San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors District 4 candidates clashed over government accountability, homelessness, infrastructure and public safety during a contentious forum marked by sharp exchanges and procedural interruptions.
The forum, held on April 18 at San Joaquin Delta College, was organized by the San Joaquin County Civic Alliance, a coalition of community organizations dedicated to civic engagement and voter education across San Joaquin County.
The forum featured incumbent Steve Ding and challenger Travis Castle, who outlined contrasting approaches to county leadership. Ding and Castle will be on the ballot in the June 2 primary election.
District 4 primarily encompasses Lodi and surrounding unincorporated areas in the northern part of the county. Key communities in the district include Acampo, Clements, east Stockton, Linden, Lockeford, Morada, Thornton and Woodbridge.
Record vs. reform
Ding, a Stockton native who is the owner and operator of Woodbridge Crossing Restaurant, said his father owned a supply company on Main Street in Stockton. He attended schools in downtown Stockton, as well as Stagg High School and San Joaquin Delta College.
Ding was elected to the District 4 seat in 2022, his first time running for office, though he previously served as a longtime staff member for former U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo. He emphasized his record in office, pointing to the hiring of 65 sheriff’s deputies, road repairs and efforts to address mental health services. He said his decision to run during the COVID-19 pandemic stemmed from frustration with what he described as the county’s failure to access available aid programs.
“I’m not going to tell you what I would do. I’m going to tell you what I did,” Ding said, citing partnerships with private companies and changes to hiring practices that he said improved law enforcement staffing.
Castle, a firefighter paramedic and fifth-generation rancher from Lodi, focused on what he described as systemic failures in homelessness policy and government spending. He criticized costly proposals such as a canceled safe camping site for the homeless and called for greater accountability.
“Politicians promise and pander, but they don’t produce,” Castle said. “Despite spending millions of dollars of your taxpayer money, promising wraparound services, most of our shelters don’t even have job training. We deserve better.”
Roads and infrastructure
San Joaquin County roads remain in poor condition despite significant revenue from Measure K. Candidates were asked how the funds are being spent, what role the San Joaquin Council of Governments plays in oversight, and how they would ensure transparency and accountability for the voter-approved funding.
Castle said he supports funding for road repairs but emphasized a broader infrastructure approach.
“We need to have a fix-it-first approach, and I support anything toward that,” Castle said. “But what I’d like to focus on instead is the infrastructure we’re not having.”
Castle pointed to French Camp, where the Richard A. Pittman VA Clinic recently opened and the San Joaquin Be Well Campus is under construction.
“That’s a very small community,” Castle said. “There’s no additional firefighters, no additional police. They are on their own. Their call volume has doubled. Small towns matter. We have to take care of them first.”
Castle also cited issues such as aging pipes, deteriorating roads and overgrown drainage ditches contributing to flooding and erosion.
“We need to jump ahead of things like that,” Castle said. “We need to have a comprehensive approach, not just attacking one small thing at a time.”
Ding challenged Castle’s familiarity with the county, saying Castle had only recently registered to vote there and that French Camp is not in District 4.
“We’ve paved 160 miles of roads, we’ve added 65 deputies,” Ding said. “The roads you’re referring to, I’d venture to guess many of them are city roads, not county roads. You can definitely tell the difference when you go from one road to another.”
Ding added that infrastructure also includes water policy, citing efforts to block the proposed Delta Conveyance Project, which he said would affect local water supplies.
“The board of supervisors, under my direction, along with four other counties, sued the Newsom administration over that tunnel, and we won,” Ding said, adding that he has worked with Sen. Jerry McNerney on the issue.
“I will continue to advocate for the fourth congressional district and make sure that my district is taken care of,” Ding said.
Ding is running for the fourth supervisorial district seat and is not a candidate for Congress.
Homelessness
San Joaquin County leaders explored creating a safe camping site for people experiencing homelessness, including a proposed project at the former Oakmoore Golf Course.
The plan was later canceled after the board of supervisors learned costs could exceed $11 million to build and $4 million annually to operate.
Candidates were asked how they view safe camping and safe parking programs as part of the county’s homelessness response, what led to the projected costs, and what oversight measures should be implemented to prevent similar outcomes.
Ding said changes in the county’s administration have been made since then and that rising costs contributed to the price of the proposal, citing insurance, liability coverage, meals and medical services. He called the costs presented to supervisors “outrageous.”
Ding said he does not support safe camping sites, arguing instead for broader policy changes and expanded inpatient mental health treatment capacity.
“We don’t need safe camping spots,” Ding said. “We need some changes in law.”
Ding referenced federal mental health funding limits, saying the system has not meaningfully changed in decades. He said he has worked with officials in other states to support efforts to increase inpatient mental health capacity and oppose a federal rule capping mental health facilities at 16 beds if they receive federal funding such as Medi-Cal and Medicare. He also pointed to what he described as local progress on behavioral health initiatives.
“Our health director is sitting with the administration, designing a national program that addresses my resolution on raising that 16-bed cap, and the Be Well Campus is being viewed as the gold standard of what actually needs to be done,” Ding said. “I’m extremely proud of that.”
