Brad Bates: Esquer, Nascimento are great candidates for Turlock city council

I wasn’t a fan of district elections, figuring in a city of 70,000 the best approach was to have the best candidates come forward and let all the voters choose. I changed my mind when Gil Esquer announced his candidacy for District 2.

Gil would not likely have run in a citywide election. But given the opportunity to represent those where he has lived his entire life, and campaign among his neighbors, he came forward. I’ve known Gil as a solid, sensible and contributing member of the community.

Part of how we judge people is by the company they keep. He has had the same group of friends for decades and his good friend Margaret Souza was the assistant finance director when I was mayor. Gil will be an engaged and representative voice for the West side.

But I was surprised to hear Amy Bublak sold her house in one district and filed to run against Steven Nascimento in another. I asked Amy if it was that important to her to be on the council that she would actually change residences to engage in a costly and possibly contentious campaign against a well-liked fellow councilmember who has lived in his district for years. In looking at the list of $1,000 contributors on Amy’s contribution report, it is clear that it is very important to some individuals to have Amy on the council – and not Steven.

I support Gil Esquer and Steven Nascimento and the value to Turlock of having representatives elected by district.

This story was originally published October 13, 2016 at 1:52 PM with the headline "Brad Bates: Esquer, Nascimento are great candidates for Turlock city council."