Ex-mayor, City Councilman, quality assurance manager seek Patterson mayoral office
Patterson will elect a new mayor in the November election, choosing among two candidates who have served multiple terms on the City Council and a political newcomer.
Former mayor David Keller, current Council Member Dennis McCord and quality assurance manager Mark Miles are campaigning to represent the city and describing priorities ranging from creating jobs to redeveloping downtown.
After serving as a Patterson council member from 1998 to 2004 and mayor for the next two years, Keller said the proposed Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir helped spark his interest in running again. If elected, the property manager said rebuilding and cleaning up the historical downtown business district would be his priority.
McCord, who is in his sixth year on the council and teaches math at Patterson High School, has identified improving public safety and creating high-paying jobs by recruiting manufacturing companies as top concerns. Building a public safety building so the city can hire more police officers than its Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department contract currently includes is a priority, McCord said.
Miles also called community safety a priority, but said he would work to increase police visibility and manage homelessness with workforce transition programs. Expanding youth programs through the Patterson recreation department and partnerships with the school district is another focus of his campaign, the Bronco Winery employee said.
Incumbent Deborah Novelli is not running and intends to concentrate on family and her career in advertising and media, she previously told The Bee. Voters elected her mayor in 2016 and 2018.
One of the three candidates will serve a two-year term and receive a monthly stipend of $600 or — depending on if the current council passes a second reading of an ordinance raising it — $660.
Downtown Patterson development
While the candidates agreed on a need to renovate downtown in a Sept. 30 Bee editorial board candidate forum, they proposed different approaches. Committees and the Patterson-Westley Chamber of Commerce have discussed the issue, but McCord said business owners along a street or two at a time ought to agree on improvements such as facades and parking to attract people to the area.
“I believe the city could actually help with the interest rate,” McCord said in an interview. “I’ve seen programs where cities can basically pay the interest for five years to help business owners make renovations now and begin to accrue benefits. All the city pays is the interest rate and with the interest rates so low, you’re talking almost nothing, maybe like $75,000 (for $1 million of construction work).”
Keller, on the other hand, suggested adding a downtown redevelopment fee to warehouses and distribution centers near Interstate 5. Considering the value of the land and past negotiations with developers, Keller said charging those businesses a fee to help out downtown would be appropriate. In an interview, he also proposed the city purchase the vacant Del Puerto Theatre and transform it into a performing arts center, as well as set up decorative street lightning around the banks and locally-owned restaurants and shops downtown.
Meanwhile, Miles said the city should consider grants, bond measures and its general fund to pay for revitalizing downtown. Improvements similar to Livermore’s outdoor dining areas can attract small businesses, Miles said in an interview, leading to more jobs and local investments. Storefronts downtown also need to be cleaned up to meet city codes, he said.
Del Puerto Canyon reservoir
Compared to the other two candidates, Miles takes more of a middle position on the proposed location for an 800-acre reservoir that would inundate part of Del Puerto Canyon. After meeting with water district staff and hearing they oppose building biking trails or adding fish to the dam for recreation, Miles said he is concerned about how Patterson residents will benefit amid possible flooding risk in the event of a catastrophic failure. If the proposed reservoir is built, Miles said he would work to ensure area farmers have first bid on the water.
“As a conscious Californian, I know we need water and when we have the water, we need to capture and hold it,” Miles said in an interview. “You have to dam streams or dam up an area you can pump water to it, so when I say I’m for it, I am because I know we need it. But if you’re going to put it in that location, I want to make sure Patterson has a direct benefit first.”
Describing upsides from jobs to climate resiliency, McCord said he does not oppose the reservoir in a Bee candidate questionnaire. Construction and maintenance of the reservoir will create permanent and temporary jobs, McCord said, and can help prevent farmers from reducing staffing because of water shortage issues. The draft environmental impact report does not name Patterson as an interested party, but McCord said city staff are talking to project developers about storing water in the dam and later releasing it to recharge the aquifer.
A co-founder of the nonprofit Save Del Puerto Canyon, Keller said he supports agricultural water storage but takes issue with the proposed site. Developers should consider one of the alternative sites identified in the report, Keller said. If elected, he said Patterson will hold public hearings and take a position on the proposed reservoir.
“Leaving the City of Patterson out of the Del Puerto Canyon reservoir process is prima facie (at first face) wrong,” Keller said in an email to the Bee. “Our city should have been consulted first, not excluded. I would ask an outside attorney for a second opinion on that matter.”
Candidate records, involvement
Out of his eight years on the council, Keller gave the construction of the aquatic center and city hall, plus creating bonding for the West Patterson Financing Authority as examples of what he achieved. He was also on the Patterson Planning Commission for a year before becoming a councilman.
Saying councils in the early 2000s neglected infrastructure, in an interview McCord, a council member since 2014, highlighted his work on pushing to fix water and sewer issues, installing new sidewalks around Patterson High School and purchasing the property for Centennial Park. Outside of city government, he is a Cub Scouts liaison and past president of the local Lions Club.
Miles’ son serving in the Navy inspired him to run for office the first time this year, he said in an interview, adding that he does not own real estate or a business. Miles currently chairs the Career Technical Education Advisory Board for both Patterson High and Modesto Junior College and is a member of the Patterson Farm to Fork Committee.
Stanislaus County began mailing ballots for the general election on Monday.
