Modesto’s northeast City Council candidates see the same problems but different answers
Voters in northeast Modesto have a clear choice between two candidates in the November election on who will represent them on the City Council.
Councilman David Wright, 72, said the city is on the right track and he wants to build on the council’s achievements over the past four years as he seeks a second term.
“... We have a council working together to make Modesto a better place,” Wright said in a Bee candidate questionnaire. “We have started new initiatives that I want us to build on.” The initiatives include the Community Health & Assistance Team, which works with homeless people, and the park ranger program.
First-time office seeker Austin Grant, 29, said if elected, he will challenge a political system that too often benefits corporations and the wealthy at the expense of ordinary residents, including the working class, people of color and young people.
“I’m running for office because it’s time for a new generation of leadership that is willing to take on the tough challenges and fight for the future we all deserve,” Grant said in his questionnaire. “... As a young candidate, I see firsthand the issues facing our generation, and I know we can’t rely on outdated solutions to address them.”
Grant is an emergency preparedness analyst with Stanislaus County, has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fisk University and serves on the city’s Equity Commission and Community Police Review Board.
He said his top priority is the affordable housing crisis. “Housing is a fundamental human right,” he wrote in his candidate questionnaire, “yet for too many people in our community, it’s becoming increasingly out of reach.”
In his questionnaire, Grant said the root cause of the crisis is not only a lack of supply but corporate landlords and speculators who treat housing as a commodity rather than a basic need.
As a councilman, he would advocate for building more affordable housing “through public and private partnerships, zoning reforms that prioritize density and mixed-use developments, and cracking down on predatory practices like rent gouging and eviction-for-profit schemes,” according to his candidate questionnaire.
Grant also would push for stronger tenant protections, such as rent control and just-cause eviction ordinances.
He wants to bridge what he calls a growing divide between residents and City Hall by making the city more open and inclusive “so the voices of the community are heard and acted upon,” he said.
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Homeless day center
Wright is an insurance broker and owns Wright Insurance Agency, which sells health insurance policies.
He said he want to continue supporting the efforts to help people who are homeless and the agencies that help them, such as the city working with The Salvation Army to open a homeless day center. He also wants to strengthen downtown to attract more businesses, restaurants and entertainment.
Now that home construction has started to pick up, Wright said, it’s time for the city to meet with builders to explore how they can build market-rate housing that average families can afford.
Wright envisions smaller homes of 800 to 1,100 square feet and the city looking at what it can do, like waiving or reducing development fees, to help make this housing financially viable for builders and affordable for families.
Wright wants the city to help the Downtown Streets Team serve more people. The nonprofit provides homeless people with volunteer work picking up trash on city streets and in parks. DST also helps with jobs, housing and other services.
DST Modesto is part of a network of teams operating in 20 Northern California cities, and it’s been one of the local success stories in helping homeless people get into and stay in housing. As of June, DST Modesto had helped a little more than 300 people since it started in February 2019, including 153 with housing and 82 with jobs.
Wright said the city could work with the streets team to find grants to allow it to expand or look at providing the streets team with money from Measure H, the 1% sales tax increase city voters approved in November 2022.
He also has high hopes about the city reaching a long-term agreement with the Seattle Mariners for the minor league Modesto Nuts to stay here and the outcome of negotiations between the city and the United Soccer League for professional soccer in Modesto.
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Campaign contributions
Grant has reported raising $3,920, according to his campaign finance forms, including $2,000 from the Latino Political Action Committee of Stanislaus County, as well as $500 each from Kimberly Humke and Sharon Froba.
Froba is a retired English teacher, affordable housing advocate and, along with her husband, David, researched Modesto’s history of racially restrictive deeds that prevented people of color from buying homes in half of the city. Racially restrictive deeds were in place nationwide until 1968.
Humke is the creative production director for Compete Everywhere, a digital marketing firm that supports progressive candidates and causes. She also is married to Councilman Chris Ricci.
Wright has reported raising $18,100, which includes $10,000 he has loaned to his campaign. He also has received $1,000 each from Republican state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil’s 2026 re-election campaign and Modesto Councilman Nick Bavaro.
The Latino Political Action Committee of Stanislaus County also gave Wright’s campaign $2,000. Sept. 26 is the next date for council candidates to report how much their campaigns have raised.
Wright and Grant are running to represent Council District 6, which includes the Village I residential area.
The other race on the Nov. 5 ballot is for Council District 1 in northwest Modesto, with incumbent Rosa Escutia-Braaton facing two challengers: transportation planner Joel Campos and guest teacher and former Councilman John Gunderson.
Councilman Chris Ricci is also up for re-election to represent Council District 3 in central Modesto, which includes the college area. But he is guaranteed a second term because no one filed to run against him.
This story was originally published September 24, 2024 at 8:26 AM.
