What’s Up, Clovis?

CHECK OUT THE BUZZ AROUND TOWN

PHOTOS BY RON SUNDQUIST

Clovis Senior Center Classic Car Show.

The car show took place at the Clovis Senior Activity Center on Saturday, October 8.

1957 Navy Jeep Truck of Veteran, George LaBorde 1930 Model A, Virginia and Charles Diffey.

Old Town Kiwanis’ John and Marilyn Waayers served Breakfast Burritos.

Danielle Fischer held her last “Edible Flower Show” for this year at On The Edge Coffee House Patio. She offered cookies with flower petals and dried and fresh packets of colorful and edible flowers. Other vendors sold bouquets of flowers. Her events begin in April. New wiring is being installed for the Clovis Museum outside lights. (L to R): Beth Christensen, Clovis Museum Director, and Mathew, a visitor.

Watering Days

Through October 31, Clovis residents with EVEN numbered addresses can water outdoor landscaping on Sunday, Wednesday, & Friday. ODD numbered addresses can water Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Please, no watering on Mondays.

If you have questions or would like to request assistance with setting the timers on your sprinkler system, please contact the Public Utilities Department at (559) 3242600.

Meet Clovis City Council Candidate Drew Bessinger

Adam Ricardo Solis

@Adamsoliss

Drew Bessinger, is the only incumbent in the crowded field of candidates this election and is a familiar face to Clovis.

Bessinger served as Mayor during the beginning of the pandemic and has held many positions such as Police Captain.

Bessinger spent 42 years as a law enforcement officer for federal, state and seven local cities that include 22 years at the Clovis police department, according to his campaign website.

Heading into the Nov. 8 election, Bessinger said his catalyst for seeking re-election comes from “unfinished business” he hopes to accomplish such as, providing more resources to the Clovis Police department to ensure Clovis safety.

“We’re trying to find a mechanism to staff more police officers because when I was captain at Clovis PD in 2006 we had 116 officers. We’ve gone down after the recession to 93 officers by 2011. We are now around 111 police officers for a city of almost 125,000. So we need to find a mechanism to fund those positions,” Bessinger said.

Bessinger said one such mechanism is Measure B, but Bessinger said while Measure B is a good start, it is not perfect.

“I hope between [Measure B] and our sales tax revenues we will be able to afford to bring more police officers on but, there may come a point where the community has to consider a short term sales tax to get us over the hump until about 2030,” Bessinger said.

On his campaign website, Bessinger said “there is much more to do…there always is. Excellence does not happen by chance, it takes vision and planning… lots and lots of planning. My main goal as your council member is to keep Clovis the safest and cleanest community in California.”

Bessinger said he hopes to accomplish this goal through a continued effort of code enforcement and relying on voluntary calls from community members when there is something that is, according to Bessinger, “hurting the property value” of neighborhoods.

Bessinger hearkened back to a policing concept that he teaches at the police academy that is called the “broken window theory,” Bessinger explained the theory;

“If you go into a neighborhood or into a commercial area and there’s broken windows and graffiti, it leads the people to believe nothat he hopes to meet.

Chaney hopes to accomplish his goal of having an officer for every 1,000 residents through the transient tax on the ballot this year, Measure B.

Chaney said that Measure B is a “fantastic way” of accomplishing his goals because it won’t “impact the citizens” of Clovis. But Chaney admits that it may not be enough, but it is a step in the right direction.

“It’s all about exploring grants and being creative again on the budgeting side and looking to see if there are areas that we can maximize for better use towards the police and fire department or are there other areas that it needs to stay,” Chaney said.

Chaney said since Clovis is known for being the safest city in the Valley, he will “do everything to retain that title,” so other families want to live in Clovis.

On the issue of no neighborhood left behind, Chaney hopes to lead an initiative to

body cares about this neighborhood,” Bessinger said. Bessinger explained that such behavior could escalate to couch dumping, to appliances being left in the front of properties. “It’s a slippery slope because once it starts you have to really be on it and as a community that is something we have done an excellent job at,” Bessinger said. Photo contributed Since being elected Clovis City Council candidate Drew Bessinger. to City Council in 2017 Bessinger has served as mayor during the pandemic and shares his accomplishments serving the community during the pandemic. “We delivered meals to our seniors who were sheltering at home. Clovis had the lowest COVID rates in the country, lower than cities 1/10th our size.” Bessinger said. Bessinger said the unintended consequences of the Governor’s orders “picked ‘winners and losers’ where large corporate stores remained open and small businesses were shuttered,” and in response Bessinger said he “refused” to shut down small businesses. “We refused to target our small businesses that took reasonable precautions and reopened,” Bessinger said. Bessinger said during the pandemic they repair broken streets and upgrade older parks, trails and canals to pristine condition. “Unfortunatley over the last five to seven years there seem to be more potholes out there and there are a few other things that are making it a little more difficult for residents. I don’t want to send somebody to have their alignment done just because they drove down the street. That’s just unacceptable. That’s just not the Clovis way of life,” Chaney said. According to Chany in order to accomplish his goal of no neighborhood left behind paired with anticipating any costs to Clovis residents to accomplish his plan starts with looking at the budget. Chaney said that in order to proceed with a plan like no neighborhood left behind, he would have to “analyze the budget” and identify where there are efficiencies that can be improved upon along with looking for ways had businesses that couldn’t afford to shut down and during that time when businesses were shut down Bessinger said he made the decision to allow the business to open back up responsibly.

