The reaction to Javier Lopez running for Congress was largely negative on our Facebook page. This is a sample of the hometown folks who weighed in, mostly unimpressed by their mayor:
Jae Deering: “It’s unfortunate that he is not what he claims to be.”
Jessica Pittman: “Maybe he can build more gazebos!”
Stan Lane: “He’s gonna fall before he gets the first base. He can’t run the city of Ceres let alone be a congressman. What has he done for the city of Ceres besides a $500,000 gazebo which is a waste of money for the city Ceres?”
Mathew Texeira: “He’s a joke...”
Nino Abriol: “Well at least before u do, can we get those potholes taken care of? At least try.”
Scott Black: “I dropped a little post with my opinion, which of course, is worthless so I deleted it. Then I realized, he’s going to lose the election anyway (and) ain’t worth the effort. And he’ll pi-- the people of Ceres off in the process. Nighty night, career.”
Lou Sassle: “The homeless is an issue, camping out in store fronts and our parks. Look behind downtown Ceres, the filth that Delhart has behind his bank that has been boarded up with the rat infested mattresses that has been there since I was a child (I’m now 40). Nothing is being done! This guy can’t afford to pay attention. But as long as he goes somewhere else, I’ll be happy. I live in Ceres.”
Troy Weis: “Him a John Fettermen would make a great team.”
Eric Jones: “Appears all his meetings at the tap room, line ‘em up.”
Frank Joseph Murillo Jr.: “It’s Congress… buy a suit.”
Debi Bradford-Sasser: “Never!”
Josh Steeley: “Since this is his first attempt for Congress can we expect during a debate with Adam Gray he will just agree with everything he said, similar to what he did when he debated Bret Durossette for Ceres mayor during his first run?”
At somewhere in the dialogue about Lopez’s candidacy, things went sideways when Brian Yepez hinted racism played into the negative comments, posting that “most the negative comments from Caucasian folks.” That stirred a slough of responses:
Maria Madrigal “Wrong. I am Hispanic and do not support him AT ALL.”
Andy Vanderheiden wrote: “…there is always that one fool that plays the race card.”
Jeanette Baker addressed Yepez, writing, “Based on your statement, it would possibly also be fair to say only brown people voted for him and only because he is brown?
“Sorry, but you are the one bringing up race and that only brings this potential claim to life.
“I, personally, don’t care what race he is. But, I do expect him to do a better job than he has been doing.”
Brian Yepez admitted: “I’m pretty yes a lot of his votes were because he is brown. Because brown people feel like we have no representation. I don’t know him personally. But Ceres has been growing under his watch. Bring in business, like allowing food trucks which for many years we did not have a vast majority of them. And I brought it to the attention that yes a lot of the slander was by Caucasian people. So yes I’m happy I have someone who looks like me and of similar background is representing me in the political world. Why because we never forget were we came from and why we are here. He’s done good and may have done bad but he’s trying. And he’s doing the best he can with what is in front of him. We as a community should stick with him or anyone who was voted in even if you don’t agree; don’t attack, instead give ideas on how to change a situation or how to make it better...”
Yepez probably doesn’t realize that most of the new shopping opportunities to come to Ceres came were in the planning stages before Lopez became mayor. And there is at least one business he chased away – Pollo Campero – because he didn’t want another business serving chicken on Hatch Road.
When our article on Lopez running for Congress was shared on the Stanislaus News page of Facebook, Nona Yurbiz wrote: “Ditching the office for which you have just been elected to move on to ‘bigger and better’ things is a huge red flag. The person elected will hold the fate of voters in his hand and this man cannot keep his word to those that just elected him. We have enough bad agents representing us, why add a non-trustworthy person to the mix? That’s up to the voters. Plus, I do not care for the way he insults people online verbally. I am a registered red voter and am not voting for him based on Scripture to show yourself approved, keeping your word, etc. I wish him the best on a personal level but my vote will remain blank if you have settled on him.”
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It was nearly a month from the Nov. 5 election until voters of the 13th Congressional District knew who their next representative was going to be.
Is there any reason why in this day and age of instantaneous data transmission that this should take place? Assemblyman Juan Alanis doesn’t think so either.
His Assembly Bill 16 is a practical proposal that empowers election officials to begin processing ballots earlier, freeing up resources and getting more of the results reported more quickly. Alanis believes this will help restore trust in the election process.
AB 16, passed unanimously out of the Assembly Elections Committee and now Alanis expects it to be voted on by the entire Assembly before the end of the month.
The bill would allow county elections officials to begin processing vote-by-mail ballots as soon as they are received.
