Q&A: Candidates for Merced mayor
Necola Adams, 53, business owner
Q: What differentiates you from your opponents?
A: I am the only candidate who was born and raised in south Merced, owned a business for years in downtown Merced and now lives in north Merced; my family has lived here for five generations. I have vested over 25 years as a leader serving the residents of Merced from working with children in the city schools for over 18 years to working with senior citizens in the community. I have led the League of Women Voters as its president for two consecutive years, been the second vice president of the National Council of Negro Women and a commissioner for the city of Merced Parks and Recreation Department. I served on the charter review committee that updated our city charter along with being on the downtown planning committee that planned out our downtown through the year 2017. What really differentiates me from the others is my personality – I am very approachable, also my goals for our city. I don’t play politics with our citizens or our city – that has been done for way too long, which has kept us in a stagnant place. I know this city from north to south and east to west along with the people that live in those areas; I am Merced, I represent its diversity, history, hope and growth.
Q: What’s the one thing you would like to see become a reality in Merced?
A: Us to become a place of destination. We are supposed to be the Gateway to Yosemite, but yet we have nothing that really brings people into the city or represents that slogan. We could do this by bringing in an annual nut festival. This would be sort of like the Gilroy Garlic Festival, which this year drew 80,000 visitors and generated $1.7 million for the city. Our county has a $3 billion industry in it. We supply 85-90 percent of the world with our almonds, walnuts and pistachios.
Q: What two things could the council do to reduce Merced’s high rate of poverty?
A: Concentrate on bringing some of the tech industries here to Merced and having them invest in, and hire from our city. UC Merced is based on its science and technology programs and health care is one of the leading industries in the country. We have something the Silicon Valley no longer has, land and space. Offering them incentives to open satellite offices here and hire from our community will help put many of our UC students and unemployed citizens to work, offering above minimum wage pay along with health care benefits. The next thing would be for the city to partner with the state and private businesses such as PG&E, Target, MID and several community banks to create a summer youth employment program for ages 16-19 years old. If we make these things happen along with festivals, we will see our poverty rate decline within the first few years.
Q: What project(s) could you begin in your first term to improve each of the following?
A: PUBLIC SAFETY – Public safety is a broad category. What it means for one may not be the same for someone else. To some it may mean better roads and more street lights, to others it may mean more police presence on the streets or less homeless in the area. And, a lot of the time people want all of this at once but in different neighborhoods. One of the first things I would do is to see where we could get a bicycle officer back on patrol. Officer Bob Luna used to do this job and it was a great liaison between the community and the police.
JOBS – Building creates jobs in the construction field and puts many people back to work. Another way to create jobs is by networking with the tech industries in the Silicon Valley. We have something they no longer have, land to develop on. Castle is a great space to create an industrial park for companies like Juniper Networks, Sysco systems, Sun Microsystems, etc. We also have a great UC that is based on technology and science; this would be the workforce for those companies along with citizens who have been unemployed due to plant closures in the county.
HEALTH CARE – Health care ties into jobs, also, since it is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. There are so many health care tech companies that we could connect with and entice to relocate here. In doing so, we also obtain qualified physicians with them. We need to also address the mental health issues in our community; there is a disconnection between the community and knowing where to go for help. I would meet with the many organizations that provide health/mental health services and see how to really network them together for the good of the community. This would not be about egos, but about taking care of our citizens and saving lives.
HOUSING – We need to build more student housing immediately. Many of the students living off campus are paying sky-high Bay Area rent for a room in a house. Many people who are looking to rent apartments are being priced out of the rental market and having to either move outside of Merced or live with relatives. We absolutely need more housing in the city.
Mike Murphy, 37, small business attorney
Q: What differentiates you from your opponents?
A: The biggest issues in this election are jobs and public safety and I am the strongest candidate on both fronts. I am a downtown business owner that understands that we need to do more to attract and retain small business and I have a track record of fighting to provide needed resources to our police officers so that they can do their job in a skilled, efficient and professional manner.
Q: What’s the one thing you would like to see become a reality in Merced?
A: I want to see more economic activity in Merced, including a revitalization of our downtown core and an anchor tenant near the Mission Avenue interchange along Highway 99 that will pull people off the freeway to spend money in Merced. UC Merced’s projected growth will have a part to play in this and I will continue to work with residents, the business community, UC Merced leadership and other stakeholders to make this a reality.
