After public pressure, Turlock mayor condemns racism, but not Ted Howze endorsement
Turlock residents on Tuesday grilled Mayor Amy Bublak for not denouncing racism or withdrawing her endorsement of congressional candidate Ted Howze in the wake of local Black Lives Matter protests.
During the public comment session of the Turlock City Council meeting, about 20 callers urged Bublak to speak out on those issues to support people of color in the community. She condemned the killing of George Floyd but did not respond to criticism about Howze’s reported social media posts that denigrate the Black Lives Matter movement, immigrants and Muslims, among others.
“I do believe that Mr. Floyd was absolutely murdered by a person wearing a police uniform,” Bublak said in remarks after the public comment session. “I won’t say their gender or race because they didn’t deserve to wear a uniform. I’m very proud of my past as a police officer and I also appreciate what’s happening here.”
She continued to say that Turlock Police Chief Nino Amirfar served as the city’s spokesman on protests. At a vigil and protest this past Friday and Saturday, about 800 people total gathered to memorialize victims of police brutality and condemn racism.
“I do abhor racism in any form and support our city’s commitment to inclusion.” Bublak continued. “I respect people’s rights to protest and I want to thank Chief Amirfar and his staff for keeping us safe last weekend. Most of all, I want to thank the great people of the city of Turlock for making this city great. I pray for every person in this community every day.”
Wednesday, Bublak did not respond to The Bee’s request on her Howze endorsement. Howze, a former Turlock councilman and the Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, has denied posting inflammatory comments previously reported on by The Bee. Howze and Bublak served on the council together from late 2008 to 2010, during Bublak’s first term as a council member.
Turlock resident Michelle Park, one of the callers in Tuesday’s meeting, told Bublak that distancing herself from Howze is a small step amid calls for her to meet with local Black Lives Matter organizers and consider police reform.
“Here’s something that was really easy for you to do, Mayor Bublak: rescind your endorsement of Ted Howze based on his awful posts that show his true nature as a bigoted person who is unfit to be an elected leader of such a diverse community as Congressional District 10,” Park said. “If the mayor of our town cannot simply do this, how can we as the citizens of this town expect any other reforms or other help in this fight against racism?”
Local officials who have withdrawn support for Howze include Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow, Hughson Mayor Jeramy Young and Patterson Mayor Deborah Novelli. Modesto Mayor Ted Brandvold, like Bublak, has not rescinded an endorsement for Howze.
Brandvold on Wednesday told The Bee he still supports Howze, that the comments do not reflect the Howze he has come to know in the last year, and is taking Howze’s word that someone else was responsible for the inflammatory social media posts on Howze’s accounts.
Bee reporter Kevin Valine contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 4:26 PM.
