During the April 20 Candidates Forum, District 5 County Supervisor hopeful Miguel Alejandre and incumbent Scott Silveira made their positions clear.
Silveira positioned himself as someone with the “experience to deliver,” and Alejandre, in contrast, positioned himself as a local business owner looking to “give back” to the community and bring “new ideas and new perspectives.”
For all of his answers, Alejandre focused on advocating for businesses to come to the county. “Merced County is one of the poorest counties in the state . . . (we need to) bring in more revenue, bring in more jobs, bring in more business,” Alejandre said.
But how he would attract them, Alejandre was honest that he only had part of the answer: stubborn, constant advocacy.
Silveria pointed out that advocacy is already being done by the county’s departments. Silveira made clear that “government doesn’t create jobs, our job is to set the table.” Setting the table includes loosening regulations and making it easier to develop in the county.
While increasing commercial activity to increase revenues was Alejandre’s priority, Silveria’s was public safety and fire station preservation. The priorities aligned with two of his main campaigning accomplishments: saving two fire stations and creating 80 more jobs in the Sheriff’s department.
When asked about the controversial Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to be built 9 miles south of Los Banos, Silveira felt that the opposition to it was too late.
He said that opposition to the project arose after the project went through two years of environmental reviews and after the widely reported 2024 fire at Moss Landing’s BESS. “I did try to engage folks. Some folks don’t want to listen to what I have to say. We had no legitimate reason to deny them.”
“It’s something very dangerous and hazardous,” Alejandre said, making his position clear. He did not feel local fire departments were equipped for a 2024 Moss Landing fire, were it to repeat itself in Los Banos.
Alejandre then questioned whether the BESS even benefits Los Banos and the local area for the hazard it causes.
Silveria pointed out that of the $1.2 billion that the county budgets, only $200 million is actually unrestricted. He said that 75 percent of it goes toward public safety.
Both Alejandre and Silveira agreed that it would be best to keep it near that percentage. Silveira also pointed out that 17,500 miles of road have to be maintained with that budget.
When asked about increasing transparency into the budget, Silveira said, “We have budget hearings. We set meetings in the morning, we set meetings in the evening, and a lot of times, folks just don’t engage. And I don’t know how to make (the) budget any more sexy for folks to want to engage.”
Alejandre felt the county could do more using social media. “It’s just up to the leaders of the county and the city to make it easily accessible for people to just see what’s going on,” Alejandre said. He explained that many residents find the meetings boring until they have a clear explanation of how it affects them.
When asked about the healthcare in the district. Silveira explained that a long-awaited trauma center at Los Banos Memorial Hospital would not be built. “They’re not going to build [it] here,” he said.
He explained that Sutter Health is more likely to build a better facility, but it will lack that trauma center. Alejandre conceded that while the district isn’t guaranteed a trauma center, the public should have a transparent answer and reason why.
Following the meeting, The Express asked the candidates how they felt the forum went. Both were positive. “I think that people definitely appreciated the fact that I was honest. I wasn’t claiming to know all the answers,” Alejandre said.
He said that the weakest part of his performance was his nervousness. “I’m not used to speaking in public crowds. I’ve never been in that position before,” he said.
“There wasn’t not one question that was asked that I did not have an answer to,” Silveria said. In total, he felt his greatest strength throughout the forum was the experience and knowledge of the county.
He felt the weakest part was the rule limiting answers to a single minute. “Just not quite having enough time to not have quite enough time to be able to like get into a little bit more depth on the answers,” Silveria explained.
The forum lasted an hour from 7 p.m. to 7:56 p.m. In his closing statement, Silveria touted his “proven track record,” while Alejandre focused on citizens’ need for more transparency and information.
The forum was organized by the Merced County League of Women Voters. The moderator was Anthony Parreira, Los Banos Unified School Board president.
Residents attending the meeting submitted questions. Questions were then edited and vetted by government students of Pacheco High School teacher Jeffery De La Cruz before being given to Parreira to ask.
