Four candidates are vying for the Mayor’s seat in a race that is centered around transparency, public safety and affordability. KVCR requested interviews with all the candidates to learn more about their campaigns.
Paul Leon, the incumbent Mayor of Ontario, is a pastor at Hope Chapel. He sat facing the church pews, surrounded by instruments littered on the church stage from worship just a couple days earlier
“My wife calls me the people’s mayor,” Leon said. “It’s in all my literature.”
Leon has served as mayor for more than twenty years and was a councilmember for seven years before that. He’s an independent candidate, who describes himself as a conservative with christian values.
One of the first issues Leon is running on is term limits. Leon said that he wants to establish term limits once he’s re-elected to rotate out the sitting councilmember, Alan Wapner, of District 3. Wapner has been in office for the past three decades and his office and residence were raided by the FBI last July. He hasn’t been indicted and the FBI did not comment on the investigation.
“I used to think that longevity in office was great, but now I’m seeing where it can really be harmful if the wrong person has it,” Leon said.
Leon said the lack of term limits and campaign contribution limits has made voters more suspicious of city hall.
“Those two things create monsters,” Leon said. “And we see Godzilla grew up in Ontario and that’s why the FBI is in town.”
Leon said that term limits take out the “good and bad” leaders of government. He said his run as mayor was a positive result of the city lacking term limits and that he’s running again because there’s no term limits stopping him.
“I want there to be good people to replace me, and I have not seen that,” Leon said.
Leon is also focusing on affordability. Leon wants to expand a city utility rebate program that serves senior citizens and people with disabilities to Ontario households below a certain income limit.
“I think that there are a lot of people in the city that are not old enough or have disabilities who also need help,” Leon said.
He said the city could help working families with affordability by making city-run sports and extracurricular programs free to children.
“If the city provides it to our kids in this city, it’s got to be free,” Leon said.