Atwater votes for big changes

More than 30 percent of Atwater voters hit the polls Tuesday with one mission – to change the city’s politics.

Their voices were heard loud and clear. In one sweeping election, voters selected a new mayor, two new council members and gave overwhelming support for a measure limiting the terms of local politicians.

With all 14 Atwater precincts reporting, Jim Price won the mayoral race with more than half the vote. Price earned 59 percent of the vote, ousting longtime Mayor Joan Faul, who earned about 40 percent.

City Council candidates Brian Raymond and James Vineyard won seats on the council, filling the spots of outgoing councilmen Craig Mooneyham and Jeff Rivero.

Raymond earned the most votes with 34 percent; Vineyard came in second with 29 percent. Two other City Council hopefuls, Bill Barkman and Fernando Echevarria, trailed with 24 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Voters on Tuesday showed staggering support of Measure Q, an initiative introduced by current Council Member Larry Bergman to limit the mayor and council members’ terms to a maximum of 12 years.

Nearly 84 percent of voters said “yes” to term limits, with only 16 percent voting against it. Bergman said Wednesday he’s excited by the community’s support of the measure, which he believes will deter career politicians and attract new people and ideas to the city’s government.

“We have term limits at the state and federal levels,” Bergman said. “I firmly believe term limits have a place all throughout government and obviously the public feels the same.”

Still recovering from Tuesday’s victory, the man elected to be Atwater’s next mayor outlined his goals for the city, including tackling an audit of the city’s finances launched in April by the California State Controller’s Office.

State officials confirmed to the Merced Sun-Star last week that two audits were completed: one analyzing the city’s financial processes and procedures and another scrutinizing its gas tax accounts. Both reports were sent to the city last month to provide responses, said Garin Casaleggio, spokesman for State Controller John Chiang’s office. The reports will be made public after the responses are received.

“I’ve heard from a reliable source inside City Hall that it’s not going to be a very flattering report,” Price said. “As a matter of fact, it’s going to be worse than what we anticipated.”

Price said he hopes to repair the financial damage and look for ways to prevent similar issues from happening again. The mayor-elect also hopes to bring a publicly divided Atwater City Council together.

“I plan on getting everybody behind closed doors to have a real heart-to-heart discussion on how we’re going to conduct ourselves,” Price said, adding that his management style is different from Faul’s because he’s more proactive than reactive. “This bickering and backbiting in public will end and I will gavel it down.”

Vineyard, 57, said Wednesday his priorities in office will be public safety, improving downtown, attracting new businesses, and getting the city’s revenues and expenditures to line up.

On the campaign trail, tension brewed between Vineyard and Raymond over Facebook posts by Raymond, where he shared Sun-Star articles about Vineyard’s use of police resources for campaigning purposes. Vineyard said he plans to meet with Raymond to discuss his concerns.

“Mr. Raymond and I will have to deal with it personally,” Vineyard said. “We’ll obviously have to sit down and discuss our issues that have come up during the election. We need to do it to be cohesive and get things done.”

For his part, Raymond said, he’s willing to work with Vineyard for the good of the residents. “I, in no way, want to contribute to the bickering,” he said. “We have to work together so people want to come and be involved. That’s the only way the city will succeed, with an engaged and informed populace.”

Price, Raymond and Vineyard will likely take office at the first Atwater City Council meeting in December, after the election results have been certified by Registrar of Voters Barbara Levey. The results should be certified by the end of next week, Levey said.

This story was originally published November 5, 2014 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Atwater votes for big changes."