Patterson planning commissioner’s derogatory comment is picked up on hot mic
A planning commissioner’s comment on a hot microphone Thursday evening has created some commotion in the Apricot Capital in western Stanislaus County.
The city of Patterson apologized for the commissioner’s derogatory comment in a Facebook post Friday.
“We would like to sincerely apologize to Marco Ahumada for a statement made during last night’s Planning Commission meeting,” the city’s statement says. “The statement does not reflect the views, values or position of the city. We deeply value and respect the voices of our community members and remain committed to fostering open and respectful dialogue on all matters that affect our city and its residents.”
Ahumada, a Patterson resident, attended the Planning Commission meeting by Zoom on Thursday evening. He was getting ready to speak near the close of the meeting. In a comment that was audible, Commissioner Eric Bendix said, “Marco is a pain in the ass.”
A video of the meeting shows that Bendix turned his head and spoke in a hushed tone. He apparently did not realize the audible whisper would be picked up on the microphone in front of him.
Ahumada said in reply, “I hope I’m not that much of a pain.” Ahumada then continued to address the commission regarding the Baldwin Road South housing subdivision project.
Ahumada told The Modesto Bee on Friday that Patterson’s mayor, city manager and planning director each contacted him Friday offering an apology. “They encouraged me to continue to do what I am doing,” Ahumada said. “I have fairly thick skin. I [couldn’t] care less about the comment. … I don’t think he had the intent for me to hear it.”
The city’s statement does not identify the official who made the comment. Ahumada said the mayor and administrative officials who spoke with him did not identify the individual. Planning commissioners are appointed by cities to review land use proposals and work on long-range city planning.
A communications firm that has battled Patterson over the stalled Keystone housing project in the 1,300-acre Zacharias-Baldwin Master Plan alerted the media Friday about the “hot mic” incident and said in the news release that Bendix was overheard making the comment. Keystone Corp. has challenged an April 1 City Council decision that rejected the development firm’s 719-home subdivision map due to lack of water to serve the new homes.
“This moment is more than an unprofessional comment — it reflects a broader pattern of troubling behavior by city leadership that calls into question the city’s true priorities,” said the release from Southwest Strategies Group, which has criticized city leaders on a site called exposingpatterson.com.
Mayor Michael Clauzel also posted the city statement on his Facebook page apologizing to Ahumada. He did not return an email message Friday. An effort to reach Bendix was not successful.
Ahumada said he also spoke, in a positive manner, at Thursday’s meeting about the Del Puerto Health Care District medical campus and felt it was a constructive meeting until the commissioner’s comment near the end.
In the past year, he has posted items and commentary regarding local issues on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and recently commented for a Modesto Bee story on chromium 6 contamination in Patterson’s water.
“I deeply appreciate the apology,” Ahumada said. “I don’t have ill intent. The comment was unfortunate but I’m not asking for anybody to be kicked off the [commission] or any action to be taken.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 7:21 PM.
