Three candidates vie for two Clovis City Council seats

Published online on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009

Voting for two seats on the Clovis City Council is under way now that the Fresno County Elections Office has mailed absentee ballots.

The city election is on March 3, but more than 70% of the votes are expected to come from absentee ballots as they have for the past two council elections.

Voters will choose from among two incumbents and one challenger to fill two council seats.

Incumbents Lynne Ashbeck and Nathan Magsig are seeking their third four-year terms. Both supported placing Measure A - a one-cent sales tax increase to support city services - on the March 3 ballot.

And that's where they diverge from their challenger, Douglas Foster, a lawyer who opposes the measure If approved by voters, the sales tax would raise about $13 million a year for public safety, parks, road maintenance, recreation and senior services.

The money is meant to make up for revenues lost as a result of the recession and the housing slump. The Clovis City Council has cut $8 million in the past two years and has announced its first layoffs since 1993.

Clovis City Council members receive $1,102 per month.

Here is a look at the three council candidates:

Lynne Ashbeck

Ashbeck, 54, is a regional vice president for a hospital advocacy organization.

Before joining the council, Ashbeck served on the city's planning and personnel commissions. She has lived in Clovis for 36 years.

Ashbeck says her accomplishments on the council include creation of a Citizens Academy that allows residents to see the day-to-day workings of the city and efforts to rejuvenate Shaw Avenue and the southwest part of town. She also recently called for an economic-stimulus program for the city. Several business owners met with the City Council about programs the city could develop to expand Clovis' tax base after a meeting with the City Council.

The council directed city staff to reduce costs for some business licenses and building permits, and offer incentives to businesses that will create jobs and generate tax revenue.

Ashbeck said she supports Measure A because state and federal governments cannot touch the money it raises. Ashbeck said she does not support taxes, but that Measure A will give Clovis local control.

"It's a more complex discussion than 'do you want a tax or don't you?' " she said. "It's about the kind of community you want to live in, and are you willing to invest in the community?"

But if the measure fails, the city will have to make additional cuts that could cost Clovis its edge as a safe and clean city, she said.

"A big issue will be managing expectations on citizen response with declining revenues," she said.

Measure A opponents have no ideas to solve the city's budget crisis other than economic development in an economy that has little economic development to offer, she said. Measure A would allow the city to set aside money for economic development programs, she said.

And, despite the sour economy, she said the city must proceed with its general plan update - its blueprint for city growth - so Clovis is prepared when housing and commercial growth rebounds again.

Douglas Foster

Foster, 36, an attorney for a Fresno law firm, separates himself from the two incumbents because of his opposition to the Measure A sales tax measure.

He said he would have supported Measure A if it was used to support public safety and had an expiration date. He said it's a permanent fix for a temporary problem. "I think the primary thing people like about Clovis is that it's so safe and so secure," he said. "If you are going to do this, it needs to be earmarked the right way. …It's too big, and it's just too much in this economy."