“I said open back up, wear a mask, socially distance and act appropriately and the city of Clovis isn’t going to come after you,” Bessinger said.

With a crowded field of candidates, Bessinger said he thinks the amount of candidates that have “stepped up” to run for city council is a great thing and having so many highly qualified citizens who want to serve the community is a good thing to see.

Bessinger shared that he directly lobbied state agencies to permit the reopening of our restaurants, barber shops and hairdressers who were “on the verge of insolvency” according to Bessinger’s campaign website.

“We need to continue our growth, but not grow so fast that we outpace our ability to serve all of our citizens. We also need to create an environment that attracts business so Clovis is not just a bedroom community for Fresno. We need to do all of this, while keeping our “small town” feel that has made Clovis the special place that it truly is. I have a proven track record of public service and a commitment to your safety. I would be honored to have your vote on November 8th.” Bessinger said on his campaign website.

to get funds that do not impact the general fund and taxpayers.

“ I know the cost of doing nothing is higher from a liability standpoint. We don’t want our citizens to trip on something and get hurt. So making sure that we’re proactive and going out and searching …but the risk of doing nothing far outweighs the cost of doing something,” Chaney said.

With experience working for fortune 500 companies and managing budgets and price expectations, Chaney said he feels he has the necessary experiences to qualify him for a position on the City Council.

Chaney said set against the other candidates he feels this experience will distinguish him in the crowded field of candidates.

“My experience in budgeting is understanding what you do in one area affects what happens in another. So if we are providing services in the city such as water, trash, police, and fire you have to understand that they need a chunk of our money which comes from the general fund. Understanding that when you add and put things there may be some services somewhere else that need to be balanced out and what you are doing at the expense of another are things you need to know,” Chaney said.

Meet Clovis City Council Candidate Joseph Hebert

Adam Ricardo Solis

@Adamsoliss

The Clovis Roundup reached out to Joseph Hebert for an interview, but did not receive a response back at the time.

According to Hebert’s campaign website, he has lived in Clovis for the past 13 years and had an extensive managerial career in the aerospace industry, working for several fortune 100 companies including Apple and Hewlett Packard.

Hebert serves as the director of parks community services for the city of Madera and personal commissioner for the state center community college district. He is also an “active” board member for salt and light, a non profit organization in Visalia that’s “dedicated to cultivating community by providing dignified homes, jobs and healing for homeless citizens.”

According to Hebert’s campaign website, he believes in decision making that is based on what is best for the community above party interests.

“...ethics and qualifications should be the priorities voters look for in their city councilmen, not simply their political affiliation.” According to Hebert’s campaign website.

He is passionate about building a strong community to ensure the safety and wellness of Clovis residents while advocating on their behalf with a shared vision of success for Clovis and future generations.

Hebert is running on the issues of housing affordability, safe neighborhoods, reducing homelessness, and shared best practices among municipalities.

According to Hebert’s campaign website, he plans to build partnerships with the police and fire departments and help provide the resources needed to keep families safe.

In regards to reducing homelessness, Hebert said he feels “all residents deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods,” and his plan to accomplish this goal involves working with the Clovis police department to “target and eliminate” property crime, vacancy and more.

Photo contributed

Clovis City Council candidate Joseph Hebert.

Meet Clovis City Council Candidate Kyle Chaney

Adam Ricardo Solis

@Adamsoliss

Kyle Chaney has been a resident of Clovis for approximately 20 years, is running for Clovis City Council. Chaney, a sales manager for Guarantee Real Estate said his catalyst for running for City Council was because of aspirations he had since majoring in political science at Fresno State.

“Since I was a political science major through college, I’m grounded in the understanding of what civic duty but my decision to run was also based on how unique Clovis is. In the sense that as far as our municipalities are concerned, people have a positive relationship with Clovis and I am fighting and running to keep that uniqueness and the Clovis way of life moving forward,” Chaney said.

Chaney’s focus is centered around the issue of no neighborhood left behind, safer communities, and building a stronger Clovis. Chaney hopes to accomplish his goal of maintaining Clovis’ reputation of being a safe community to live in by meeting the goal of ensuring that the Clovis Police Department will have one officer for every 1,000 residents. A goal that Chaney calls a “minimum”

Photo contributed

Clovis City Council candidate Kyle Chaney