Everything you need to know about who is running for Clovis City Council
This story was originally published by Fresnoland , a nonprofit news organization dedicated to making policy public.
This election season, three seats are up for grabs to represent Clovis residents on the City Council, as councilmembers Jose Flores and Bob Whalen step down, and councilmember Drew Bessinger runs to retain his seat.
What’s at stake?
Move over, cowboys. Once a rural farm town and now a booming suburb of Fresno, Clovis has surpassed Fresno as one of the fastest-growing cities in California. In a region that is otherwise majority-Latino, Clovis still maintains its majority-white status, with 50% of residents identifying that way. (Fresno, by contrast, is just 26% white, according to new census numbers.)
Clovis, like the rest of California, is facing a significant affordable housing shortage, and is in litigation over whether the city is intentionally trying to keep people with lower incomes out of the relatively affluent city. As Clovis rapidly approves subdivisions, and the territory its police and fire departments cover continues to expand, the city is facing financial difficulties in adequately funding these essential services.
Clovis is sprawling to the east and north as new neighborhoods are added to its tax rolls, and residents have growing concerns about whether the city can maintain a high quality of life – well-funded parks, trails, and roads. The city has a new water supply agreement with Fresno Irrigation District to provide some water from the Kings River stored at Pine Flat, but residents on the fringe of the city, that rely on domestic wells, worry that they’re being left – literally – to dry.
What does a Clovis City Councilmember do?
Clovis has five city councilmembers who represent the entire city, not a specific district, unlike many cities.
A good amount of the council members’ time is spent reviewing and approving land use and zoning policy – including new housing subdivisions, land use plans, commercial shopping centers, and the roads, parks, and utilities that support them. They supervise the police, fire and parks departments. They also approve budgets and have the authority to put new taxes on the ballot.
They do not oversee the schools – that’s the job of the Clovis Unified School District.
Unlike Fresno, the Clovis City Council is more powerful than the mayor, who is an elected representative on the city council. The council directs the city manager, who then oversees city departments and administration.
Who is running for Clovis City Council?
Ten candidates are running for three open seats on the Clovis City Council; nine of them are new to local government. As the only incumbent in the candidate pool, Drew Bessinger is up for reelection for the second time; he was first elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2019.
Outgoing Mayor Jose Flores has been on the council for 24 years and announced his retirement in July. Councilmember Bob Whalen is resigning because he was elected as a Fresno County Superior Court judge in June and will take his seat in January.
Eight of the 10 candidates participated in a city council debate at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District on Oct. 4. Candidates Martin Salas and Mark Kazanjian were not at the debate.
Clovis councilmembers are selected at-large, meaning the top three vote-getters will be picked by the city’s entire voting pool.
