FRESNO (KMJ) – There is a special election Tuesday, August 13th for voters in city council District 2. Here is a look at the choices voters in Northwest Fresno have when selecting their next city councilman.
The seat opened up when Steve Brandau won a special election to the County Board of Supervisors earlier this year, now 5-candidates are looking to replace him.
Businessman George Herman:
“I find under fiscal responsibility, that there’s areas in the city budget where money’s being wasted and I think that speaks for itself,” Herman said.
Businessman Mike Karbassi:
“I’m really tired of having my business broken into. We’ve been open 40 years in Northwest Fresno, and we’ve been hit twice and I want to put a stop to it, that’s why public safety is my number one issue,” Karbassi said.
Lawyer Jared Gordon:
“Homelessness is top of mind for almost everyone, and although I don’t think the city council can ‘solve’ the problem of homelessness, we can certainly do better than we are now, and I have several different ideas on how we can do better,” Gordon said.
Therapist Oscar Sandoval:
“I went to the anti-panhandling ordinance where councilman Brandau had mentioned that he spent 18 months working on that legislation, and I just thought, man with all the problems that our city is going through, 18 months spent on something that, I guess, frivolous, I think we need more proactive leadership and I thought I could step up and fill that role,” Sandoval said.
Small business owner Lawrence Garcia:
“Homelessness is all over the state, it’s all over the city, but it’s also creeping up into District 2, where the blight line used to be by Shaw, then it became Bullard, now it is Herndon, of all places, are you kidding me, we have to do something about this, so for me it’s homelessness, it’s the crime rate up, it’s our infrastructure in our neighborhoods,” Garcia said.
Listen to the reports by KMJ Political Reporter Clint Olivier:
