BY ALEX CANTATORE
Staff Reporter
Although some may see Turlock City Council Candidate Amy Bublak as quiet, compared to the verbose debating styles of the four other candidates, the long-time Turlock Resident has a lot to say. It simply doesn’t take her long to say it.
“I’m pretty straight-forward,” she said.
It’s a side effect of her job, Bublak thinks. As a career police officer, once jokingly referred to as the “Sherlock from Turlock” when working as a detective in Richmond, Bublak is required to be very clear and even-tempered when dealing with even the most stressful of situations.
“As a police officer, every day I have to tell people things they don’t want to hear,” Bublak said at one debate. “I don’t always make people happy, and yet I seem to have a consensus building effect.”
For the last 14 years Bublak has spent most of her days walking the streets as a Modesto Police Officer, dealing with all the parts of society that most people never see. In Bublak’s view, those 14 years were just one small part of the 18-year saga that she hopes will lead her to the Turlock City Council.
It was 1993 when Bublak first came to Turlock to attend California State University, Stanislaus. During her tenure, pursuing a Bachelor’s of Arts in Sociology and Criminal Justice, Bublak spent two terms as Student Body President in her first public service role.
While President, Bublak put the position to good use by implementing the first ever Good Neighbor Day, a program by which CSUS students and the City of Turlock came together to refurbish Donnelly Park, paint a homeless facility known as the Tithing Place, and plant trees throughout the city. Bublak says she never viewed it as work, but just something that needed to get done.
“That’s the kind of person I am,” she said.
Bublak served a year on the Turlock City Arts Commission in the 1990s, and has also sat on the Board of Directors for the Stanislaus County Chapter of the American Red Cross, a position she still holds today.
At one point, Bublak received her Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Urban Government from San Francisco State University, a degree she says she pursued just to be better prepared to one day sit on the Turlock City Council.
These are the kind of things that voters seem to respond to, according to Bublak. Indeed, her resume and the support of Turlock voters were nearly enough to push Bublak to a council seat in the 2006 election.
“I am very fortunate to have a lot of people support me,” Bublak said. “They remember me from the last election. I keep getting people calling.”
Bublak finished third in a race for two seats in 2006, finishing just 183 votes behind now-Councilman Kurt Spycher. While some may have felt disappointed or dejected by the narrow loss, Bublak felt invigorated.
“I just felt so close,” she said. “It made me feel like people did want me.”
This year, as in 2006, Bublak says that she is not running for any agenda. She simply wants to represent the people of Turlock as best she can.
Bublak says that she has seen a tremendous response from Turlock voters across the political spectrum. She thinks that all of this support comes from one simple thing; Bublak listens to voters’ concerns and comments.
“That is one of reasons I haven’t gone into extreme detail (on my plans for Turlock),” Bublak said. “Everything is predicated on constituent issues.”
For the past two years, since losing the 2006 council race, Bublak has served Turlock as a Planning Commissioner. Of course, Bublak readily admits that there is a major difference between the council and the Planning Commission, but says that she looks forward to taking advantage of the opportunities offered to a councilmember while putting to use what she has learned as a commissioner.
“I can solicit my constituents’ input,” Bublak said. “I can’t do that as a Planning Commissioner.”
Bublak says that she will take advantage of the cornucopia of contacts she has made throughout her life of public service to poll Turlockers and see what they would like done in any situation. As Bublak works her way about town, knocking on doors and soliciting votes, she plans to stay connected with these constituents after the election is complete.
“I’m going to keep my contacts, not just get a vote and move on,” Bublak said.
Already, from going door to door, Bublak says that she has had her constituents tell her a lot about what they want from Turlock. Unsurprisingly, many Turlockers are concerned about the General Plan, due to be revisited by the next council.
“They want more businesses,” Bublak said. “People want to stay, live, and work here.”
In order to ensure the sort of economic development that brings businesses to Turlock, Bublak wants to streamline the business approval process and to improve relations between businesses and city government. In her words, Bublak wants Turlock to be known as a “great place to do business.”
