Modesto council candidates well-respected. How do the two differ on issues?
Voters in north-central Modesto will choose between two council candidates in the Nov. 8 election who have lengthy records of civic engagement: attorney and community organizer Naramsen Goriel and business owner and community volunteer Jeremiah Williams.
The two are competing to replace Councilwoman Jenny Kenoyer in City Council District 5. She is completing her second consecutive term in office. The city charter prohibits council members from running for a third consecutive term.
There also are two other council elections. But in one race, there will be only one candidate on the ballot. The third race also will have one candidate on the ballot, but a write-in candidate has qualified to have his votes counted. That means if a voter writes his name, the election office will count the vote.
Goriel, 38, became a criminal defense attorney in April 2021 and works in the Law Office of Aaron Villalobos. He also is a community organizer and co-founded Indivisible Stanislaus, part of a nationwide grass-roots progressive movement.
He is a co-founder of the Assyrian Democrats of Stanislaus County and serves on city’s Landmark Preservation Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustment. Goriel also is a board member of the McHenry Museum and Historical Society.
He is a first-generation Assyrian-American and ran for mayor in the November 2020 election, finishing sixth out of the eight candidates.
Williams, 57, owns Oak Crafts by Jeremiah, which makes kitchen cabinets, vanities and entertainment centers. He is an assistant pastor at the Revival Center United Pentecostal Church and a member of the North Modesto and Modesto Kiwanis clubs.
Williams has served as chairman of Modesto’s Fourth of July Parade for 12 years. He also has served on the Stanislaus County Fair board since 2015. Williams has said he is the first Black person to serve on the fair board in its 109-year history.
The men want to serve on a City Council that faces such issues as how to reduce homelessness, provide more affordable housing and explore police reform. Modesto has a $171.4 million general fund, which city officials say is not sufficient to provide adequate services. The fund primarily pays for public safety, as well as parks and recreation and other basics.
The council has placed Measure H — a 1% percent sales tax — on the Nov. 8 ballot that would bring in $39 million annually to the general fund if voters approve it.
There is not a lot that separates Goriel and Williams on the issues.
Both support Forward Together, the City Council’s effort at police reform. The council is considering a community oversight board and independent police auditor that would issue reports and recommendations on how to improve policing and help build better relationships among the community, the city and its Police Department.
They both support having a department that has enough police officers and other resources to ensure Modesto is safe.
Williams and Goriel said homeless people need to be treated with compassion and say the reasons people are homeless are complex and varied. They can include fleeing domestic violence, losing a job and not being able to afford the rent, and struggles with mental illness and substance abuse.
Both said creating more housing, including affordable housing, is critical. Williams said he is doing his part by trying to build eight tiny homes on the half-acre he owns downtown and where he has his business.
Differ on tax measure
But there is daylight between the two council candidates.
Williams supports Measure H, while Goriel has reservations.
“We don’t have a spending problem in the city of Modesto, we have an income problem,” Williams told The Bee’s editorial board.
Goriel told the board he still was evaluating the measure to determine what is best for the taxpayers and the city. He states on his campaign website the city must spend its tax dollars wisely and that ultimately falls on the City Council.
“As your next council member,” Goriel states on his website, “I will not vote to increase city taxes on the already hardworking, taxpaying residents of Modesto. Instead, we will begin with the income we already receive, and budget appropriately.”
They also differ in some of the details on how to create more housing.
Williams states on his campaign website that the city needs to streamline the development process and “cut fees to increase quality development and make Modesto more affordable.” Williams told the editorial board the city also needs more shovel-ready land for development.
Goriel said on his website the city can pursue a variety of strategies to increase the amount of housing. That includes building micro-homes and converting abandoned motels and commercial buildings, which now are targets for blight and crime, into housing. Goriel supports developers building housing on vacant lots within the city.
“... I will not support building over our cherished farmland,” he said.
Williams was among the 13 candidates in 2010 who sought to be appointed by the City Council to fill a vacancy. The Bee reported then that public records suggested Williams did not always pay his county, state and federal taxes on time over about a decade.
Monthly payments to IRS
Williams said then that the liens totaled about $55,000 for back taxes, not counting interest and penalties. He said then that his business had struggled in the recession and he was working to pay off the liens.
But the liens continued after that, according to a review of records at the Stanislaus County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. For instance, the IRS filed a $21,336 lien against Williams in 2012. The lien was satisfied and released in 2019. And the State Board of Equalization filed a $13,307 lien against Williams in 2015. The lien was satisfied and released in 2016.
The last liens filed against Williams were in 2017. Williams said he has paid off all of them except for one with the IRS and the IRS is deducting $600 a month from his bank account to pay it off. He provided The Bee with a statement showing the deductions.
Williams said at that rate, he will pay off the lien in about three years.
He said the liens do not disqualify him from serving on the City Council but show he is like everyone else in that he’s faced and overcome difficulties.
Williams has reported raising $31,693 for his council campaign. His contributors include retired Police Chief Galen Carroll ($100), retired Gallo Center CEO Lynn Dickerson ($100), retired teacher and affordable housing advocate Sharon Froba ($300), Project Uplift President John Ervin ($300) and PMZ Real Estate CEO Mike Zagaris ($250).
Councilman David Wright has contributed $1,050, and the Modesto Police Officers Association and the Modesto Fire Fighters Association each have contributed $1,000. Councilwoman Kenoyer has contributed $200. Lyons Investments and Lyons Land Management each contributed $1,000.
Goriel has reported raising $25,414, which includes a $5,000 loan from his family.
His contributors include $1,650 from Lindsey Bird’s 2020 Yosemite Community College District board of trustees campaign. She was the director of Davis High School’s now-defunct Language Institute, which served teens entering Modesto City Schools as new immigrants or refugees.
Other contributors include the California Association of Realtors ($1,000), former Democratic U.S. Rep. Tony Coelho ($2,000), Chad Condit’s 2022 campaign for state Assembly ($500), Modesto City Schools teacher Dave Menshew ($250), the Seasons Banquet Hall ($1,000) and the Law Office of Aaron Villalobos ($250).
Two other council elections
Nick Bavaro, 70, is the only candidate running to represent District 4 in southeast Modesto. He seeks to replace Councilman Bill Zoslocki, who resigned in April before finishing his second term.
Eric Alvarez, 29, is the only candidate on the Nov. 8 ballot to represent Council District 2, which includes west and south Modesto, downtown and the airport neighborhood. District 2 Councilman Tony Madrigal is completing his second consecutive term and cannot run for re-election.
But Sebastian Jones, 60, qualified to have his votes counted as a write-in candidate, according to the city. His name will not appear on the ballot but a vote will be counted for him when a voter writes his name on the ballot.
Jones said he intended to qualify as a candidate with his name on the ballot but was unavoidably out of the state during the qualification period. The city says Jones completed the same process to qualify as a write-in candidate, including showing he is a registered voter and lives in Council District 2.
