ANTHONY VICTORIA: For KVCR News, I'm Anthony Victoria. The City of Ontario has several seats up for grabs this election, including the mayor's position and two contentious council seats. An FBI investigation involving one candidate has also put transparency under scrutiny, making it a key issue in the races.
Here to break it down for us is KVCR reporter Rami Alarian. Rami, thanks for joining us today.
RAMI ALARIAN: Thanks for having me.
What are the big issues you're learning about covering Ontario's election?
ALARIAN: I think one of the biggest ones, warehousing, and and it's the same across the region. But specifically, the city of Ontario is ranked number one in this region for warehousing and logistics space. I think second problem, public safety. The crime isn't extreme in this region. I would say it's middle of the road for the county. But candidates like Kevin Kizzy and Daisy Macias for the mayoral election, and DeAndre Lampkin and Larry Trinidad for District 3 elections, have it at the top of their issue list. Whether it be expanding patrols in residential neighborhoods or even further support for police or firefighters. Third issue is affordability. It's one of those things that touches absolutely everything. Transparency. It's the buzzword of this election. Alan Wapner has had his home and his office raided by the FBI in July. It's a lot of the reason why some of these candidates ran in the first place.
Yeah, and it seems like things were shaking up because of everything you just mentioned.
ALARIAN: Well, before the news came out, Wapner originally ran for mayor. Paul Leone told me he was on the fence about running once he found out that Wapner announced his campaign for mayor. He wanted to run for just one last term, essentially. Once Wapner dropped out of the race, out of the mayor's race, he continued on his District Three track. After news broke out, candidates like Michael Rios kind of seized the opportunity. He said, "This is one of the main reasons he decided to run in the first place. That it's one of the only few chances he would have to be a council member and overtake Wapner because of these investigations, these investigations also led to candidates in District Two. Ruben Valencia was a previous city council member. He retired and is now running again, hoping to outvote Wapner once elected.
What else have you learned through your reporting?
ALARIAN: Daisy Macias has been a district for a council member for two years now. She was the only candidate that did not sit down with an interview for us, but she did fill out a questionnaire that we sent her. Her top priorities are homelessness, public safety, and city growth. Incumbent Mayor Paul Leon, he's a pastor. He's been in his seat for nearly two decades. He's running on term limits and campaign contribution limits to kind of take down Walkner, he wants to expand this utility rebate program that currently serves senior citizens and disabled residents. He wants to expand it to serve low-income residents as a whole.
Additionally, Kevin Kizzy, he's a business owner. He's running for the mayoral spot. He's honing in on public safety, he wants to establish a task force, which he calls the Ontario Civilian Patrol Force, made up of retired police, military, and security personnel to patrol areas like shopping centers and schools. Nicola Lalama, an 18-year-old candidate, he's a student from the University of California Riverside. He's one of the only progressive candidates, especially for the mayoral election, and he's aiming to ban warehouses. He also wants to consult environmentalists for any further development in the region.
And what about the District 2 race? Who are the candidates here?
ALARIAN: Ruben Valencia is a pretty big candidate, a previous city council member who served two terms before retiring, and he wants to conduct an audit once in office on contracts involving Wapner. He's also running on combating homelessness and public safety. Now, for the other side, Stephanie Martinez says she's a good friend of Wapner. She's endorsed by Wapner and says that he's built this city over the past three decades, whether it be good or bad. She's also working on homelessness and trying to combat traffic issues.
