Candidate profile: Los Banos City Council District 4

City Councilwoman Deborah Lewis, city Planning Commissioner Palmer McCoy and legislative director Erasmo Viveros are running for the open City Council District 4 seat.

McCoy, Lewis and Viveros were invited to be interviewed by the Enterprise to discuss their candidacies, including questions about themselves, their platforms and thoughts on issues facing the council.

Lewis and McCoy accepted the invitation and were interviewed. Lewis was not available to take a photograph. Viveros said Monday he had suspended his campaign due to a family emergency.

Palmer McCoy

Q: Who are you?

McCoy, a 48-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran, is an executive assistant for the Henry Miller Reclamation District.

McCoy was born in Maine but also has lived in Ohio, Nebraska, Japan, Texas and Alaska. He has been married for 27 years and has five children: three sons, 15, 21 and 23 years old; and two daughters, 17 and 19.

After graduating from high school in San Antonio, McCoy said he joined the Air Force and went to tech school for military proficiency, becoming a jet engine mechanic.

While in Alaska, he managed a janitorial company. He received an offer to work in Concord, but switched jobs after he was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. He got a job at Hertz, the rental car service, and worked in San Jose.

McCoy and his wife moved to Los Banos 16 years ago.

“I like the small-town mentality,” McCoy said, adding that his hobbies include fishing and hunting.

McCoy applied and was selected by the City Council to serve on the Planning Commission about three years ago. His term is up in December.

Q: Why did you decide to run?

A: “I think I can be that visionary for where the city needs to go in the future,” McCoy said.

From his experience on the Planning Commission, McCoy said he doesn’t like the direction the City Council is taking. That includes what he perceives as a lack of cooperation between the City Council and Planning Commission.

Q: What are your main goals for the City Council?

A: McCoy said he wants to change the climate and viewpoint of the City Council on a variety of issues.

“It’s supposed to be government working for the people, not people working for the government,” McCoy said. “Also, it baffles me that we’re the second-largest city in the county, but for most accounts we have no say. What does that say about our leadership and ability to reach out and work with people?”

Q: What is the first thing you would like to accomplish if you’re elected?

A: “Police and fire don’t really meet national standards for our size,” McCoy said. “Our budget should address that.”

McCoy said he would make hiring more police officers and firefighters a priority. He said a larger force would justify building a new fire station that could be staffed with enough firefighters.

Q: How do you think the City Council can and should address future growth?

A: McCoy wants the city to push strong for industrial parks as well as residential development while first making sure the infrastructure is in place.

He also said he was “flabbergasted” with the most recent proposal on the City Council to change regular meetings of the Community and Economic Development commission from monthly to quarterly, noting that the commission is a good tool for the city to accomplish its long-term goals.

Q: What big or long-term projects are you most concerned with?

A: “The bypass is considered a pipe dream,” McCoy said, explaining how the Highway 152 bypass project is dependent on the Merced County Association of Governments, which is dependent on a better relationship between governing members and the city of Los Banos.

In addition to the bypass, McCoy said he wants to see more businesses in the area around the new courthouse.

Deborah Lewis

Q: Who are you?

Lewis is a 67-year-old retired social services worker who has provided to help those suffering from mental illness, elder abuse and those voluntarily declining medical care.

Lewis, an incumbent, is finishing her first term as an elected member of the Los Banos City Council. She has been a Los Banos resident for 26 years and has an adult son from a previous marriage.

Lewis also recently served on the Merced County Fair Board and on the Los Banos Arts Council.

Lewis said she graduated in 1974 from San Jose State University and did social work for five years. After that, she worked for the Office of the Public Guardian for of Santa Clara County.

Lewis ran for public office two times before being elected to the City Council in 2012.

Q: Why did you decide to run?

A: “My message when I was first elected is the same message now, keeping Los Banos first,” Lewis said.

Lewis said she wants to continue her work on City Council projects.

Q: What are your main goals for the City Council?

A: Lewis wants to focus on public safety, accountability and bringing in new business.

Lewis said she wants to emphasize keeping tax dollars “at home,” adding that she feels the Westside has been forgotten when it comes to Merced County’s priorities.

Q: What is the first thing you would like to accomplish if you’re elected?

A: “I’m not sure if there is one particular thing,” Lewis said. “But overall, we need to find another site for the airport. And we have been in discussions about bringing in a new regional hospital.”

In addition, Lewis said there are several concerns that need to be addressed soon: plans for the industrial park on Interstate 5, securing water for future growth, bringing in jobs so residents don’t have to commute to the Bay Area.

Q: How do you think the City Council can and should address future growth?

A: Long-term residents who are here love the small-town USA feel, Lewis said, adding that she wants to bring in new job markets while keeping in mind the balance between housing and jobs.

“We don’t know what the future holds,” Lewis said. “We have to be conservative about how we move forward.”

Q: What big or long-term projects are you most concerned with?

A: “I’m not in favor of Measure V,” Lewis said, mentioning the MCAG referendum that would increase the sales tax to fund county projects, like the Highway 152 bypass.

Lewis said the stagnant bypass project is an example of how the city has been left off of the county organization’s list of priorities. She said the city is better off fixing its own roads and projects rather than the additional sales tax revenue going toward the MCAG’s funding.

Lewis also favors moving the airport and filling in the I-5 industrial park, as well as enhancing or building a new local hospital so people don’t have to go out of town for medical needs.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Candidate profile: Los Banos City Council District 4."