How to meet Modesto mayoral, other candidates, up close and (sort of) personal
Almost everyone knows whom they will vote for this fall for president of the United States.
How many Modesto voters already have decided which candidate for mayor will get their vote?
The percentage surely is lower. That’s because Donald Trump and Joe Biden come into our living rooms every day on TV, in the newspaper and on the Internet, while the seven Modesto mayoral candidates are harder to get to know.
The mayoral candidates live and work here among us, and the winner’s future decisions will affect our daily lives. But their ability to connect with each person is somewhat limited.
That changes Wednesday, when The Modesto Bee will bring all seven mayoral candidates — quite literally from A (Ah You) to Z (Zwahlen) — into your homes. And if you’re too busy to watch the Bee-hosted debate that evening, you can bring it up any time through the Nov. 3 election on your electronic device at modbee.com.
I had the privilege Thursday of helping to moderate an exciting preview as The Bee joined with South Modesto Partnerships and Central Valley TV for a debate with the candidates: Rick Countryman, Naramsen Goriel, Erin Sommer Tenorio and Sue Zwahlen, as well as incumbent Ted Brandvold and City Council members Kristi Ah You and Doug Ridenour.
Thursday’s forum was an excellent introduction, giving us a peek into who they are and how they think as they drilled into issues affecting under-served neighborhoods in south Modesto. The Bee’s upcoming debate on Wednesday features a similar Zoom format, but will appeal to a much broader audience as we explore many of the things that help or harm people all over the entire city.
Some candidates’ names are familiar, because they’ve served for years on the City Council or Modesto City Schools Board. Others, less so or not at all.
We think these Bee forums — we’re quizzing 36 candidates in 13 races on the Nov. 3 ballot — are unmatched for helping people efficiently and effectively become acquainted with those for whom they’ll cast votes. These debates bring them into your home, alive and in living color.
Some already conducted have been fascinating as we discuss enforcement of COVID-19 safety rules, reopening schools and businesses, police brutality and job creation. We ask some candidates who they support in the polarizing congressional race between incumbent Josh Harder and challenger Ted Howze. Sometimes we ask candidates to come up with something they admire in their opponents.
Getting inside Modesto, Stanislaus candidates’ heads
If you want to know whether candidates personally wear masks in public, be sure to tune in Wednesday, or view the recording later. We’ve asked all candidates in all races that question; we think hearing them explain their approach to something so personal, but which has divided our nation, helps people understand a candidate’s core values.
Ready for viewing right now at modbee.com are debates we already recorded for Modesto City Council District 1, District 3 and District 6, Stanislaus County supervisor District 1 and District 5, Senate District 5, Ceres mayor, and Modesto Irrigation District Division 1.
Still to come are Wednesday’s Modesto mayoral forum, plus Turlock City Council on Thursday and Patterson mayor on Sept. 30. Also on Sept. 30 we will post a video with Harder in similar interview format but without Howze, who declined to participate.
These Zoom debates help our editorial board decide endorsements, which do not tell people how to vote but are meant to help readers reach their own decisions. All voters will receive mail ballots on or about Oct. 7; look for Bee endorsements in the above races during that week — specifically, one or more each day from Oct. 4 through Oct. 11.
Periodically you’ll also see Bee endorsements on various statewide propositions. These are a product of in-depth, internal Zoom interviews with advocates on both sides of each measure, conducted jointly by myself and other opinion editors of McClatchy’s California newspapers in Sacramento, Fresno, Merced and San Luis Obispo.
We like to think that voting is more than just checking boxes. Consider Zoom debates as part of your homework in the next six weeks, doing your part to educate yourself enough to feel good about checking those boxes.