Castle cited rising homelessness, saying the most recent Point-in-Time Count showed homelessness in San Joaquin County had doubled and was the highest growth rate among California counties.
“When the house is on fire, you have to attack the flames, and that’s what I’m going to do with homelessness,” Castle said.
Castle said he would leverage his relationships with the building trades to create job training programs in shelters, particularly in construction.
“We’re going to have 19 different trade options right there so we can elevate people out of homelessness in the shelters into permanent housing,” Castle said.
Castle also said he supports accountability measures for shelter participation.
“We need to stop the handout culture,” Castle said. “We need to get people hands up.”
Castle criticized the Oakmoore Golf Course proposal, saying the county spent nearly $10 million acquiring and studying the site before abandoning the project.
“That’s the wasteful spending that I’m here to fight,” Castle said. “We need to empower the public to make better choices. We can’t allow politicians to spend their taxpayer money like trust fund children.”
Public safety
San Joaquin County has faced public safety challenges in recent years, including a shooting in Stockton that left multiple people dead, including children, and ongoing concerns about violent crime.
Candidates were asked what specific strategies they support to reduce crime, improve public safety across the county, and strengthen coordination between the sheriff’s office, local cities and county government.
Castle said staffing shortages are a key issue and proposed restructuring recruitment and deployment for law enforcement and fire services.
“We need to hire more people,” Castle said.
Castle suggested that new housing developments include set-asides for public safety personnel, teachers and other essential workers.
“If they live here, they’re going to want to work here,” Castle said. “If they work here, they’re going to want to stay here. That’s a great way of retention.”
To improve public safety, Castle said he supports focusing enforcement on illegal weapons rather than broad restrictions.
“We need to get rid of the bad ones,” Castle said, referencing concerns about ghost guns and 3D-printed firearms.
During a contentious exchange, Ding asked Castle, “Do we have to build to buy you a house when you get a job in San Joaquin County?”
Castle said Ding’s time to respond to the question should not be reinstated, adding, “He chose to do what he did.”
Ding then shifted to his record as a supervisor, saying he has taken direct action to address staffing shortages in law enforcement.
Ding said during his first month in office, the sheriff told him the sheriff’s office was having difficulty hiring deputies due to bureaucracy. He said applicants would wait six to eight weeks while their applications were screened, then go through background checks, and by the time interviews were offered, they had already gone to departments in the Bay Area or elsewhere.
“What I did is I took two people out of the HR department, I embedded them right into the sheriff’s department, and we cut eight weeks off the hiring,” Ding said. “That’s action.”
Ding said the county has hired 65 new sheriff’s deputies since then.
Ding also pointed to efforts to combat copper wire theft, saying he helped create a public-private partnership with AT&T that funded $50,000 in Flock surveillance cameras.
“Those copper wire thefts are down 75% to 100 cases now,” Ding said.
Golden mussel threat
The invasive golden mussel poses a growing threat to water systems, agriculture and recreation in San Joaquin County. Asked whether agencies have responded quickly enough, Castle said, “We have to put a bounty on the mussels.”
“Whatever it has to take, and we can’t allow them to continue to multiply,” Castle said. “We need to increase the amount of inspectors for boats so we don’t spread those mussels from other places into the Delta.”
Ding acknowledged that local and regional agencies have not responded quickly or effectively to the issue.
“We’ve got a statewide problem on our hands,” Ding said. “You can hire all the boat inspectors you want. This is an absolute disaster and needs to be labeled as such. It’s clogging up our water pumps. There is no way that they have right now to treat them, and that’s why the state and federal government stepped in to figure out what they can do on the mussels.”
Tensions at forum
While responding to the question about golden mussels, Ding told Castle he had spoken against the county’s purchase of the Oakmoore Golf Course and canceled plans for a safe camping site for people experiencing homelessness.
“You’re right,” Ding said. “We screwed up, and then we looked at it, and we weren’t going to keep going down that hole.”
Ding accused Castle of not being a firefighter in San Joaquin County and said he should be proud to say he is a paramedic on his ballot statement. Castle did not address Ding’s remarks.
It was one of several tense exchanges as the candidates interrupted each other and repeatedly questioned statements about public service experience and policy records during the forum.
Audience members challenged the tone of the discussion, with one attendee criticizing what they described as a hostile atmosphere and questioning whether the candidates could collaborate effectively if elected.
“I’m kind of getting bully vibes here,” Stockton resident Yolanda Amen said. “I came here to learn about all of you today to see what you have to offer. My thoughts are this: If you can’t keep your decorum here at a forum, then how are you going to be able to represent San Joaquin County residents, or work with other supervisors or people who may not have the same type of views that you do?”
Both candidates responded by defending their approaches, with Castle saying he would assume Amen’s question was not directed toward him.
“My main focus is to put our egos aside and get to work,” Castle said. “We have a lot of challenges in the county and we need to make sure that they’re addressed piece by piece.”
Ding said he apologized if he offended Amen, but the problem in society has been politicians who go along to get along.
“The taxpayers and residents in my district have been bullied for a long flipping time,” Ding said. “You can talk about ag and water and everything you want. My district needs a fire. They need a loud voice.”
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Candidates spar over records at San Joaquin County supervisors forum
Reporting by Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record / The Record
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