Stockton City Council District 1 Race: Q&A with Michele Padilla

Michele Padilla is challenging Sol Jobrack for the District 1 seat on the Stockton City Council.

Who is Michele Padilla?

Age: 55

Party Affiliation: Impartial

Occupation: Teacher

Experience in community and/or municipal organizations.

I have lived in North Stockton for over 30 years. I am a mother of two, a public school teacher, and a community advocate. I am extremely active in my community, organizing numerous cleanups, animal rescues, PTAs and volunteering at Bear Creek High School.

Below is a revised version of a questionnaire completed by applicants.

Do you consider yourself politically conservative, moderate or liberal? And why?

I consider myself socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I say socially liberal because I’m not a fan of governments placing restrictions on what people do in their personal lives. And I say fiscally conservative, because it’s important that government isn’t seen as the cure for all the world’s woes, and the meager share of the burden of solving those woes shouldn’t fall on the hard-working taxpayer. Especially the middle class and the poor.

Why are you running for election?

I’m running for office because I love my family, my city, and over the past four years I’ve seen how many of our elected officials seem to struggle to think for themselves. Leadership shouldn’t happen once every four years during election season, and in my community there has been a lack of communication, representation and action for far too long. I called and wrote my rep, never received a response. I went to city council meetings to sensitize our entire representative body to the concerns of our community, no action. So instead of constantly complaining, I decided to just run because frankly, I’ll do a better job than my opponent.

Why do you consider yourself the best candidate?

I’m the best candidate because I really care about my community. I am active in my community and I feel every day that I go out with my family the effects of the constant deterioration in our quality of life. I know how to build consensus, your coalition, and lead by example.

The five main problems of this race

• Health and safety in our city
• Roaming
• More positive opportunities for our young people.
• Connecting our school districts and municipal governments so they can work collaboratively

What’s the best way to deal with the city’s homeless problem?

One is to recognize and declare that we have a public health emergency. Second, we quickly get the low-barrier shelters with open enveloping serves. Then we start enforcing the laws in the books. People who live in areas that are not designated homeless shelters will not be permitted.

Give these people the opportunity to go to mental health, to one of the shelters, help get to a family member’s residence (locally or out of town) or be cited for intrusion or loitering, etc. Then immediately remove all structures that have been erected. . Staying and living in public places will not be acceptable. If an encampment begins to take place, I would ask that we have a proper homeless task force whose sole purpose will be to ensure that encampments are stopped before they can form. And those who persist will be taken to prison.

Understanding that they will likely be booked and released, the message that this is no longer tolerated in the town of Stockton. And if they don’t want our services, they’ll probably find another place to live.

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Public safety and police retention go hand in hand, at least on the surface. What can be done to increase both and without overburdening the city’s finances?

We absolutely must be competitive with the salaries of our departments. I would seek to recruit and cultivate a large group of local individuals from here in Stockton. Begin training our future officers in our many high schools. Similar to how the army recruits our children from the age of 17. Any new recruits hired outside of the City of Stockton, as a condition of being hired into our police department, will be required to sign a five-year contract. And it’s important that our law enforcement officers reflect the diverse makeup of our community.

Final statement

I am not a career politician, I have no higher political aspirations, I have no major political contributors. I love my town. If I am honored to be elected as the next member of the City Council representing District 1, I will do everything in my power to answer every call, every text, every email. I really want to be the best servant of my community.

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