Two of the four candidates for the Stockton City Council District 3 seat presented contrasting views on city budgeting, government transparency and homelessness during a candidate forum ahead of the June 2 primary election.
The forum, held on April 23, 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 Michael Blower and challenger Stefanie Alfaro, who answered questions from panelists and audience members about key issues facing the district. Candidates Jessica Toccoli and Joey Veltri did not attend.
Blower emphasized his experience on the council, economic development efforts and support for established city policies and procedures, while challenger Stefanie Alfaro focused on homelessness, mental health services, infrastructure problems and the need for what she described as “a new beginning” at Stockton City Hall.
Blower described himself as a lifelong Stockton resident with a background in community organizations and public service, including leadership roles as former president of the Rotary Club of Stockton and the Central Valley Association of Realtors. He said his mother served 18 years on the Lincoln Unified School District board and credited that example with inspiring him to serve.
“I’ve always had a desire to serve,” Blower said, pointing to his involvement in local civic and professional organizations and his more than three years serving on the council.
Alfaro said she moved to Stockton from San Francisco when she was younger and became involved in advocacy through work supporting her special needs son and other children in the community. She said she is a member of the city’s Measure W Oversight Committee, where she represents District 5, and participates in Lincoln Unified School District’s Local Control and Accountability Plan.
“I just got tired of the things that were going on,” Alfaro said. “As much as I advocate for my son and for the kids, I wanted to do that for Stockton.”
The candidates were asked about Measure M, a one-quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2016 to support recreation and library programs, services and facilities. The panelists noted that recreation programs have received a larger share of funding in recent years than libraries.
Blower said literacy and libraries remain important community priorities and argued the city should ensure Measure M funds are used as voters intended.
“Measure M was passed by the voters as extra money for those two areas,” Blower said. “I feel like over time that money is just what’s used for it, and so they took the money that they were previously spending on libraries and recreation and switched it around. I don’t think that was the original intent, so that’s been an issue I’ve had with Measure M money from the get-go. That’s something that I will try to work on to address.”
Blower also noted the recent opening of the Ursula Meyer Library and Community Center in north Stockton and said he was pleased with the progress there.
Alfaro questioned whether city residents are using local libraries and said officials should evaluate whether investments are meeting community needs.
“Our libraries are a key factor in Stockton, and I think that a lot of our youth have access to those libraries,” Alfaro said. “But I think that we need to figure out, are kids actually using those libraries? Because when I’m going by those libraries, I don’t really see many people there. Spending all this money to build another library, but nobody is going.”
On the issue of invasive golden mussels threatening Delta waterways and infrastructure, both candidates acknowledged the seriousness of the issue but offered different approaches.
Alfaro said city leaders must address aging infrastructure and better understand why water systems continue to face recurring problems.
“We need to figure out what exactly is the reason of the issue in our waters,” Alfaro said. “We’re just spending money, and then maybe within a couple of months after that, we’re having to spend money again after that, so it doesn’t make sense to continue to put a Band-Aid thinking that it’s going to get fixed, but it’s not really doing the job.”
Blower said the issue would require coordination with state and federal agencies, noting the city council does not directly manage waterways.
“I did have a conversation with one of the county board of supervisors, and they did go on a trip, I believe, to Oregon and specifically got some ideas on what they were doing there,” Blower said. “These invasive species are a real problem.”
Public safety and homelessness emerged repeatedly as top concerns throughout the forum.
Blower said public safety already accounts for most of the city’s general fund, with about 75% allocated to public safety, including roughly 50% for police and 25% for fire services. He said Stockton must expand economic development to increase city revenue.
“That’s where the money comes from that we have to use for these kind of things,” Blower said. “That’s a big part of the problem is we only have so much coming in, but we have just a giant stack of things that we want to spend money on, things like infrastructure, and that’s where I’m optimistic that we’ve made some moves with economic development.”
Blower noted the city’s recent split of the economic development and homelessness divisions, saying it will allow economic development staff to focus on recruiting companies to Stockton, creating jobs for residents and expanding the tax base.
Alfaro said homelessness, mental health and drug addiction should be the city’s top priorities.
“Our unhoused, they don’t have enough money to afford rent,” Alfaro said. “Our seniors don’t have enough money to afford rent. Our youth, our foster youth, obviously they’re not working and if they are working, they can’t afford it.”
Alfaro argued Stockton must address addiction and mental health challenges before other community problems, including what she called “ridiculous” conditions in bridges and streets, can improve.
The candidates also discussed the council-manager form of government and transparency in city decision-making.
Alfaro said the city manager plays an important role in city government and that the council needs to work more effectively and improve communication with residents.
“Any time I have a situation, I always call the city manager if I can’t get ahold of our city council,” Alfaro said. “Returning phone calls is a very hard thing. Returning emails is very hard as well.”
Blower, who said he is currently the council’s most experienced member, explained that councilmembers should work through the city manager rather than directing staff independently.
“As a councilmember, and it’s very important to realize this, we only have four employees and he’s one of our employees,” Blower said. “It’s very important that you don’t go to, say, the director of public works and say, ‘Hey, there’s a pothole on Pershing, I need you to get that filled.’ It would be much more appropriate to go to the city manager.”
During closing statements, Alfaro called for change at Stockton City Hall and criticized what she described as a lack of responsiveness from city leaders, without naming her opponent or specifying which leaders she was referring to.
“I want you to realize that if we continue with what we have right now, the no responses, no emails, no phone calls, the arguing, the disagreements, the midnight city council meetings, if you guys want to continue that,” Alfaro said. “But I’m here to bring a new face. A new beginning. It’s time for a change. It’s time for our kids to be heard. It’s time for a lower cost of living.”
Blower thanked audience members and emphasized the importance of voter engagement, saying it helps voters better understand who is running to represent them before they cast their vote. He also thanked Alfaro for attending the forum and criticized the absence of other candidates.
“It’s disappointing that there aren’t four of us sitting here in front of you,” Blower said. “That speaks volumes as to the people that show up and can give the information that you should have.”
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: Half of Stockton City Council District 3 candidates make case for seat
Reporting by Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record / The Record
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