Two more hopefuls come forward for Modesto’s November 2022 council election
Two more Modesto City Council candidates for the November 2022 election have come forward. One works in supply chain management at Kaiser Permanente Modesto Medical Center and the other is a barber, rapper and manager of three businesses.
Eric Alvarez, 29, is seeking to represent Council District 2, which encompasses west and south Modesto as well as part of downtown. Gerardo Gonzalez, 38, seeks to represent Council District 4, which encompasses southeast Modesto.
They join three other candidates who have announced their intention to run: Nick Bavaro, Naramsen Goriel and Jeremiah Williams. Bavaro hopes to represent Council District 4, and Goriel and Williams hope to represent District 5, which encompasses north-central Modesto.
District 2 Councilman Tony Madrigal, District 4 Councilman Bill Zoslocki and District 5 Councilwoman Jenny Kenoyer are in their second and final terms on the City Council and cannot run for re-election.
Modesto’s three other council members and Mayor Sue Zwahlen are not up for re-election in November 2022.
Head start before election
Although the filing period for candidates doesn’t open until the July before an election, candidates will start to come forward about a year before the vote to give themselves time to raise money, build support and court various constituencies, such as city employee labor unions, neighborhood groups and business interests.
Alvarez said he was born in Modesto and lived in District 2 until the third grade, when his family moved to Ceres. But he said he has maintained close ties to the district because his grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins still live there. He said he moved back to Modesto in March and now is looking for a rental home in the district.
Alvarez said he has a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from the University of Idaho and is completing a master’s in political management from George Washington University. He said it’s a hybrid program that converted to fully online in the pandemic. He expects to complete his degree in December.
He is a storekeeper II at Kaiser, according to his LinkedIn page, and said he’s worked there for about a year. He also has worked as district coordinator for the Boy Scouts of America’s Greater Yosemite Council and as a site coordinator for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stanislaus County.
Alvarez also is a member of the Central Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and has served as its government relations committee chairman since 2018.
Small-business incubators
He said that during the pandemic, he and other chamber members have helped Latino small businesses whose owners don’t speak English overcome the language and cultural barriers in applying to pandemic relief programs.
As a councilman, he would like to create business incubators that aid small, locally owned firms by helping them with business plans, accessing resources and other assistance, Alvarez said. He said the incubators also would bridge the language and cultural barriers for Spanish-speaking business owners to ensure they have access to the same help.
Gonzalez, 38, said he has managed the Live Wire Barbershop on Coffee Road near Briggsmore Avenue for five years. He also manages Live Wire Clothing Store and Mars Production Studios, which produces music videos, podcasts and commercials. All three businesses are in the same complex. Gonzalez said his business experience includes sales and marketing for Costco and DirecTV from about 2011 to about 2016.
He also performs as a rapper and singer and has done so throughout the Central Valley and in Los Angeles and Oakland, Gonzalez said. He said he performs Thursdays at My Mimosas in downtown Modesto and also has worked as a promoter.
Gonzalez also is a veteran who served in the Air Force from 2001 to 2005, he said. He said he worked in aircraft weapons systems for the F16s and other fighter jets. He was deployed to the Middle East during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, Gonzalez said.
‘This is my city. This is my pride.’
He said his No. 1 objective as a councilman would be to help turn around Modesto’s image.
“I don’t like it when I’m somewhere else and people talk bad about Modesto,” he said. “I’d really like to part of changing that perception. This is where I was born. This is my city. This is my pride. It doesn’t feel good when someone says something bad about Modesto.”
Gonzalez said he also is running to be a role model for his 5-year-old daughter and because it is time for another challenge in his life.
“I’ve always loved communicating in groups,” he said. “I should have been a lawyer, but I went into the military after high school. I love arguing things out, researching things. I like a good debate, especially when there is something effective that can come out of it.”
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District 2 Councilman Tony Madrigal, District 4 Councilman Bill Zoslocki and District 5 Councilwoman Jenny Kenoyer are in their final years of their second and final terms on the Modesto City Council and cannot run for re-election. Here are candidates who so far have announced their intention to run.
| Candidate | Race | Area | To replace |
| Eric Alvarez | District 2 | West/South Modesto | Madrigal |
| Nick Bavaro | District 4 | Southeast Modesto | Zoslocki |
| Gerardo Gonzalez | District 4 | Southeast Modesto | Zoslocki |
| Naramsen Goriel | District 5 | North/Cent. Modesto | Kenoyer |
| Jeremiah Williams | District 5 | North/Cent. Modesto | Kenoyer |
This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 3:41 PM.
