Eight Clovis City Council candidates were present for their opportunity to publicly answer questions on their behalf. Of course, their answers stemmed from their own opinions on how they believed they can best represent the City of Clovis.
The event took place at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
Candidates Matt Basgall, Drew Bessinger, Kyle Chaney, Des Haus, Joseph Hebert, Diane Pearce, Joshua Phanco, and Guy Redner were present at the debate to try and earn Clovis’ vote. Candidates Martin Salas and Mark Kazanjian were not present at the meeting and did not get the opportunity to speak in front of the sizable crowd that had gathered inside the Liberty Ballroom.
Questions were asked by two mediators again, this time the debate was mediated by Greg Newman, CEO of the Clovis Chamber of Commerce and Lorenzo Rios, Clovis Veterans Memorial District.
A portion of the debate was ran in a “lightning round” format. This “lightning round” was conducted by moderator Greg Newman in which he asked Yes or No questions to the candidates. Newman explained that the questions were asked by citizens from Clovis and received through the Chamber of Commerce website.
First question: Have you lived in Clovis for over five years? Des Haus and Diane Pearce were the only candidates who did not raise their hands.
Second question: Do you work at or own a business in Clovis? Des Haus, Drew Bessinger, Guy Redner, Joe Hebert, and Matt Basgall all do not work in or own a business in Clovis.
Third question: Did you graduate from a Clovis school? Joshua Phanco, Des Haus, Drew Bessinger, Diane Pearce and Joe Hebert all did not graduate from a Clovis school.
Fourth lightning round question: Do you support vaccine mandates? No candidate raised their hand, meaning none of the eight candidates present at the debate support vaccine mandates.
Fifth question: Would you support a sales tax measure to support adequate funding for the Clovis police department? Each candidate except Diane Pearce and Joe Hebert would support a sales tax to further fund the police department.
Sixth question: Do you support the city having more reclaimed water projects? Every candidate supported this question, all raising their hands when prompted.
Seventh lightning round question: Do you support the twice a year curbside pickup program in Clovis? All hands raised in support.
Eighth and final yes or no question: Are you active in a non-profit in our [Clovis] community? Those not active were Guy Redner, Drew Bessinger, and Kyle Chaney.
This concluded the lightning round but questions and answers alike were then discussed over the course of one minute intervals by each candidate.
All eight candidates were also given the opportunity of providing opening and closing statements to the crowd and to a live broadcast presented by CMAC, the community media center for Fresno.
At the end of the debate Lorenzo Rios gave a statement that vindicated the need for events such as this.
“We’re gonna have three seats in a council of five, that’s very important…Today was one sampling of listening to these wonderful candidates provide you what’s in their heart.”
Rios then urged the public to vote come election day on November 8th, “Please, do your part, and go and vote.”
The Clovis City Council debate can be found at the link below on the Clovis Veterans Memorial Facebook page.
You can also visit ClovisRoundup.com to read profiles on each of the candidates.
To watch the Clovis City Council Debate: https://fb.watch/fYMrvh0QZE/?mibextid=C8kmS4