• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

Chris Ricci Runs for Modesto City Council

May 28, 2020 By Eric Caine 4 Comments

Chris Ricci familyChris Ricci, the entrepreneur behind the hugely successful and controversial X-Fest concerts that played in downtown Modesto from 2000 through 2016, is running for Modesto’s District 3 City Council seat. Incumbent Kristi Ah You is stepping down.

Ricci says he’s well past the controversies about security and noise that pushed him first to move the X-Fest and then cancel it altogether.

“We’ve got too many serious problems now,” said Ricci last Monday. “We [the city] don’t have any money, and hundreds of businesses might not make it because of the virus.”

Ricci said that ongoing problems in his district include homelessness, tree maintenance and crime, especially vehicle break-ins.

“I’m a consensus builder,” he said, “and we’re going to have to start thinking outside the box.

A good example of this is forestry. We haven’t had the money to properly fund forestry for over ten years. Right now the city can barely keep up with trimming the trees, let alone maintaining them. This isn’t going to change any time soon.

There is a solution out there, a solution that maintains and beautifies the neighborhood but doesn’t break the city financially.”

Well-settled in his home near Modesto Junior College with a teenager heading to Roosevelt Junior High School and a child just learning to walk, Ricci sees cooperation between government, community members, and private enterprise as crucial to making the city work, especially in the near future.

“I see people sitting around arguing about money that’s already spent,” he said of local government. “Almost all the money we have is already allocated, and we can’t expect to have more anytime soon. We’ve got to bring people together to find new ways to get things done with the money we have.”

Recent reports have the City of Modesto facing a $20 million dollar budget shortfall as a result of shutting down the economy in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’ve got to sit down with everyone involved and figure out what to do together,” said Ricci. “One of the problems related to homelessness is a housing shortage. We’ve got to find ways to increase supply. One way is by tinkering with zoning and talking with land owners and developers.”

Chris Ricci and Chris Murphy
Chris Ricci (right)

In addition to his experience with X-Fest promotions, Ricci managed a downtown entertainment venue for 15 years and served for eight years on the City’s Entertainment Commission. He’s especially concerned about the effects of the pandemic on small businesses.

“I build relationships with people and use their strengths to solve problems,” said Ricci, elaborating on his theme of cooperation and consensus. “There aren’t a lot of great ways to increase tax revenue other than supporting local business. It’s not about throwing money at things, it’s about facilitating business, growth, and the energy of the community.”

The city’s current mayor and city council have been characterized as dysfunctional almost from the beginning. Late last year, the Modesto Bee Editorial Board wrote,

“People are tired of the discord, the accusations, the strife. They also know the best way to change this unfortunate pattern is to change the composition of the council, whose members seem unable or unwilling to trust each other.” 

With his many years of business experience downtown, including years of negotiation with city government, Chris Ricci could bring a much-needed change to a council in dire need of cooperation and consensus. 

“Modesto needs somebody who can find solutions and break the logjam on a variety of issues,” said Ricci. “We need better communication throughout the government.” Few observers of local government over the last few years would disagree.

 

 

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: Chris Ricci for Modesto City Council, Chris Ricci X-Fest

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bruce Frohman says

    May 29, 2020 at 1:08 pm

    Chris Ricci will make a great city councilman. He is smart, resourceful, and persistent. After years of stunted social activity in the downtown, Mr. Ricci was able to overcome obstacles to X-Fest created by a reluctant City Council. He brought to the community an annual celebration that was enjoyed by tens of thousands and brought countless dollars into the community.

    We need creative leadership to reinvigorate our stagnant economy. Mr. Ricci will make a difference.

    Reply
  2. Bruce Frohman says

    May 29, 2020 at 1:14 pm

    Mr. Ricci is an intelligent, innovative gentleman who will provide leadership that will reinvigorate our local economy. He is persistent and knows how to succeed where others cannot. His creation of X-Fest was masterful, resulting in tens of thousands of visitors who brought millions of dollars into the local economy without taxpayer subsidies.

    Reply
  3. brad johnson says

    May 29, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    Chris Ricci is exactly the progressive type Modesto needs to move forward from it’s dark past.

    Reply
  4. Nick says

    October 30, 2020 at 10:09 am

    Seems legit. I’m down for anybody trying to better our community. We all need to do what we can to better it.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to brad johnson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

?Monster Fracks? Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
“Monster Fracks” Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.
A Times analysis shows that increasingly complex oil and gas wells now require astonishing volumes of water to fracture the bedrock and release fossil fuels, threatening America’s fragile aquifers.
www.nytimes.com
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has 'paralyzed' California cities
Newsom urges SCOTUS to consider encampment ruling that has ‘paralyzed’ California cities
The Democratic governor’s intervention lays down a mark in a legal dispute with potentially profound implications for one of California’s most pressing issues.
www.politico.com
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
www.propublica.org
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How hungry is California? Millions struggle to eat well in an abundant state
How bad is hunger in California? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but now is being reduced.
calmatters.org
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento DA sues city over homeless encampments
Sacramento County had nearly 9,300 homeless people in 2022, based on data from the annual Point in Time count. That was up 67% from 2019. Roughly three-quarters of the county’s homeless population….
www.mercurynews.com
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
At Last, a Real Possibility to Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change
After decades of minimal action, Congress passed the largest and most comprehensive piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. Will we make the most of this opportunity?
www.audubon.org
How the fentanyl crisis' fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
How the fentanyl crisis’ fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
The epidemic’s staggering scale and infiltration of communities is laid bare in a new study.
www.bbc.com
Can licensed tent villages ease California's homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Can licensed tent villages ease California’s homelessness epidemic? This nonprofit thinks so
Taking people off the street and into tents is a new twist on homeless shelter being explored by the San Francisco-based Urban Alchemy in two tent villages operating in Los Angeles and Culver City.
www.latimes.com
Mississippi has problems, but it's handling homelessness better than L.A.
Mississippi has problems, but it’s handling homelessness better than L.A.
The public tends to blame homelessness on poverty, drug use, crime or even warm weather. But other cities don’t have L.A. levels of street homelessness because they have more available housing.
www.latimes.com
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
Neo-Nazis March Through Florida Park
The demonstrators raised “Heil Hitler” salutes and waved flags with swastikas.
www.thedailybeast.com
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom's CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Families have high hopes for Gavin Newsom’s CARE Courts. Providers want to lower expectations
Gov. Gavin Newsom?s experiment to push Californians with mental illness off the streets and into treatment, CARE Court, starts soon.
calmatters.org
Pope says 'backward' U.S. conservatives have replaced faith with ideology
Pope says ‘backward’ U.S. conservatives have replaced faith with ideology
Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church. He says they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.
apnews.com

Find us on Facebook

pp
The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design