Q&A with Orange Cove City Council candidate Isaiah Lopez

ORANGE COVE – This November, contests for city council races, school board elections and local bond measures will be listed lower on the ballot, but they are not any lower in importance. 

Local elections are often decided by just a handful of votes, highlighting the impact of each individual’s voice in the community. In Orange Cove, residents who want to see change in their cities, be that improved roads, increased public safety or more commercial and residential development, will have the chance to vote on city council candidates promising to bring something new to the area. 

The Orange Cove City Council is made up of four residents who are elected at-large to serve the entire city and a mayor who is also elected at-large. Council members and the mayor are elected to four-year staggered terms, with no limits to how long they can be on the council. This year, five candidates — Josie Cervantes, Jacob Del Bosque, Isaiah Lopez, Cassy Ortiz and Maria Vacio — are running to fill two seats that are up for election. 

Cervantes and Vacio both currently sit on the Orange Cove City Council; Cervantes was appointed in-lieu of an election in 2020, meaning she ran unopposed. Vacio was appointed to a vacancy in the council in January 2023. The Mid Valley Times was unable to reach Cervantes and Vacio by press time; updated Q&As will be posted online.

California voters can use the Secretary of State’s online voter registration tool at registertovote.ca.gov to register to vote or check their status. Voters in Fresno County can use an online district lookup tool through their respective county elections office to enter their address and find what Congressional, state, county and city districts they live in.

Lopez spoke with Mineral King Publishing about his background and his goals for the next four years if he is elected Nov. 5. Interview responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Q: What is your background?

LOPEZ: I’m 26 years old, about to turn 27 this October. I graduated from Reedley College with my associate’s degree in liberal studies. From there, I never continued on (with) college due to going to the workforce. Right away, I started working for the city of Sanger Chamber of Commerce. It was a nonprofit, and then after that, I started working for the City Hall of Sanger. 

I have experience in the nonprofit and public sector, as in terms of code enforcement, building department, planning department permits and also just planning events for the community, putting on parades and putting on festivals and other things like that, helping businesses large to small. 

After the pandemic, I really got involved in helping youth, and I just found a really big passion helping youth and families. And so that’s what my heart led to, and that’s what developed into working for the Boys and Girls Club, because I was actually a Boys and Girls Club member myself, so I decided to move on to that type of passion, and here I am today, doing all this. 

During Boys and Girls Club as well, I found another passion of mine is just being a voice for others. So I went back to my hometown of Selma and ran for (the) Selma Unified School District Board, and I ran for school board over there, and unfortunately, I didn’t win. So that determined (that with) me working in Orange Cove and living in Selma at the same time, I decided to move to a place where I felt more needed and more welcomed, in a town that needed more of a voice. 

Coming from Selma, (which) was really well established already with a semi-strong (city) council and a semi-strong school board, I felt like I wasn’t really needed there. At the same time … I felt really more connected to Orange Cove in a sense of being a more of a leader for those that can’t really speak up, and that’s why I’ve been living here in Orange Cove since 2022.

I’ve been working here, living here for two years now, and I just really fell in love with the youth and the families and just being there, being a lending hand to them. And that’s why it led to me tuning into city council because I started attending city council meetings, since 2022, and I realized it was very different compared to most cities, and I realized the way they handled business wasn’t really appropriate. So I started just educating myself, making myself knowledgeable (with) how the city works, and I decided to put my name in the race this November 2024.

Q: What do you hope to change or accomplish in the next term, if elected? 

LOPEZ: I would like to prioritize public safety, infrastructure and economic development. I believe our community is really behind on all these things. Doing my research since 2022 I really realized there (were) lots of funds not being used appropriately or not being used at all and expiring from the state. 

I would like to just bring that type of perspective (to) the table and figure out what’s really going on, why is money not being spent. What’s the hold back? How can I do something? Because I’m actually connected to the Valley as well. I’m actually endorsed by the Fresno Democrat Party and also by the California Democrats, and so just being connected that way, I could really help this community progress. 

I would like to also revitalize government accountability. Like I said earlier, I feel like there’s a big lack of communications, community and transparency. I would like to … revitalize community relations and the public’s trust. 

I feel like there’s not a lot of transparency around here, and a lot of the ethical practices are not really being handled correctly by our leaders. And I feel like I’m that leader that could make these changes happen — not these changes, but improvements — happen for the next four years.

Q: Who is supporting/endorsing your campaign, and who are the major funders of your campaign? 

LOPEZ: I don’t have any funders. This is a grassroots campaign, I’m not taking a penny from nobody. My biggest endorsers are the Fresno Democrat Party and the California Young Democrats,

Q: What do you see as the top three issues facing your local community right now? What would you do to address those issues? 

LOPEZ: That same thing, public safety, infrastructure, economic development. Like I said before, I would like to just figure out what’s really going on with the new council and just kind of look back at what’s going on, (and) work with the city manager that we currently put in place. 

I think we really need this city manager, even though a lot of the community don’t trust him. I believe he is knowledgeable and experienced compared to most city managers that the town has ever had. And so I would like to work with him, and he’s also a Democrat like myself. I would like to work with him and just kind of be an open ear and hear his vision. 

I think he … didn’t come to this community very welcoming. He didn’t really meet the community, he just came in full force, and I would like to just kind of rekindle that city manager relationship and a leadership from council with our community in regards to holding workshops, getting that input from our community with some really big projects (that) are coming forth. 

(Projects) such as the hydrogen plants, these new taxes that are going to be proposed in our community (over) the next years, with the housing development (and) the housing element by 2030, so I just want to be at that table, and just provide a fresh perspective. 

I am the youngest candidate, and (an) experienced and knowledgeable candidate in this race that’s been attending council meetings and planning commission meetings, everything you could name here in town, I’ve been involved in off the clock. … I’m not using my title (with the) Boys and Girls Club to win this race, I’m really just trying to just be a helpful hand in decision making in the next four years. 

Q: What does the role of a city councilperson look like to you? How would you engage with the community and respond to residents’ needs?

LOPEZ: I really believe a city council member should really be a person that the community can confide in and trust and just be that that voice for them, because a lot of times leadership comes in and they don’t understand the process of how government works and how they’re elected, and I feel like the people are our bosses, and this is their community. 

It’s our community, and I feel like giving residents and registered voters and everyone in town an opportunity to just provide their input, and from that, … gathering that input together, just working together as a community to fulfill our needs and to improve our community is really important as a city council member’s duty.

Q: Anything else to add? 

LOPEZ: No, I’m just really excited, very confident, for the town. This I think was a long-time city council. People are running for city council, and I think just having someone young in this race is really encouraging people to speak up, stay informed and involved. And it is very historic, and I’m looking forward to November.