Crowded field for Modesto mayoral, council elections

Modesto voters will not lack for choices in the November election.

They will pick among five candidates for mayor and at least nine for three City Council seats. The filing period to run for office ended Friday for races throughout Stanislaus County, though the filing period was extended to Wednesday for races in which the incumbent is not seeking re-election.

There are races for two seats on the Ceres City Council and four seats on the Modesto City Schools board, as well as contests for dozens of seats on irrigation districts, school boards and special districts. Voters also will decide on several measures, including a half-percent general sales tax and urban growth boundary in Modesto.

Here is a roundup of some of the major races:

Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh will face four challengers in his bid for a second term: Councilman Dave Lopez, former Mayor Carmen Sabatino, architect and former Planning Commissioner Ted Brandvold and Armando Arreola, who received more than 4 percent of the vote when he ran for mayor in 2011.

Modesto’s six council members are elected by district, and seats for three districts are up for election.

Three candidates are running to represent Council District 3, which encompasses central Modesto. Lopez, who represents the district, cannot run for re-election because of term limits. The candidates are Franklin & Downs Funeral Home Managing Partner Kristi Ah You, certified public accountant and former Planning Commissioner Pat Gillum and Joe Williams, who with his wife founded a nonprofit in 1999 that helps marriages in crisis and reconciliation tools for families, according to his campaign website.

In Council District 1, which encompasses northwest Modesto, incumbent John Gunderson is seeking his second term. He is being challenged by businessman, farmer and Planning Commissioner Mani Grewal and P. Wexford’s Pub operations manager Ron Hurst.

In Council District 6, which encompasses east Modesto, incumbent Dave Cogdill Jr. is not running for re-election, so the filing period has been extended to Wednesday. As of Friday, retired police Sgt. Doug Ridenour and insurance broker Dave Wright are running. Midesslava Campozano said she will file to run Monday. She says she is an Army veteran, who left the service in April after eight years. Ridenour is the brother of former Mayor Jim Ridenour.

School board elections get more complicated this year because more districts will be holding by-area elections.

Sylvan Union, Empire Union, Riverbank, Stanislaus Union and Chatom school districts are among those shifting to by-area elections in November. Modesto City Schools will be asking voters in November whether the district should elect board members by area.

The Modesto board has three full-term seats and one short-term seat up for election. Incumbents Amy Neumann, Steve Grenbeaux and Desiree Romo (in the short-term seat), are seeking re-election. Challengers John P. Walker and Chad Brown are running for the full-term seats.

There also are school board races in Turlock, Ceres, Patterson, Denair, Oakdale and in other communities. Two seats are up for election on the Stanislaus County Board of Education. There also are races for seats on the Modesto, Turlock and Oakdale irrigation districts, as well as dozens of other special districts, such as the Salida Fire Protection District.

Updated information on these and other races was not available from the county election office as of 6:30 p.m. Friday.

In Ceres, Chris Vierra is running unopposed to secure his second term as mayor. Four candidates are running for two seats on the City Council. Incumbents Mike Kline and Bret Durossette are being challenged by photographer Don Cool and Teamsters retiree Melvin Yeakley.

The two candidates with the most votes will be elected to the council, but this likely will be the last year for at-large voting in Ceres. The city has placed Measure D on the ballot. The measure, if passed, would institute district elections, dividing the city into four districts. The mayor would be elected by a citywide vote.

The council put the measure on the ballot under threat of a lawsuit by civil rights groups that contend at-large voting put minorities at a disadvantage, in violation of the California Voting Rights Act.

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Crowded field for Modesto mayoral, council elections."