Voters will have the opportunity to adopt Measure B, a one-half of one percent local road sales tax in Turlock, with a two-thirds majority in the pending General Election on Nov. 4. Measure B was put on the ballot by the current City Council in early June in a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Amy Bublak as the dissenting vote. According to City Manager Roy Wasden, the cost to put it on the ballot was estimated at $30,000.

Though impossible to find on the City of Turlock’s website through a quick search of both “Measure A” or “Measure B” on the City’s website search engine, the full text of Measure B, the controversial proposed road tax, along with Measure A, the proposal to move City Council to district elections, has been made available for public viewing by the City of Turlock. A search for “Measure A” yields one result, City Council meeting minutes from earlier in 2014 unrelated to the ballot measure, and a similar “Measure B” search which yields three results, which are FPPC required Candidate Campaign Statements/Reports.

Incumbent Assemblymember Kristin Olsen (R) and challenger Harinder Grewal (D) are competing for the State Assembly 12th District seat in the November General Election. Coming off the June Primaries, Olsen, the newly minted Chief Republican Whip in the State Assembly, attained 67.5 percent of the vote while Grewal received the other 32.5 percent. In the 2012 General election, Olsen won with 60.6 percent of the vote while opponent Christopher Mateo (D) took 39.4 percent. Each candidate advanced uncontested through the June Primaries, as there were only two in the race.

California voters will have the opportunity to decide the fate of six new laws in the Nov. 4, 2014 General Election, four of which were put on the ballot through petition signatures, two by the State Legislature. These propositions traditionally garner much public attention because of the myriad of associated fiscal ramifications and societal implications. This election cycle, propositions cover a wide variety of issues including water, budget, health insurance, health care providers, criminal sentencing guidelines as well as tribal gaming compacts.

Turlock Associated Police Officers (TAPO) hosted a meet and greet on Oct. 8 to connect the members of the union with two of the candidates who have been endorsed by the political action committee (PAC) for the upcoming November election. Mayoral candidate Gary Soiseth and City Council candidate Matthew Jacob were in attendance as TAPO members talked about their plans to build a safer Turlock and strategized how the PAC can further support their campaigns.

On the City Council’s agenda this week, one of two meetings before the General Election where the new Turlock Mayor and two City Council members will be decided, a number of long-term, fiscally impactful items will be discussed and voted on. Put forward by City Manager Roy Wasden, who also has a $212,424 annual contract up for renewal with the City set to be voted on during the meeting, is a series of memorandums of understandings (MOU), essentially contracts up for amendment and renewal, between certain City employees and the City. 

The Mayor of Turlock seat and two Turlock City Council seats are up for grabs on Nov. 4 when Turlock voters will vote at least one new member into the City government. Gary Soiseth and Mike Brem are going head-to-head for the seat left vacant by Mayor John Lazar, who announced he would not seek reelection.