Meet the candidates: Barstow City Council District 2, James Noble vs. Terri Peralta

Charlie McGee, Victorville Daily Press
·10 min read

Two of the five seats on Barstow’s City Council are up for election on the Nov. 8 ballot, with early voting having already begun. The race for District 2 pits Mayor Pro Tem James Noble, who won his seat in 2018 and is the council’s Military Affairs Committee representative, against Terri Peralta, who was Barstow’s Parks and Rec superintendent for more than a decade until leaving in 2019.

Politics have heated up the race.

Barstow Fire Protection District personnel have used City Council public comment sessions to announce their union’s endorsement of Peralta and District 1 candidate Martha O’Brien and to rail on the elected panel, Noble in specific, as pay talks with city staff drag months past the expiration of BFPD’s old collective-bargaining agreement.

Locals who oppose Mayor Paul Courtney, and believe Peralta and O’Brien would consolidate a 3-2 council majority in favor of his agenda, have resurfaced allegations that Peralta embezzled city funds as superintendent and was given a choice to either resign or be fired by Barstow, which Peralta denies.

The City Council’s Nov. 7 closed session is also set to assess recent photos of BFPD personnel in uniform at a Peralta campaign event after Councilman Tim Silva cited concerns about legal liability due to city employees politicking on the clock.

The Daily Press asked each candidate for their perspective on a few points of interest to local taxpayers, businesses and residents more broadly. Here are their responses, with minor edits in the name of length. (On a few questions, Noble referred the Daily Press to an interview he gave last week on a Facebook show run by local activists)

  • Daily Press: Please explain your personal philosophy on the job of a Barstow City Council member and the relationship that should exist between the Council, city staff, and the general public. Why are you the best candidate to fulfill this role?

James Noble: “Treat people the way you want to be treated. We have a responsibility […] to be honest, to be transparent, and to have integrity. We’re elected officials by the people, for the people. Serving on the council has been hard work. However, there’s a great sense of accomplishment by this council and previous council members […] I have the vision. I have the experience. I have the education. I have the determination and the motivation to represent the City of Barstow and District 2 now and in the future.”

Terri Peralta: “I’m running for 2nd District City Council to restore trust and faith in our local government and to improve our quality of life. I am a staunch supporter of job growth, supporting our local police and fire departments, as well as community programs that make a difference in the lives of residents. My goal is to help restore a cooperative spirit amongst our council, and as a former city employee, look to restore trust with city staff for the betterment of our community.”

Noble: “I’m not a big fan of cannabis, but the people have voted for it and want to see it as long as the process is fair [and] goes through the proper channels [with] no issues. When the process is not done or [is] incorrect or incomplete[,] hold those accountable.”

[Speaking in an interview last week]: “If we find out we have people doing things that are not correct, then we need to hold their feet to the fire […] In the next few years, we’re going to expand tremendously based on this $1.5 billion [BNSF project], so that means we are going to have to go out and hire more people to [regulate commercial cannabis].”

Peralta: “Staff worked extensively with former city management, our city attorney, and council in developing an ordinance to regulate cannabis in the City of Barstow. The application process was certainly streamlined in comparison to other municipalities to keep the city competitive; however, as a municipality that is entering into permitting and regulating opportunities for the emerging cannabis industry, we must look at a fluid approach to permitting and regulating cannabis that allows us to evolve as the economic climates change. The city has taken on a new venture, and with that, we should exercise the mindset that we will evolve and improve as State and Federal regulations look to do the same.”

  • DP: Explain what your priorities for the Council would be in relation to BNSF’s Barstow International Gateway Project. With years of construction, land deals, and economic change tied to the project, how should Barstow balance growth with the interests of its current residents?

Noble: “My biggest priority is housing development and economic development want more lucrative jobs in our community, building strong community relationships with Fort Irwin MCLB the way I roll in other major industrial education, working with our local schools to increase participation and engagement to expand opportunities for our students, and kids Public safety continue to enforce our laws to protect our residence quality of life continue to prioritize safety and community partnership infrastructure fixing our streets sidewalks and curves, more importantly, transparency in our government leading with less accountability and honesty I just a few of the priorities for this councilmember.”

