What's next for Stockton? Mayoral candidates talk priorities at forum; three highlights

Four candidates running for Stockton mayor discussed their priorities and vision for the city on Thursday during a candidate forum organized by the NAACP Stockton Branch, Black Women Organized for Political Action, Faith in the Valley, and Victory In Praise Church.

Christina Fugazi, Dan Wright, Jesús Andrade and Jessica Velez engaged in a nearly two-hour discussion on economic development, housing, public safety, and issues affecting youth.

Mayoral candidates Shakeel Ahmad and Tom Patti were no shows. Organizers said that Ahmad did not respond to their invitation and Patti declined to participate in the forum. On his campaign Facebook account, Patti posted a photo at an event in Phoenix with friend Mike Tyson the same night.

To be elected as mayor of Stockton, a candidate must receive 50% plus one vote in the March 5 primary election. If no candidate receives 50% plus one vote in the primary election, a runoff election will be held during the Nov. 5 general election. The elected candidate assumes office on Jan. 1.

At Thursday's forum, candidates were respectful to each other throughout the night. A moderator read questions from a script and each candidate was given two minutes to respond. Here is a sampling of those questions and answers.

What will you initiate to support youth employment and create local job opportunities for teenagers and young adults?

Andrade: "One of the things that Stockton doesn't have and other cities around us have is a Stockton Youth Commission. I think we need to reestablish a Stockton Youth Commission so they can tell us, as city council members and the mayor, what is it that they need and actually have some authority within city hall. I think that's very important, that we hear their voices, first and foremost. The second thing is we need to establish a task force on youth employment and entrepreneurship training because it's not just employment, but also, how do we equip our young people with entrepreneurship skills?"

Fugazi: "With youth employment, as we know after the fall out of COVID, there are a lot of businesses that still struggle right now with having employees. What we need to be doing is partnering with the (Business Education Alliance), the chambers of commerce, and making sure that they have fully staffed businesses. Why can't our kids go in two hours a day, two days a week, and learn about that business? Then when it comes to summer employment, we'll do an internship program, kind of like work-study in college, where the city would pay what their wage is, as opposed to that business."

Velez: "With the condition that Stockton is in, addressing the top three priorities of homelessness, crime and drugs, and cleaning the street up, is going to be mandatory in order to be able to get businesses to want to come here. Our youth have very limited options as far as entry level jobs right now ... after learning a lot more about the (Career Technical Education) programs in our schools, I think that emphasizing our youth to get involved with those programs while they're still in high school, and even if we can get it in junior high school, I think that will open up their perspective and their options."

Wright: "Our students have to have the skills they're going to need to survive in the workforce, and that's why all of our schools have to have good Career Technical Education programs. If you're going to graduate from high school, you've got to be prepared for whatever life is going to throw at you. Not everyone is going to go to college so they have to be able to choose that pathway they want to head down when they're in high school so they have that opportunity afterwards if they decide that college is not for them. The second leg of this is, what can we do for those that are still in high school, trying to get their first job?"

How would you address the issue of over-policing and ensure fair treatment and safety for African American residents?

Andrade: "I do believe we need to reach the maximum capacity of police officers that we need for a city our size. How we get that is a matter of policy, but I do believe the police force should also reflect the community that they work in. Again, I go back to the best practices of hiring. We don't have a lot of African American police officers ... that's a travesty. I do believe we need to get that. I also believe we need to infuse technology into the police force. There are probably six to seven hot spots across the city, where about 80% of violent crime happens. We need to monitor those areas."

Fugazi: "I would like a true oversight. A true police oversight review board that looks at behavior, that looks at actions, because there needs to be training going on. Our officers need to be trained. Chief (Eric) Jones had a program looking at those cultural biases of our officers ... we have to correct behavior. We can't just sweep it under the rug. We have to have those courageous conversations where we're truly looking at what is happening to people in this city."

Velez: "There are good cops and there are bad cops. I think that when cops are overworked and underpaid, and overwhelmed, that just like any job, they react. Their mind is not at peace. When you get that scenario going on, when they're constantly bombarded with dark energy all day long, that creates mental health issues. That creates officer abuse on the public ... the accountability needs to be in the form of a committee. I would like to see all different races part of this committee."

Wright: "We need to have diversity training for our police officers. If they are not part of the community, they don't look like the community they serve, then they need to have a little bit of training on what that means, what they can do to become part of that community. But for me, the most important thing is to get enough police officers so we can get them out of their cars and doing community policing. Right now, our police officers are overwhelmed, going from call to call to call to call."

What is your passion area?

Andrade: "It's hard to pick what policy area I'm more passionate about. I have to think of all of them equally when it comes to law enforcement, public safety, homelessness, housing, public libraries, parks. So I think what I want to share with you is I'm passionate about equity and fairness. I think it's more of a value that drives me when it comes to who I am as a person, and how I operate in life, and how I run my family. It's equity and fairness, so when these things come across my desk, any of these policies ... I will look at all these things with equity and fairness."

Fugazi: "In terms of passion, it's really difficult to pick just one thing. Obviously education, I wouldn't have been in it for 30 years and continue to be in it. Relationships, building bridges, the environment, working collaboratively. My grandmother used to say, 'Many hands make for light work.' When you think about the future, knowledge is truly power. The more knowledge you have, the more you're able to do in life and I'm not just saying what you learn in a book. Life experience counts for a whole lot out there."

Velez: "My passion is homelessness. It is children that don't know that they're capable, that they're worthy. Making sure that people that are suffering know that they have someone that will stand up for them, that will be there for them when they call, when they're really wanting help to get out of their situation. I don't discriminate on who gets help. It could be man, woman, child, black, white, yellow, brown, I don't care. I spend every single day being of service and doing so basically with no salary because this is what God has led me to do."

Wright: "Policy is my main passion. I think when people look at me, they say, 'If there's a policy guy, it's Dan Wright.' So, why is policy so important? Because policy drives action. Policy drives what happens in the community and I'm not just working with policy at the council level. I'm working with policy at the state level through my work on the League of California Cities. I was on their housing task force. I'm now on their public safety task force and I'm also on their state board."

The entire forum can be viewed on Victory In Praise Church's Facebook page.

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton mayoral candidates talk priorities at NAACP forum