Who will lead Modesto in pandemic and its aftermath? Voters have two choices
Join us live Wednesday, Jan. 6, for Debate at The State with the two mayoral candidates. Find out more here.
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Modesto’s next mayor will lead the city during one of its biggest challenges in its history – getting through the new coronavirus pandemic and then rebuilding the community.
Voters will choose between Doug Ridenour, a retired police sergeant who just finished his first term on the City Council, and Sue Zwahlen, a former Modesto City Schools board member and a retired emergency room registered nurse.
She finished first with 23.8 percent of the vote and he finished second with 19.4 percent among the eight candidates in the Nov. 3 mayoral election. The two face each other in a Feb. 2 runoff election because no candidate received a majority of the vote.
The runoff will be conducted by mail, and ballots go out Jan. 4.
Modesto was facing challenges well before the pandemic’s first stay-at-home order was issued in March. For instance, the city’s budget was under stress, and homelessness was a top concern for many residents despite much work in recent years by local officials to address it.
And the City Council has been fractured over the last several years, with bickering, distrust and infighting among its seven members. The council now has three new members who were elected in the Nov. 3 election.
Ridenour, 69, and Zwahlen, 66, both emphasize their long service to and love of Modesto and that they have the leadership skills to build consensus and move the city forward. But there is a clear difference between the two when it comes to the city’s response to the pandemic.
Zwahlen said the city’s elected officials have been silent or failed to provide a clear, consistent message on the need for everyone to wear a mask, keep at least six feet away from people who are not part of their household, and wash their hands.
“It’s their responsibility to be leaders and principled decision-makers,” she said. “... People are suffering and businesses are suffering.“
She said the city also has sent mixed messages to businesses about following the public health restrictions. Zwahlen said she does not want to criminalize businesses, but she said the restrictions need to be followed, and the city could have done more to help businesses succeed while adhering to the restrictions.
For instance, she said, Modesto could do more to encourage residents to get takeout from their favorite restaurants when indoor and outdoor dining is not allowed.
Zwahlen said the city’s focus should be on treating the pandemic as the public health crisis that it is. She said that is fastest way to get it under control. “Follow the guidelines,” she said, “and we can reopen the economy.”
Zwahlen said she understands the pandemic and the restrictions have been devastating for many businesses, and she feels for young business owners just starting out and others who face losing everything. But she said the city needs to make a greater effort to help businesses follow the restrictions and adapt how they operate.
“I think city leaders can have an impact on businesses being successful,” she said, “but we need to listen to them.”
She also acknowledges the messages coming from the state and federal governments have not always been clear and consistent and too many people don’t believe in the restrictions. But she said that is all the more reason for city officials to do the right thing.
“We can be an example,” she said, “and model good behavior with clear and consistent messaging. We can lead the way. We can persist with a clear message that is data driven. ... This is microbiology 101. This is basic science in how disease spreads. But it takes everyone to do their part to stop the spread and, going forward, getting vaccinations so we can move ahead with opening up (the economy) and keeping people healthy.”
Blames mayor for mixed messages
Ridenour said the city has done well in very difficult circumstances and said he has set a good example by wearing a face mask and following the other protocols.
He said the mixed messages locally have come from Mayor Ted Brandvold, who finished fifth in the mayoral election as he sought a second term.
Ridenour said the conflicting and confusing information from the state and federal governments has fed into the distrust of some residents and made them less than willing to follow the restrictions.
“They don’t believe they are getting clear information from the state and nationally,” he said. “I get both sides. This is a serious thing. The problem with a serious thing is we are getting mixed messages from every phase of government. (For example), ‘follow the science.’ I’m not aware of science that (says) indoor dining or outdoor dining is a source of outbreaks.”
He said the state’s restrictions are too broad and blunt, don’t give cities the flexibility they need and appear unfair. He said small-business owners have asked him why the state has deemed Walmart and other big chains as essential and allowed them to stay open while they have to close or operate under tight restrictions.
Ridenour said if California gave its cities more control, then they could work with their small businesses to stay open in the pandemic.
But many Modesto restaurants, nail salons, health clubs and other businesses are not following the latest public health order imposed by the state in early December throughout the San Joaquin Valley to stop the surge of COVID-19.
Calls lack of compliance ‘civil unrest’
Ridenour said that is not a reflection of the city’s lack of enforcement. He said he went out with code enforcement officers while he was in office and said they did a good job gaining compliance through education. He said the issue is one of “civil unrest” and that when a large part of a community does not want to follow the rules, then there is not much that any government can do, especially when it has limited resources.
“I don’t understand what she is saying,” Ridenour said about Zwahlen’s criticism of the the city. “Modesto has done that (enforce the restrictions). Customers have to hold them (business) accountable. Customers like the fact that these places are open. This is not an easy solution. ... You have to understand the complexity.”
Ridenour said he has spent the last 46 years serving Modesto, the first 16 as a reserve police officer, the next 25 as an officer and the last five as a councilman. He comes from a family with a history of serving Modesto. His brother, Jim, is a former mayor and two other brothers had careers in law enforcement.
Ridenour has said he understands that even as mayor he is one of seven elected council members and has to work with his colleagues to find consensus. Brandvold was consistently accused by Ridenour and other council members of not doing that.