Peralta: “By creating and implementing a successful marketing plan for economic expansion, we will create opportunities for regional job growth, an expanded tax base to pay for infrastructure improvements, and show the business community that we care about their current and future contributions as employers and community partners in building a successful future for our community. We cannot afford to have council members elected to office that are out of touch with the long-term goals of improving our community’s economic interests. The council must stay informed about the details of various economic development projects to best help advance these projects, such as the BNSF International Gateway. We cannot afford to elect someone to office that will derail this project and others that will follow as the city looks to improve the quality of life for our residents and the region.”

Noble: “Measure Q funding is being used correctly for the safety of our community [despite] the misleading statements from our fire department personnel.”

[Speaking in an interview last week]: “Everybody has a different terminology on what Measure Q is all about […] I think the City Manager [Willie Hopkins Jr.] has a good understanding […] and he’s just looking for ways to utilize it [for] safety, for the bettering of our streets, all those things that we have to encounter to keep our community safe. So I applaud [city staff.] I know they have to balance a lot of different things […], and I know a lot of people want to bash them about this and that. Still, I think we’re trying to do the right things […] Since I’ve been on the Council, everything that fire, police has asked for, they’ve gotten with Measure Q money […] There has not been anything they have not gotten since I’ve been on the Council […] So to say that Measure Q money is not being used for the safety of our community, it’s not totally true.”

Peralta: “For over 12 years, former elected officials have kicked the can down the road when it came to solving the budgetary issues of our Fire Department, and we can no longer ignore the systemic issues that our Fire District is facing. Our Police Department had not seen a pay raise in over 5 years, but I am thankful they recently concluded negotiations with the city. When we passed Measure Q a few years ago, I served as the then Park and Recreation Superintendent for the City; I understood then, as I do now, that public safety must take priority funding as the voters intended when they passed Measure Q!”

Noble: “The decisions that are being made have been made with the best intention for the City of Barstow[. There are] going to be some disagreements and agreements, but at the end, the best decision has been made.”

[Speaking in an interview last week]: “I thought [the Marriott proposal] was a very good project as you looked at it and you read through everything, it was very detailed, it looked good for the city, it was bringing in good revenues […] But there was a piece that was missing that we didn’t – I didn’t hear about until after the fact, and that’s why I wanted to bring it back before Council and get a better understanding on why we didn’t get certain things the first time because then I could’ve made a decision that was beneficial based on everything, versus just portions of the details […] It probably would’ve [changed my vote if I’d known the hotel’s financing was already secured]. It probably would’ve changed it because of the fact that we based it on information that we had in front of us, not knowing that a lot of this stuff was already done beforehand, would have probably changed my vote.”

Peralta: “For several years now, we have been without an individual who has had an extensive background to head up the City’s Economic Development Department to deal with some of these important issues. As a former City employee, I know that institutional knowledge and work experience play a huge factor in heading up departments that [a]ffect the daily lives of our residents. We must have a person or team in Economic Development that possesses the knowledge coinciding with the Council’s vision to attract outside investors to come to our City. Without this critical role, our City will continue to face the challenges of attracting, responding, and implementing an effective strategic plan to capture and retain businesses. As a Council, we must work together to provide a stable perception of our City that attracts investors to our community. In the past, our City council had been viewed as anti-business. In the highly competitive world we live in. We must do our best to attract every opportunity for investors to see the enormous potential of our City as I do!”

Noble [Speaking in an interview last week]: “I don’t want to speak a whole lot on that because it is outside our district and so forth […] I mean, it would be nice for us to intervene, but we really can’t intervene as a Council […] But I feel for the folks out there, and whatever they have to do as a community to get it fixed, I hope that they move forward with […] Oh yeah, I [smelled it]. Most of the community [in Barstow] did smell it.”

Peralta: “Councilwoman Marilyn Dyer-Kruse provided an update at a council meeting during the incident stating they have reached out to Supervisor Cook’s office, and the city manager is performing his due diligence in gathering as much information pertaining to this issue as possible. As a future councilwoman, I would continue to stay abreast of the issue and coordinate with our city manager and county representatives at the Mojave Air Quality Management District.”

Charlie McGee covers California’s High Desert for the Daily Press, focusing on the city of Barstow and its surrounding communities. He is also a Report for America corps member with The GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and worldwide. McGee may be reached at 760-955-5341 or cmcgee@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @bycharliemcgee.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Meet the candidates: Barstow City Council, Noble vs. Peralta