A slate of progressive candidates, including one endorsed by progressive stalwart Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), is trying to change the face of City Hall in Fontana. But the candidates face strong headwinds in the famously conservative town.
Joz Sida, 37, is running for mayor as a Democratic Socialist. At a recent gathering at Southridge Park in Fontana, she stood on a makeshift stage alongside a slate of progressive candidates running for offices ranging from city council to city treasurer.
“Our campaign is about us going to the people, and the best way is at the local parks, is meeting them where they’re at,” Sida said.
Sida moved to Fontana as a teenager. She ran for a school board position in 2012, but lost. She left the Inland Empire and spent the next decade organizing and working on progressive campaigns across the country.
“I’ve worked on reproductive rights. I’ve worked on immigrant rights,” said Sida. “I always hope to elect people that do good policy.”
Sida said she moved back home from Chicago in 2023 to bring the progressive fight to Fontana. She recruited a slate of candidates and decided to run for mayor against incumbent Mayor Acquanetta Warren, who has held the office for 16 years. During that time, Warren has taken credit for building up the warehousing industry and helping Fontana prosper economically.
But Sida believes Warren has discouraged free speech and protest by limiting public input and supporting restrictions on protests.
Street vendor crackdown and protests helped spur Sida’s campaign
Warren and the city council cracked down on street vendors in 2023, sparking outrage from residents, street vendors and some activists. Protests that erupted disrupted council meetings for several weeks.
"We have tried everything we can within our power to help people get legal,” said Warren in Oct. 2023, after the council voted unanimously to support the crackdown. “So, now it’s time to grab a couple of hammers. Done."
Protesters and influencers eventually gathered outside the mayor’s home to protest the street vendor laws. In response, the City Council passed an ordinance making protesting and picketing illegal within 300 feet of a residence.
Sida said the measure chilled public dissent over city policies and that the crackdown has largely affected Latino immigrants and families who live in Fontana.
“I came back … street vendors were under attack. I came back, warehouses next to high schools. I come back and we’re still one of the worst in air quality,” Sida said.
“The city government that we have in Fontana now is the kind of government that tells you we know best. And if you don’t like it, well, too bad.”
Warren declined KVCR’s request to be interviewed for this story.
David Allen, a senior columnist with the Southern California News Group who has followed Warren’s political career for 16 years, said Fontana has deep blue-collar Democratic roots but was also a haven for white supremacists until the 1990s.
In that context, Warren was a trailblazer when she became the city’s first Black mayor in 2010.
“She’s certainly, you know, 100% pro Fontana. I think Fontana’s definitely improved economically. Its image has improved, kind of along with her tenure,” Allen said.
Allen said Warren is known as a pragmatic leader.
While activists opposed the crackdown on street vendors, it was motivated in part by complaints from Latino restaurant owners.
Public letters obtained by KVCR show that Latino restaurants in the city supported the enforcement efforts. Past recordings of City Council meetings also show that Latino restaurant owners were encouraged to speak out about how sidewalk vending was affecting them.
On her campaign website, Warren highlights her tenure improving Fontana’s quality of life and public safety.
Allen described Warren as a “shoot from the hip” type of leader.
“She’s charismatic and funny, and she seems genuine and authentic. I think she comes across that way to people,” he said.
Allen said Warren promotes herself as someone who has delivered economic progress for Fontana and works with people on both sides of the aisle.
“But like there hasn’t been credible opposition in my memory to her,” said Allen. “Like not a serious challenge, and I don’t really, to be honest, I don’t know that this is a serious challenge.”
‘She doesn’t give lip service’
While progressives such as Sida have tapped into residents’ growing opposition to warehouses, Warren has received endorsements from the region’s two largest carpenter unions and the Teamsters, who represent county workers and warehouse workers at Amazon.
Randy Korgan, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 1932, said Warren has supported pensions for city employees.
“I think that she’s proven to be accessible,” Korgan said. “Look, I’ve been doing this long enough to know the difference between someone who’s going to work to get it done versus the lip service. She doesn’t give you lip service.
Korgan said he is intrigued by Sida’s campaign, but that the Teamsters endorsed Warren because she has delivered for workers and that the mayor has focused on solving local problems, while staying away from issues that divide Americans nationally.
‘They need to know there’s good people running’
Sida also appears to face a challenge breaking through with voters. KVCR spoke with about 10 people on the street, who did not want to be named and said they were unaware of the mayor’s race.
One voter, Riley Pantilion, 18, did speak and said he hopes to get a warehouse job soon. Pantilion said he has not registered to vote yet, but wants to do so. He said he does not know much about the current election.
But he did say he recalled seeing Sida at the Metrolink station, asking residents how the city could improve public transportation.
“I believe that’s a good approach and stuff because I do believe that the city could use a little bit more help with the bus and stuff like that,” Pantilion said.
Pantilion, who also said he has experienced homelessness and been in and out of juvenile hall, said he believes Warren has helped improve the city. But he wants the mayor and City Council to do more to support at-risk youth.
But he also said the mayor has been in office for a long time and said it might be time for Fontana to move on from Warren.
“She’s nice, but 16 years is a long time. I’m not saying she hasn’t helped our city … she has. But I feel like if there’s people who are newer to the scene, people who have new ideas, I feel like we should give them a chance too,” Pantilion said.
He said he is still deciding whether to vote and, if he does, plans to research the candidates himself.
Ben Vasquez, who is running for City Council, told KVCR he has faith that the slate of progressives and socialists have a chance to shake things up. Vasquez said he has become disillusioned by what he sees as empty promises from Warren and his opponent, John Roberts, who has been in office since 1991.
Vasquez acknowledged that winning could be an uphill battle, but said he believes Fontana voters are ready for change.
“The way that I’ve judged it is that people are ready for something different,” said Vasquez. “They just need to know that there’s an option. They need to know that they have good people running.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misstated the year Joz Sida ran for office. She ran for the Fontana Unified School District board in 2012, not 2013.