In order to develop business, however, Bublak sees a need to focus on infrastructure, making sure that any new development has the appropriate infrastructure elements already in place. And, of course, Bublak wants to make sure development supports new infrastructure, too.
“When we look at new development, we do it backwards,” she said. “We fix the road first and then we bring in heavy equipment, (ruining the new road).”
As a Police Officer, Bublak also stresses the importance of infrastructure to public safety concerns. Without a developed road system, Police and fire Services could find themselves unable to respond to emergencies in a timely nature.
Despite her commitment to what she sees as responsible growth, members of the community and Turlock Journal readers have expressed some concern that Bublak would not be able to remain objective as she addresses development, due to a $15,000 donation she received from the developers of Monte Vista Crossings. However, Bublak is unapologetic for the donation, which she clearly stated on her campaign finance forms.
“I’m not hiding anything,” she said.
Bublak stated that she intentionally reported the donation earlier than required in order to inform the public. While she was only required to report the donation on Oct. 6, she instead listed the donation in the prior reporting period, set to end on June 30.
As well, Bublak stated that several competitors interviewed with Monte Vista Crossings for the endorsement. In finance documents released by the City yesterday, it was revealed that incumbent candidate Kurt Vander Weide also received $10,000 from Monte Vista Crossings.
Bublak has received several key endorsements, including the support of the Turlock Police and Firefighter Unions and the Turlock Chamber of Commerce. However, as candidates have frequently stated at debates, these endorsements are determined by committee heads and may not actually represent the views of individual members of the organizations.
Bublak states that these endorsements simply represent the fact that these organizations support her as a person and will have no impact on how she makes decisions.
“I get what people have an expectation of,” Bublak said. “Twenty-four hours a day people look at me and are making judgments (as part of my job.)”
As a police officer, integrity is a part of Bublak’s everyday job. Bublak even serves as an Ethics teacher to Modesto employees.
As a Planning Commissioner, Bublak has chosen recluse herself when any issues arise related to CSUS. Even though Bublak has stated that her husband’s role as Athletic Director for CSUS would not affect her decision-making, she simply does not want to open the door for concerns of impropriety.
However, Bublak has stated that she is not beyond making use of her familial connections-and her own experience with faculty from her stint as Student Body President-to maintain and improve relations between the city and CSUS, one of her priorities should she achieve office.
Another top issue to Bublak, as to the community at large, seems to be the need for a homeless shelter. Bublak sees the need for community involvement, where local homeless service providers work with elected officials to come up with a solution that everyone is happy with.
“A homeless shelter could benefit this city,” Bublak said. “The problem is finding land.”
Bublak does not believe that the City should finance the operation of a shelter, due to the liability that would arise from such an action. Similarly, she would not commit to contributing seed funding, because Bublak was unsure of the potential legal repercussions of such a move.
While many of Bublak’s policy decisions would be predicated on what constituents want to see done, one issue that she has stated would be a top priority upon taking office would be the development of a city ordinance to help with the foreclosure crisis.
“We want to keep the city looking nice and recoup our administrative costs,” Bublak said.
Such an ordinance would hold the owners of foreclosed homes responsible for maintaining the properties, even when not occupied. Other communities have already implemented similar ordinances, and Bublak thinks that such a thing could greatly benefit Turlock.
Above all, though, Bublak does not seem to be concerned with the nitty-gritty of policy details. Bublak simply wants the opportunity to guide the course of Turlock based on what Turlockers want to see, a role that she has been working towards for a long time.
“I have dreamed of being on the council since 1990,” Bublak said. “I have a key to the city given to me by former Mayor (Brad) Bates, and I have no door to place it in. I need a little assistance here.”
Amy Bublak can be contact through her Web site at www.votebublak.com or by calling 404-3928.
To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.
Originally published in the Turlock Journal 10/8/2008.
Retrieved from the Turlock Journal Web site.