After_Deadline's blog

My favorite image in today’s paper is Bart Ah You’s shot of Modesto City Schools candidate Ruben Villalobos awaiting returns with former City Councilman Balvino Irizarry and business owner Jeremiah Williams.

I’ve been struck in recent weeks by the support Villalobos has picked up from places like the Modesto Police Officers Association. It begs the question, why would MPOA get involved in a school board race? The rumor mill last summer held that Villalobos was going to run for a City Council seat but didn’t quite live in the boundaries for the chair he was eyeing. I never asked him about it so I wouldn’t know. Tongues were wagging in his favor. It seems to me that a lot of people have high hopes that he’ll emerge as a somewhat left-leaning leader for years to come, whether that’s on the school board or a different body.

A City Council candidate is having some trouble taking questions about his past.

This time it's District 2 candidate Al Nava. We researched Nava's public records, as we do for all candidates, and saw a criminal charge from 1998. Reporter Leslie Albrecht called to check on it with him today.

He graciously confirmed the conviction in a post on his public politician page on Facebook. You do not have to "friend" Nava to read this statement on the site.

"ooohhh, scandal: my criminal record on the record

"Today at 12:35pm

"Back in 1998, I was charged with "receipt of stolen property" & finally went to court in 1999 to defend myself of these false accusations. This case was finally dismissed because those idiotic DA's & Police Department admitted they lacked the evidence. They had me on recorded video & had no evidence? Even when they were wrong, they still refused to apologize for their mistake.

I started covering the Modesto City Council in September 2006 and it was immediately apparent that Councilwoman Janice Keating and Councilman Will O'Bryant were allies.

Even when they disagreed, Keating and O'Bryant spoke up for the other's points and tried to flesh out each other's ideas. They agreed far more often than not.

Both tried to shoot down the quality of life ordinances the Police Department carried in 2008, such as banning Dumpster diving, arguing that the measures were unneccessary. They voted against pay increases to executives in the summer of 2007 that took place just before the city started cutting expenses to catch up with the recession. They're consistent skeptics about major spending on sewer and water projects.

It's election season, and Modesto has a well-regarded history of backing underdogs in year's like this when voters are ready for change.

The ones that come to mind are former Mayor Carmen Sabatino's win in 1999, and Denny Jackman's victory for a council seat in 2002.

There's one race that often gets put in the mix of Davids knocking off Goliaths that I just don't accept as part of that dynamic - former state Sen. Dick Monteith's 2006 victory over City Councilwoman Janice Keating for a seat on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.

Yes, Keating had more money. Yes, Keating had the backing of a chunk of Modesto's political establishment.

Modesto City Council candidate Joe Cataline tried to skewer incumbent Kristin Olsen repeatedly at a Thursday night debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

You know the litany: Council pay raises, rising utility rates, budget cutting votes that bit into public safety. Total fair game and examples of why it's a good year not to be an incumbent on the ballot. Olsen had answers for all of the digs because she obviously knew they were coming.

For the coup de grace, he actually likened her to Richard Nixon.

“It’s a question of experience and what kind of experience we want,” said Cataline, 25, the owner of a video and photography production company. “I’m a history buff. Richard Nixon had the most experience, and we all know how that turned out.”