Q: What two things could the council do to reduce Merced’s high rate of poverty?
A: We must have more shovel-ready industrial land in order to attract good paying jobs for our residents. We must capitalize on the projected growth of UC Merced to attract and retain more skilled labor whose paychecks will support additional retail and service jobs in our community and stop the “brain drain” that occurs when students graduate from college and take jobs in other communities. We need to do a better job of reaching out to our UC Merced and Merced college students to place them in internships and jobs within our community before they leave.
Q: What project(s) could you begin in your first term to improve each of the following?
A: PUBLIC SAFETY – Our police force of 87 officers used to be a police force of 111 officers. I support a community-oriented policing approach to law enforcement and adding three to five new officers to our department each year until we get to full staffing and better utilizing technology to be proactive and efficient in our crime-fighting efforts.
JOBS – As an owner and operator of a small business in downtown Merced, I have a firsthand understanding of the issues that businesses face in Merced and will work to reduce city permit turnaround times and always stay competitive on permit costs. I will also work on a regional and state level to attract industrial, technology and retail jobs to our city, including the Mission Avenue interchange, along the Bellevue Corridor and in our downtown.
HEALTH CARE – Although the city is not a health care provider, it is imperative that the next mayor work closely with the medical community to attract and retain skilled physicians to our area. I will continue to advocate for state and federal dollars that place physicians in Merced and a medical school at UC Merced.
HOUSING – We are experiencing a housing crisis with low vacancy rates and I will fight for infill development of existing lots within the city limits. I will also work to revitalize our historic neighborhoods through the use of our code enforcement officers to reduce blight.
Josh Pedrozo, 33, history teacher
Q: What differentiates you from your opponents?
A: I am the only candidate that has attended every meeting, been a part of multiple budgets, approved a general plan that maintains city resources, as well as negotiating the revenue-sharing agreement that will allow the city to annex the university. I have a proven track record as an elected leader of the city of Merced, first elected to the city council in 2009, re-elected in 2013 and am now the mayor pro-tempore.
Q: What’s the one thing you would like to see become a reality in Merced?
A: The one thing that is critical for Merced is the completion of Campus Parkway from Childs Avenue to Highway 140. This will attract retail and industry as well as provide more connectivity between two regional freeways.
Q: What two things could the council do to reduce Merced’s high rate of poverty?
A: The narrative of Merced needs to change. As mayor, I will communicate and publicize that Merced is ready to do business. I will continue to build on the partnerships we have with local schools, Merced College and UC Merced to ensure that our workforce has the skills that prospective employers desire.
Q: What project(s) could you begin in your first term to improve each of the following?
A: PUBLIC SAFETY – I will focus on giving law enforcement professionals the tools and technology they need to effectively do their jobs. Our public safety professionals have some of the most difficult jobs and we need to take the steps necessary to help them to keep us safe from those who wish to bring harm.
JOBS – We need to focus on making the city of Merced the most inviting community in the country from which to do business. We can accomplish this by eliminating red tape and streamlining processes. We need to make doing business in our city simpler, always reflecting our desire to bring new business to town.
HEALTH CARE – Although the position of mayor has little to do with this issue directly, I would focus my time and attention on partnering and collaborating with community-based organizations to help those in need, both families and individuals, secure access to health care. In UC Merced’s case, I will continue to champion their building a new medical school in our community so that we can have highly qualified doctors here in Merced. I also believe it’s important to collaborate with Mercy Hospital to assist them in their work to recruit specialists to Merced which would give our residents better care without having to leave town.
HOUSING – I would focus on working with the Board of Realtors and development community to ensure that we have an ample housing inventory allowing ourselves to grow, while at the same time, extending affordable options to those looking to rent an apartment or buy their first home. Within the first 50 days of my being mayor, I would convene a community meeting with real estate professionals to discuss this important issue to develop key strategies ensuring a vibrant housing stock (rentals and homes) for Merced.
Noah Lor, 52, a Merced County employee, did not return answers to the Sun-Star’s questionnaire.
This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Q&A: Candidates for Merced mayor."