Ridenour does not agree the City Council was ineffective. He said while the council could have done a better job with how it presented itself, he said it attended to the city’s business and some major accomplishments were achieved under its watch.
He said that includes a downtown master plan and a project that sells highly treated wastewater to West Side farmers. He said what some people might see as discord at council meetings is really elected officials conducting the public’s business in real time and in public.
Ridenour also has faced accusations from City Clerk Stephanie Lopez that he made crude sexual gestures toward her and mistreated her. A 2019 city investigation did not substantiate the allegations but found Ridenour had referred to Lopez and two other female employees as the “mayor’s girls,” a reflection of the divide at City Hall.
Police chief donates to Ridenour campaign
Ridenour has reported raising more than $100,000 in his campaign for mayor.
His donors include $2,500 from the Modesto Police Officers Association, $2,000 from Datapath, the Modesto high-tech firm, $500 from retired Chamber of Commerce President-CEO Cecil Russell, $2,000 from PMZ Real Estate President-CEO Mike Zagaris, $500 from Memorial Medical Center CEO Gino Patrizio, $500 from a political campaign of former Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham, $400 from Central Valley Impact Republicans, and $200 from Galen Carroll, who just retired as Modesto’s police chief.
He also received $1,000 from David Wright, who was elected Nov. 3 to fill Ridenour’s council seat as well as donations from Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors members Vito Chiesa ($1,000) Terry Withrow ($1,700 in nonmonetary support) and Jim DeMartini ($2,000 in nonmonetary support). DeMartini’s term on the board just ended.
Ridenour has the support of Big Valley Grace Community Church Co-Senior Pastor Rick Countryman, who finished third in the mayoral election, as well as council members Jenny Kenoyer and Bill Zoslocki.
“I think both of them are really fine people. Either one of them would make a great mayor,” Countryman said about Ridenour and Zwahlen. “But as I got to know both of them throughout the campaign, to me, Doug has more experience with City Hall, more experience dealing with that world.”
Kenoyer and Zoslocki said Ridenour has the experience and people skills to make a difference from the first day as mayor.
“He has the temperament and understanding, and he will listen,” Kenoyer said. “He knows he has to work with the council. That is is what we have lacked.”
Who is mayor supporting to replace him?
Brandvold has not responded to several text messages asking whether he is supporting a candidate in the runoff election.
Zwahlen served on the school board from 2009 to 2017 and ran for California’s 10th Congressional District — which covers Stanislaus and southern San Joaquin counties — in 2018 as a Democrat.
She finished sixth out of eight candidates in the primary, but she finished third among Modesto voters, according to the primary results, behind Josh Harder, who would be elected to Congress that November, and Denham, who was running for re-election.
She said her experience on the school board gives her knowledge of government budgets, how government works and how to build consensus. Zwahlen has said she started her school board tenure during the Great Recession, and she and her fellow board members were able to make difficult decisions balanced against what was best for students and their families.
Zwahlen said she fears the division and dysfunction on the City Council will continue under Ridenour. “I’m not sure it will change unless I’m elected,” she said. “I believe that Doug Ridenour has been at the center of much of the dysfunction.”
She said Ridenour took some of the council disputes personally and was not able to put that aside and find common ground. She said the problems with the council have affected city staff and others who work closely with the city.
Ridenour said the criticism is not true, and it’s the kind of baseless charge candidates make against their opponents.
Zwahlen has reported raising more than $140,000 for her campaign. Her contributors include $2,500 from Modesto entrepreneur Dan Costa, $2,000 from Harder’s congressional campaign, $15,000 from the Stanislaus County Democratic Committee, $500 from Rosa Escutia-Braaton, who was just elected to the City Council, $250 from Modesto City Schools board member Chad Brown and $149 from Gallo Center for the Arts CEO Lynn Dickerson. Zwahlen and her husband have contributed more than $30,000 toward her campaign.
Giving Modesto ‘a fresh start’
She has the support of Kristi Ah You, who decided to run for mayor in November rather than seek a second term on the City Council.
“For the last five years, Modesto’s City Council has been wracked by infighting, costly harassment lawsuits, bullying, dysfunction,” Ah You said in a text message. “I know. I was there. Modesto can’t afford to continue down that path, and we don’t have to. We can change the course right now.
“Sue Zwahlen will give Modesto a fresh start. ... Sue knows how to work with people, how to find common ground, while being professional, courteous and kind. Sue has a history of making good decisions. She will be a champion for good and an advocate for our citizens. ...”
She also has the support of her former Modesto City School board colleagues.
“I’ve got her sign in my lawn,” said Steve Grenbeaux, who served with Zwahlen. “We’re pretty lucky to have two very qualified candidates running for mayor. But Mr. Ridenour was on the council when all the bad stuff was going on, and he was part of it, though he’s very qualified. But he was part of the problem, and I want to see if we can get away from that type of behavior.”
Former school board member Amy Neumann said Zwahlen always did her homework. Neumann said back in the day when board members were given 4-inch thick binders for meetings, she always knew which one belonged to Zwahlen. It was the one full of sticky notes and notes. “She would read everything and be prepared.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