Another bill, AB 17 would require counties to provide digital precinct boundary maps to the public free of charge. Alanis said these maps will help voters better understand what precinct lines they fall under for any election.
What would help tremendously in restoring faith in our electoral process is showing an ID at the polls, which the Dems are vehemently opposed. Sad.
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On weekends, you’ll see a smattering of old Democrats with protest signs here and there in Modesto and other cities, vilifying Elon Musk.
What exactly are the leftists in our country protesting?
Government needs to be trimmed. It’s too large and too many are feeding out of the government hog trough. Most hardworking citizens know the government takes far too much of their paycheck and then spends beyond that as politicians seek to rob Peter to pay Paul, knowing Paul will always vote him said pilferer.
I noticed how Elon Musk was referred to as a “billionaire” instead of “brilliant businessman” in a local news article. Billionaire carries a feeling of contempt among those who resent success.
Asked about the protests, the White House issued a statement saying, “President Trump’s position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.”
So what it’s all about is more of the same vile hatred of President Trump and everybody who works with him.
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I noted the deceptive tag that Congressman Adam Gray puts on his anti-Trump bill, his panicky response to tariffs – or the threats of them to get other nations to level the playing field. Trump knows that countries have been taking advantage of us for decades.
Gray calls his bill the Stop Raising Prices on Food Act to revoke the president’s power to impose tariffs on agricultural products without congressional approval. It would be more accurate to call it the “Keep Allowing Other Countries to Screw Over Americans with High Tariffs” bill.
Gray wants Congress – the body known to never get anything accomplished in a timely manner – to have final say on tariffs and not a president.
Economic Arthur Laffer said this last week of Trump: “He’s competent. He’s got the all skills. He’s very knowledgeable on the subject and I believe that he is using the threats of tariffs and the actual imposition of tariffs to get these other countries to come and negotiate free trade deals with us. They are far more protectionist than we are. We are as a country, the United States probably the lowest tariff, the lowest protectionist country of the large countries in the world. How do you get these other countries to come at the table and negotiate to get rid of their tariffs? You’ve got to threaten them with access to the U.S. market and that’s what he’s doing.”
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Californians pay twice what average American pay for electricity and natural gas because your energy bills have hidden taxes and surcharges (fees) woven into them. These are politician inflicted charges enacted by the California PUC (Public Utilities Commission). According to the California State Auditor, the PUC should not continue to authorize programs that do not meet energy-savings goals and cost-effectiveness measures and called for the Legislature to consider changing state law to require the CPUC to eliminate funding for chronically underperforming programs.
These charges are hidden in the per kilowatt hour rate which is partly why we pay such high energy bills since it doesn’t cost more to generate power here than say in Texas.
According to the Edison Energy Institute, a non-profit organization that does a transparency study, California energy producers are on the low end of the profit margin. That means California’s high energy bills are because of the politicians.
Some of these programs are to pay for solar panels and energy efficient windows of those who are impoverished. A form of welfare that the rest of us pay for? Of course. On top of that the program aren’t worth the savings.
According to the Transparency Foundation, $4.5 billion in hidden state taxes and costly climate change mandates are the reason that Californians paid 67.1 percent more for electricity and 30.1 percent more for natural gas than the national average in 2022.
New Republican Assemblyman Carl De Maio, who is making waves in Sacramento for delving into waste, fraud and abuse, charges that the members of the PUC – all appointees of the governor – are all left wing environmental activists. His words: “They’re insane and they have no regard for the cost that these hidden taxes are applying to your household budget. They all ought to be removed from office and replaced, frankly, with rate payers or at the very least with utility experts who know how to drive down the cost of electricity.”
Remember how solar households were able to sell surplus energy to electricity companies? Now that’s changing.
Newsom, the heir apparent to the Democrat presidential nominee in 2028, claims he wants to reduce energy bills in California but not willing to eliminate the hidden fees discussed early. Nope. He wants the PUC to find ways to gouge ratepayers. How? Through measures that could significantly impact homeowners with solar panels. One recommendation would scale back the program that allows households with surplus power from their solar panels to sell back to utility companies.
Another proposal is a new monthly Grid Benefits Charge for solar users to cover their share of infrastructure costs.
That’s always the Democrats’ playbook – keep adding to the cost of living. It’s never about reducing taxes and fees and making things easier on household budgets.
Give GOP candidate Chad Bianco serious consideration to become governor in 2026 because any Democrat will be business as usual – higher costs and nothing ever getting done to fix California’s ailments of homelessness, lack of housing, failing infrastructure and the ever climbing high cost of living.
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
