VISALIA – County Supervisors play a pivotal role in how state policy, programs and funding are applied at the local level. They also routinely vote to support, oppose, and even influence, state decisions based on possible implications at the local level.
One of those five supervisorial seats is up for grabs on the ballot for this year’s California Primary Election on June 2. Voters in Tulare County Supervisor District 4 will have the opportunity to meet and question the candidates at a forum on May 7.
The forum will be at the Goshen Village No. 1 Community Room, 309940 Road 72, in Visalia. Doors open at 6 p.m. The forum will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The three candidates vying to represent District 4 on the Tulare County Board of Supervisors have all been invited:
- Eddie Valero, the incumbent;
- Rudy Mendoza, mayor of Woodlake;
- Ian Bakke, chief operating officer of Bakke Ag Services of Tulare.
For more information on these candidates, read The Sun-Gazette’s report, “Meet the candidates for Tulare County Supervisor District 4,” published online on April 27 and in print on April 29. The forum will give voters the chance to not only meet the candidates in person, but also to submit questions from the audience.
If any candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary election, they will immediately be elected to office starting with a new term in January 2027. If no candidate garners more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to a runoff in the General Election on Nov. 4.
District 4 includes the unincorporated communities of Badger, Cutler-Orosi, Elderwood, Goshen, Ivanhoe, London, Monson-Sultana, Seville, Three Rivers, Traver, and Yettem. The cities represented in District 4 include Dinuba, Woodlake, and the northwest corner of Visalia.
The candidates have agreed to address questions directed to them by the sponsoring organizations and accept prescreened questions from the audience.
Sponsors are:
- League of Women Voters of Tulare County
- American Association of University Women
- Valley Voice online newspaper
- Tulare County League of Mexican American Women
- The Sun-Gazette newspaper
The event will be streamed and posted online. Spanish language interpretation will be provided by Language Access Plus.
