Three Modesto council members running for reelection. Which one is guaranteed another term?

Two Modesto council members will face challengers in the November election while a third one is guaranteed reelection because no one filed to run against him.

The filing period for City Council for the Nov. 5 election ended Friday. Three of the City Council’s seven seats are up for reelection. Council members are elected by district, while the mayor is elected in a citywide vote. They all are elected to four-year terms.

District 3 Councilman Chris Ricci, 52, will run unopposed on the Nov. 5 ballot to represent a district that encompasses central Modesto and includes the Modesto Junior College area.

“I’m very humbled to serve my district again,” Ricci said, “and I’m looking forward to working with the city, Modesto fire, Modesto police and the community to continue to make Modesto better” in such areas as affordable housing, public safety and reducing homelessness.

Davis High School science teacher Kyle Westphal took out paperwork to run for Ricci’s seat but said in a text message last week that he had reconsidered and would not run.

Council members Rosa Escutia-Braaton and David Wright will face challengers as they seek second terms.

Transportation planner Joel Campos and former Councilman John Gunderson are challenging District 1 Councilwoman Escutia-Braaton . The district encompasses northwest Modesto.

Austin Grant , an emergency preparedness analyst with Stanislaus County, is challenging District 6 Councilman Wright. The district encompasses southeast Modesto and includes the Village I residential area.

District 1

Escutia-Braaton, 55, is a former planning commissioner and was among the four new people elected to the seven-member council in November 2020.

Unlike the previous City Council, Escutia-Braaton and the other council members have worked well together and treated one another with respect.

She said because of that, council members have restored the public’s confidence and trust and have been able to accomplish such things as passing Measure H, the 1% sales tax approved by voters in November 2022, and establishing the Community Police Review Board .

She said Measure H has allowed the city to shore up it budget and invest in public safety, parks, city trees, efforts to address homelessness and other quality-of-life basics. Escutia-Braaton said she wants another term to continue that work and help the city fulfill more of its potential.

Gunderson is a guest teacher and was elected to the City Council in November 2011 (when council elections still were held in odd years.) This is his third attempt since then to rejoin the council

Gunderson, 68, said his primary issues include addressing homelessness and doing more to promote the city as a tourist destination.

Modesto is trying to partner with churches and other property owners to put up tiny homes of roughly 100 square feet to provide temporary shelter for unhoused people.

Gunderson said he wants the city to do more outreach to churches to find willing partners to make this effort succeed. He said the county needs to provide social and other services to the people living in the temporary shelters.

The city has called them bridge housing because they serve as the transition from living on the streets to permanent housing. They are an alternative to traditional homeless shelters.

Campos, 34, is a senior regional planner for the San Joaquin Council of Government and focuses on public transit, sidewalks and bike lanes.

He serves on Modesto’s Equity Commission and one of his top issues in that role is ensuring that residents who serve on all city boards and commissions come from throughout the city, not just some areas.

“Their experiences are different, and their needs are different,” he said about the importance of having geographic diversity on boards and commissions. “We all know southwest Modesto lacks sidewalks.”

Campos’ council campaign issues include addressing homelessness, leveraging his experience as a regional planner to help the city secure funding to improve its transportation infrastructure and making the city more business friendly.

District 6

Grant, 29, serves on the city’s Equity Commission and its Community Police Review Board. He said his top issues include having the city gather more input from everyday residents before making decisions, affordable housing, more transparency in city government and improved policing.

He points to public parks as an example of where the city should have sought more input before spending millions. The city has undertaken — or will — such improvements as resurfacing basketball courts, replacing playgrounds and bathrooms and putting in pickleball courts.

But Grant said there is a huge need for park facilities for people with disabilities and for seniors and for parks with exercise equipment. He said the city would have known that if it had sought more input.

He also wants to r educe the higher arrest rates among African Americans and Latinos and reduce the number of police shootings. “As an African American male, I am concerned about the use of force,” Grant said.

Grant said he wants police officers to have more tools that allow them to avoid shooting people and he wants residents to have a better understanding of the difficulties and challenges that officers face.

Wright, 72, is an insurance broker and owns Wright Insurance Agency, which sells health insurance policies. Like Escutia-Braaton, he wants a second term to build off the council’s achievements.

“I feel like we have a council that is united and is working for the good of Modesto,” Wright said.

He said that includes the city’s investment of some of its federal pandemic relief funding into the community. Among other things, the council approved $350,000 to the Graffiti USA Classic Car Museum and $500,000 to the Friends of the Modesto Library.