Our View: Elementary, Marsh is best candidate for Modesto mayor

In less than seven weeks, voters must choose a mayor from among five suspects – we mean candidates.

After interviewing four of the five, and looking at a lot of accumulated evidence, deciding whom to endorse was tougher than anticipated. For help, we decided to consult the world’s greatest detective. So, Sherlock Holmes, how should we decide?

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be …” the choice for mayor, to paraphrase author Arthur Conan Doyle.

Let’s start eliminating the impossible.

Armando Arreola is a candidate, but didn’t return our calls or emails. He ran in 2011, but rarely showed up at forums, missing even the Latino Roundtable. We’ll call this “The Case of the Missing Candidate.” Impossible.

Ted Brandvold makes a good first impression as a two-term planning commissioner and businessman, but when asked what could be done about Modesto’s spike in violent crime, he was at a loss. “The Adventure of the Unready Candidate.” Impossible.

Two-term councilman Dave Lopez’s campaign appears predicated on chasing away homeless people. He wants to “take back our parks” by intercepting vagrants as they arrive at the bus station (Lopez is convinced they’re being shipped here from other cities) and sending them back from whence they came. Is he volunteering to become Modesto’s official “greeter”? And we’re fairly certain running people out of town is, well, illegal. “The Case of the Bad Idea.” Impossible.

Now we must switch literary genres. Carmen Sabatino was articulate during our editorial board meeting, expressing enlightened thoughts on dealing with the homeless, insisting we start creating the future rather than just planning for it, and envisioning a downtown ballpark. He adamantly opposes annexation of Salida and would erase Wood Colony from the city’s general plan. But then Sabatino went tumbling down the rabbit hole. His insistence that the district attorney, sheriff and others are corrupt and intent on vilifying him borders on paranoia. He talks about the damage to Modesto’s image from the indictment of criminal attorney Frank Carson for murder, but ignores the damage accrued when this previous mayor was in and out of court for most of a decade.

“You know who I am,” Sabatino said. Yes, we do. It’s impossible to contemplate a sequel to Sabatino’s first term as mayor.

After four impossibilities, no matter how improbable, we arrive at incumbent Garrad Marsh.

Over the past four years, Marsh has committed several outright blunders – trying to sell a general sales tax increase in 2013 as a public-safety tax; allowing Wood Colony to become a hot-button issue pitting those trying to grow Modesto businesses against those trying to grow crops; his insistence the new courthouse be located on a block far from the district attorney’s offices and city jail; his steadfast support for a former city manager who clearly had lost the community’s confidence.

Bad choices, but none disqualifies him. Instead, look at improvements under his watch.

Marsh helped recruit – and retain – Jim Holgersson as city manager. Since Holgersson’s arrival, city relations with Modesto Irrigation District, the county and many others have significantly improved.

While the mayor’s support for a downtown business district is controversial, he is working to find solutions for those who can’t afford assessments – and the district could improve Modesto’s appeal. As for Salida, he says it’s time to remove the community of 12,000 from Modesto’s general plan.

Marsh appears to recognize the severity and importance of addressing Modesto’s increased violence, which cannot be wished away. Though Measure X failed in 2013, Marsh has returned with Measure G, and we’re still not certain even this reduced version is the best way to deal with it, but at least he’s trying to do something concrete – and that counts.

And while we still strongly feel the courthouse would have been better placed on I Street, we are not opposed to the vision of Modesto having another showcase boulevard, close to Highway 99, leading to a regional park built around the Tuolumne River. It’s a beautiful, if yet unrealistic, vision.

Marsh is not the perfect candidate, but, perhaps improbably, he is the best choice for a second term as mayor of Modesto.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 7:37 AM with the headline "Our View: Elementary, Marsh is best candidate for Modesto mayor."