Seasoned candidates vie to become Stockton’s next mayor

Ballots are in the mail, and Stockton voters have under a month to decide who to put in office — including the mayor’s office, where two experienced but very different candidates are fighting for the seat.

Businessman Tom Patti and assistant principal Christina Fugazi would both bring roughly eight years of elected experience, Patti in his current role on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors and Fugazi on the Stockton City Council, where she rose to become vice mayor.

But while Patti has highlighted his business background and focus on public-private partnership on the campaign trail, Fugazi has centered on her education career.

Whoever wins will be central in shaping an overhauled council, to include three new members plus the new mayor next year.

“There’s one definitive difference between myself and Christina (…) and it’s this: results,” Patti said by phone Tuesday. 

“What I’m bringing to the city of Stockton is momentum.”

“As a candidate, I believe my 30 years as a science teacher distinguish me in meaningful ways,” Fugazi said Wednesday. “As mayor, I believe in ‘One Stockton,’ where we come together to foster a respectful environment and leverage diverse perspectives for innovative solutions.”

Who is Christina Fugazi?

An assistant principal at Stagg High School, and before that at Edison High, Fugazi also taught science during her 30-year education career, she said at the forum.

Fugazi’s political career started in 2007 with her appointment to the Stockton Planning Commission, according to her campaign website. In 2015 she was elected to the city council’s District 5 seat, but in 2020 she lost the primary election for California State Assembly District 13.

In 2021, while still working at Edison, Fugazi faced scrutiny over a video in which she swung her hand at a student’s face while breaking up a fight, The Record reported. Fugazi said she was not trying to hit the student.

Then, last year, the Stockton Unified School District put Fugazi and Edison’s former principal Chris Anderson on leave amid an investigation. 

The district would not disclose the reason for the investigation — even to Fugazi, she told reporters. Fugazi was not penalized and was reassigned to Stagg when she returned to work. Anderson resigned, multiple outlets reported.

The assistant principal is now running on “(heading) off the homelessness crisis once and for all,” modernizing the police force and balancing environmental protection concerns with development, her campaign site says.

Who is Tom Patti?

A real estate investor who holds interests in local power washing and crane companies, he says, Patti has sat on several boards including the Delta College Foundation board and a county equal employment committee.

In 2015, Patti won the Board of Supervisors’ District 3 seat, and in 2022 lost the primary election for the U.S. House of Representatives’ 9th district seat to Rep. Josh Harder.

On the Board of Supervisors, Patti has faced several ethics questions and investigations, including in 2021 when the board learned a company it had awarded a $380,000 contract included Patti’s ex-campaign advisor and a donor. 

Patti acknowledged he hadn’t mentioned the connection.

In April 2022, investigators found that Patti retaliated against a board staffer. Six months later, the board reviewed findings that Patti “threatened” county staff and community organization members, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. 

Patti says the investigations were simply political attacks, The Record reported.

Now, Patti is running on “(reducing) the impact of homelessness,” as well as public safety, job creation, improving city responsiveness and “holding people accountable,” his campaign site says.

Who will take up the mayor’s gavel is now in voters’ hands.

“They have very different paths, and they bring that path to their candidacy,” Joel Blank, a political science professor at Delta College, said of the candidates Monday. 

The most important quality voters should seek in local officials is “knowledge of the issues,” Blank believes.

“Knowledge is so important. The ability to explain a problem. And then once you have (them elected), you can talk about how you’re going to go about solving them.”