Modesto mayoral candidate, who is subject of city investigation, ends campaign
One of Modesto’s mayoral candidates in the Nov. 3 election has dropped out of the race.
Bert Lippert, who also is the city’s building safety program coordinator, said Wednesday he was no longer a candidate because he is the subject of a city investigation.
Lippert said he was placed on paid administrative leave Aug. 14. He said the city’s letter to him that includes the workplace allegations against him also requests that he not share the letter or its contents with anyone but his legal counsel or union representative.
Lippert said he does not have an attorney but has a union representative with Goyette & Associates, a labor and employment firm.
The representative did not respond to a text Wednesday seeking comment. City Manager Joe Lopez declined to comment through a city spokesman, because this was a personnel matter but did not cite the section in the state Government Code that bars him from providing the nature of the allegations.
Lippert said he dropped out of the mayor’s race to spare his supporters any embarrassment. He had raised $15,250 for his campaign as of June 30, according to campaign finance forms he filed with the city.
Lippert has worked for Modesto for 36 years and has been building safety program coordinator since 2006. He had developed code enforcement cases against owners whose properties had failed to come into compliance with building and municipal codes, such as apartment buildings that were unsafe or uninhabitable.
Modesto needs to regain trust
But he said he was reassigned July 1 to oversee the city employees who review building permit applications and issue the permits.
Lippert was one of seven candidates challenging Mayor Ted Brandvold, who is seeking a second term.
“I was mainly running because I think Modesto is in some tough shape,” Lippert said. He said the city needs to do a better job communicating with residents, regaining their trust, and proving that it is doing as much as it can.
He said Modesto does not have enough revenue to do all of what is it expected of it but could not consider raising fees or asking voters to raise taxes without gaining their trust.
Lippert said the City Council needs to set a better example and not give into outside influences. “The council is not communicating and functioning,” he said. “We have three of them running for mayor, and they don’t talk.”
The mayoral candidates are Councilwoman Kristi Ah You; Mayor Brandvold; Co-Senior Pastor Rick Countryman of Big Valley Grace Community Church; Naramsen Goriel, a community organizer and one of the founders of the progressive movement Indivisible Stanislaus; Councilman Doug Ridenour; Erin Sommer Tenorio, who works in marketing and merchandising; and former Modesto City Schools board member Sue Zwahlen.
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 6:18 AM.
