Will election end turnover in Ceres? Meet the candidates vying for three spots
The November election will provide an opportunity for a reset in Ceres, which has struggled with high turnover and accusations of infighting and poor communication both on the City Council and among its staff.
Three of the four council seats are up for grabs and only one incumbent, who was elected during a special election last year, is running.
District 1 incumbent Jim Casey was sworn in August 2021 following a special election to fill the vacancy left by Channce Condit, who joined the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.
Since then, the District 4 councilman, Couper Condit, resigned without explanation in October 2021 and three-term councilwoman Linda Ryno resigned from the District 2 seat, citing frustrations over multiple city issues and conflict with District 3 councilman Bret Silveira.
The city’s third city manager in two years was hired last year, but that’s not the only executive position that has seen turnover.
“All the department heads except for police and finance left,” Casey said during a candidate forum last month organized by the Modesto Bee Editorial Board.
Four of the seven candidates participated in the forum: Casey and his opponent Todd Underwood, as well as District 2 candidates Rosalinda Vierra and Paula Redfern.
None of the District 4 candidates — Daniel A. Martinez, John R. Osgood III and David Carreon — took part in the forum.
Various thoughts on turnover
Asked to point to a root cause of turnover, Casey said he didn’t know because it started before he joined the council. But he speculated that it could have been a salary issue for city staff and cited a general lack of communication among the council, staff and Ceres residents, very few of whom participate in council meetings.
Underwood said he asked city officials but couldn’t get a straight answer and was told by friends who work for the city not to ask those types of questions, “and that’s wrong.” He in general attributed turnover on the council to “arguing and bickering.”
Redfern criticized the council for the “squabbling and unprofessionalism” and said staff members come to the meeting unprepared to answer questions from the council and the public.
And Vierra said she doesn’t know if there is one root cause but, “It seems some of it had to do with a lack of compromise or just trying to find a positive solution.”
Vierra said she is a student success specialist and small-business owner who is serving on Ceres’ Measure H Committee, which oversees the spending of funds from the half-cent sales tax voters approved in 2007 to improve police, fire and 9-1-1 emergency response.
Vierra said housing, bringing stable, nonservice jobs to the city and public safety are among her top priorities.
“I think we deserve a thriving community where individuals and families feel safe,” she said. “Our parks shouldn’t be memorials for people that have been murdered there recently.”
She wants to see the police and fire departments operating at full staffing and to implement programs that address homelessness and mental health issues, similar to what Modesto police have done.
Redfern, a code enforcement officer in Modesto, has worked in that position and as a community service officer in several Stanislaus County cities, including Ceres.
She said her work in city government has given her a good understanding of procedures and how to implement changes.
Growth, budget, housing among issues
If elected, Redfern said she would work toward improving communication among the council, city staff and residents; growing the city in a pace consistent with infrastructure improvements; and addressing blight by improving the systems by which it is reported, adding cameras to catch illegal dumping and filling the two new code enforcement positions.
Casey also is a proponent of a robust code enforcement unit. That and filling vacant businesses and balancing the budget are among his top priorities, he said.
During his time on the council, Casey said he has worked to improve communication between citizens and the council.
He and his opponent Underwood agree that elected officials must put their own interests aside so that their work is focused on the citizens of Ceres “because they are really the boss of all of us.”
“When you’re elected, it is your job to uphold the constitutional rights of the people,” Underwood said.
Underwood, who described himself as a “blue collar working-class guy in telecommunications,” said affordable housing is his top priority.
“I want to know why a city that is three to four times our size, the cost of living is cheaper than it is here,” he said, adding that commuting to Monterey and sleeping in a van for work each week is “not the California dream my grandparents had when they came here.”
In District 4, John Osgood is running for the seat to which he was briefly appointed last year before his appointment was rescinded following revelations of decisive comments he made on his podcast, including repeatedly using the N-word.
In a statement afterward, Osgood said, “The Ceres City Council’s decision to rescind my council appointment represents the worst of today’s cancel culture hysteria and is based on an inaccurate and defamatory portrayal of my character.”
Osgood, a truck driver and vice president of a company that recycles food-grade waste, did not respond to requests for comment for this story but previously told The Bee that changing the municipal code and requiring planning commission members to be chosen per council district were among his priorities.
Martinez, who is serving on the Ceres Planning Commission, also did not respond. His campaign flier says, “effective communication is key to finding solutions to difficult problems.”
Candidate David Carreon described himself in a Bee questionnaire as an entrepreneur who works in produce distribution.
He said his top priorities are improving infrastructure and making Ceres a more attractive place for businesses.
“I think the fact that I don’t want to become a politician and that I genuinely want to represent my district and my town the best that I can sets me apart from some of my opponents,” he said. “I have no political ambitions or any scores to settle, I just want to do what’s right.”
The District 4 seat is currently occupied by Mike Kline, a longtime former councilman who was asked by city staff to fill in for the remainder of the term after Osgood’s appointment was rescinded. He is not running in the election.
