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Hey Focus fans! 

Local political debates – the best way to become familiar with candidates, in my opinion – are nearly upon us.

Most exciting is a 6:30 p.m. Oct. 1 free in-person debate featuring candidates for Modesto City Council. You are invited! Save that date plus this location: the Stanislaus County Veterans Affairs Office, 3500 Coffee Rd., at the northeast corner of Coffee and Sylvan Avenue. 

Thanks in advance to NAACP Modesto/Stanislaus for helping with arrangements, and to the veterans office for cohosting as well. Modesto Focus staff, including me, will moderate.

Everyone is welcome. If you can’t make it, you can still view it afterward at your leisure on our website. Look for details as the date approaches.

The Modesto Focus also is cosponsoring a Sept. 10 League of Women Voters forum featuring California Senate District 4 candidates Alexandra Duarte and Jaron Brandon.

Also cohosting (among others) is the Modesto Sunrise Rotary Club, and like the name says, they’re early risers. So the public is welcome, but the event starts at (gasp) 7 a.m. at Greens on Tenth, 953 10th St., Modesto. 

Register online for a $20 breakfast. Other sponsors are Modesto Rotary, Rotary of Modesto FLEX and Modesto Metro Rotary.

The event will be recorded with viewing links on the partners’ sites, including our Modesto Focus webpage. 

Brandon and Duarte, plus incumbent Marie Alvarado-Gil, produced the most lively of our Modesto Focus debates before the June primary (Alvarado-Gil finished third and did not advance to the November ballot).

And yes, both Duarte and Brandon have agreed to a full Modesto Focus-moderated remote debate later this month, which we will post as well.

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If those don’t wet your political whistle, maybe one of these will. Both are upcoming virtual debates with local candidates, moderated by The Modesto Focus.

• Modesto Irrigation District Board

• Modesto City Schools Board

Sometimes candidates in important races choose not to debate. That’s their choice. But their opponents have a chance for exposure to voters through brief recorded interviews with a Modesto Focus panel that also will become available for viewing. Unless something changes, these will feature willing candidates for:

• California Assembly Ninth District

• US House Fifth District

Lastly, we will join with The Turlock Journal and California State University, Stanislaus for an Oct. 7 in-person, on-campus debate among Turlock mayoral hopefuls. Check future newsletters for details closer to the event.

Modesto Vice Mayor Jeremiah Williams addresses gubernatorial candidate Steve HIlton in Modesto on Aug. 26, 2026.

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“I'm the vice mayor of the city of Modesto, Jeremiah Williams, and I want to officially welcome you to the city of Modesto.”

That’s what Williams (who incidentally is running for reelection Nov. 3) said to Republican California governor candidate Steve Hilton last week at Hilton’s campaign town hall meeting in Modesto. The Modesto Municipal Code prohibits city employees acting in a city capacity from participating in political activities. Did Williams have authority to say what he did?

“Now that you say that, I probably didn’t,” he said when I called later. 

“I didn’t think of it that way,” he continued. “There are 487 (close enough; it’s 483) cities in California, the guy decided to come here, and it was just a warm gesture (on my part). But it was probably incorrect if I used the word ‘officially.’ My bad.”

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Speaking of questionable judgment, I’m not sure it was a good look for Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak to stage her State of Turlock address in late August.

A tiny fraction of state of the city speeches are delivered this late in the year. Most come much earlier – for example Ceres Mayor Javier Lopez gave his in March, and Modesto Mayor Sue Zwahlen gave hers in April. (All 50 states mandate state of the state speeches early in the year, almost all in January or February.)

But Bublak waits until Aug. 27 – the middle of campaign season, as she’s facing two serious challengers (Kelley Coelho and Jim Reape) on the November ballot – to deliver the only annual address that guarantees her maximum personal exposure in a noncontestable, feel-good forum? One where everyone in the audience was handed a free Texas Roadhouse lunch and jelly beans party favor with Bublak’s name on the “Thank you for coming!” tag?

I guessed that she might have a reason for the extreme delay related to logistics, but no – the mayor kept putting it off because she just doesn’t enjoy this speech, she told me when I called later.

For the record, Bublak has never waited this late in the year since she was elected mayor eight years ago. She did opt not to give one at all once or twice, though.

“It’s not political in any way,” Bublak said about this year’s timing. “It’s because I don’t like doing them. I hate to be the center of attention.”

Mayor Amy Bublak presents her State of Turlock address on Aug. 27, 2026. Credit: Garth Stapley / The Modesto Focus

And Patterson Mayor Michael Clauzel, also running for reelection, has trouble of his own, as first reported in the Patterson Irrigator.

On a 3-0 vote (he and another council member did not vote), the Patterson City Council recently agreed to pursue censuring him for undisclosed interactions with city employees or public officials that might involve “workplace conduct, City policies, the Patterson Municipal Code, or the City Officials’ Handbook,” a city notice reads.

Unlike Williams and Bublak, Clauzel didn’t return a call.

Councilwoman Gabriela Hernandez, who joined in the vote to censure Clauzel, is running against him for mayor.

Feel free to share notes, tips and insights for Stanislaus-centric campaign coverage at garth@themodestofocus.org.

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