hidalgo said in order to help, Modesto must first listen to the community to learn its biggest concerns. She said the city needs to do a better job working with grass-roots organizations, such as Catholic Charities and the Tuolumne River Trust, that already have the pulse of community members, especially those in underserved areas.
Hidalgo questioned the City Council’s recent decision to allocate the $7.5 million it received from the CARES Act — the federal stimulus designed to help families, business, government and others in the pandemic — on public safety, primarily the salaries and benefits of police officers and firefighters.
She understands that is an allowable use of the funding, and the decision means Modesto does not have to drawn down budget reserves during a time of economic uncertainty. But she wishes the council had discussed possibly using some of the $7.5 million to help the community.
For instance, she said, some of the money could have gone toward closing downtown streets to help restaurants expand their outdoor dining. “I just think there are other options we should have looked at,” Hidalgo said.
Amin Vohra
Vohra said bringing higher-paying jobs to Modesto is his top priority. He said Modesto needs to reach out to Bay Area high-tech firms to make the case for them to come here. And he wants them to provide mentorships and similar programs for local youngsters who show an aptitude for high tech. That way Modesto can grow its own talent.
Vohra said he understands this could take years to become a reality, but Modesto needs to start now if it wants to improve its economy. He also sees a bright future for downtown, including working on connecting it to the nearby Tuolumne River to promote recreation and tourism, and he supports mixed-used development in downtown, with businesses on ground floors and housing on the floors above them.
Vohra said he also is running to counter the negative perceptions of Muslims, including those fostered by comments from President Donald Trump. Vohra, who was born in India, said he believes he is the first Muslim American to run for elected office in Modesto. That’s based on research he and the imam at the Islamic Center of Modesto conducted. Vohra is one of the center’s board members.
Vohra said he is running to provide a voice for Muslim Americans and to challenge the stereotypes some people have about Muslims. “We are community focused individuals,” he said. “We are invested in the community.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
