Crime, homelessness and business regulation among topics at Modesto candidate forum

Candidates for state office shared their views at a Modesto forum Wednesday mostly attended by people in the business community.

Republican Juan Alanis and Democrat Jessica Self, running for the 22nd Assembly District seat, and state senate candidates Tim Robertson and Marie Alvarado-Gil talked about how they would be the voice in Sacramento for Central Valley business owners and residents.

The Modesto Chamber of Commerce and Opportunity Stanislaus held the forum at the DoubleTree hotel.

When asked to comment on crime, Alanis, a sergeant for the Stanislaus County sheriff’s office, called for a return to criminal laws with penalties for theft and other nonviolent crimes. Self disagreed with going back to what she saw as a flawed criminal justice system.

The new assembly district includes Modesto, Ceres, Turlock, Patterson and part of Merced County.

Alanis said deceptive titles like the “Safe Schools Act” fooled Californians into voting for Proposition 47 and other reforms. He said “zero bail” and softer laws against grand theft fail to stop people from stealing from businesses.

“They are basically getting a slap on the wrist,” Alanis said. “We need to bring back consequences.”

Self, an attorney who served nine years in the county public defender’s office, said there were problems with the traditional justice system. The idea of turning back the clock is not a solution and is not going to happen with the Democrats’ super-majority in the Legislature, she stressed.

“We should be sending someone to Sacramento who can work within that structure,” Self said. “I want to go to Sacramento to be effective and bring home funding for these programs.”

She noted that Proposition 47, reducing many nonviolent crimes and drug violations to misdemeanors, did not have the desired effect locally because the county did not implement available programs. The proposition has also allowed people trying to rebuild their lives to convert prior felonies on their records to misdemeanors.

How to reduce homeless population

Self said efforts in the county to reduce homelessness have focused almost exclusively on the people least likely to get into housing quickly — the ones living on the streets and in tents near the freeway.

Resources should be directed to families and individuals sleeping in cars and other vehicles, many of whom are working and could be moved into stable housing if supported, the candidate said. Self noted that Livermore has a plan for designating an abandoned parking lot where people can park their vehicles and sleep, with security provided. Modesto also is planning a safe parking area.

Alanis said soft criminal laws have taken away a tool that police used to deal with transients camping near businesses. Officers could possibly arrest them on probation violations or drug possession charges and put them in jail, serving as a starting point for getting into drug rehab or turning their lives around, he said.

An arrest can be constructive in changing a life, Alanis said, but the state has decriminalized those offenses.

Alanis said he wants the state to suspend the 54-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax to help residents pay for rent and the high cost of living in California. Families would save about $1,600 a year, according to his campaign literature.

If the state has a large budget surplus, it can help residents by suspending the gas tax, Alanis said.

Self countered the state would lose a source of funding for transportation and highway projects after years of deferred maintenance. She said the state’s “rainy day” fund for fiscal emergencies can’t be used for those purposes. A Republican proposal for a gas tax holiday, as relief for record prices at the pump, failed in the Legislature in March.

Two Democrats compete for Senate seat

In the 4th Senate District race, Tim Robertson is executive director of the Modesto-based North Valley Labor Federation and has the Democratic Party endorsement, while Alvarado-Gil is running as more of an independent choice. The state’s open primary allowed two Democrats to advance to the November election in a district spread across 13 counties.

In response to a question about water availability, Robertson said that raising the spillway at Don Pedro Reservoir, on the Tuolumne River, would add 150,000 acre feet of storage capacity.

He said the water infrastructure that supports agriculture could also be improved to ensure canals aren’t leaking, support water recycling and reduce evaporation. He said he likes a Turlock Irrigation District demonstration project putting solar panels over canals, backed by a $20 million state grant.

Alvarado-Gil, who’s from Amador County, said the contest in the state senate district boils down to “labor versus business.” She said many labor organizations are contributing to her opponent’s campaign, while she is endorsed by the California Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business.

“We see this in California where a candidate tells people ‘I hear you’ and ‘I’m there for you’, and then when they get to Sacramento they (cast their votes) for those who put them in office,” Alvarado-Gil said. “No one pulls my strings in either party.”

She said she won’t vote for a tax increase if she’s elected to the Senate seat.

Robertson said if elected he will work to change state regulations that don’t make sense for businesses. As an example, Robertson said a Modesto business owner told him that two different agencies regulate the dog food and the dog treats sold by the business, even though the ingredients for both come from the same cow.

He said when he talks with Valley businesses, large and small, he hears a common theme that they don’t feel they have a voice in Sacramento.

“I am really focused on the policy and the wording of the policy and what the outcome will be for businesses,” Robertson said.