Meet the four candidates vying for Clovis City Council seats

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Voters in Clovis will be asked to decide who is best qualified to steer their city into its future growth.

Three of the candidates are city council veterans including Jose Flores, who was first elected twenty years ago.

"I think the number-one issue is growth and how are we going to provide the revenue to fund the level of public safety services that they've become accustomed to. They know Clovis is a very safe place. They don't want to lose that," Flores said.

Managing the city's growth with a sound housing and business plan is seen as key by all candidates.

Drew Bessinger was elected just two years ago. He says he understands the voter's top issue.

"It's Clovis; it's public safety. People have expectations of the community. The things that bring people to Clovis are great schools, premier public safety," Bessinger said.

New to the campaign trail in Clovis is 28-year-old Maeketah Rivera. Rivera is a Fresno Police Community Service Officer who hopes to pull off a big upset.

"My whole platform is same Clovis values, new leadership and I know I can bring new leadership, new ideas to the council. Especially because a few of the candidates, some of the candidates have been serving almost 20 years," Rivera said.

Clovis is not divided into different districts so the top three vote-getters on Tuesday will win seats on the City Council.

The field also includes Clovis Mayor Bob Whalen.

"We do our best just to make sure we serve our community and listen well to what is they're communicating to us but not fight amongst ourselves. Not try to grandstand. We just take care of business," he said.

All three incumbents are confident of re-election.

The election for Clovis City Council is set for Tuesday, March 5.