![\"Maeketah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SAYASANE_MAGSIG.jpg\" "\\"Maeketah")
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Maeketah Sayasane, left, and Mason Magsig, right, are running to represent District 1 at the Clovis City Council.<\/p>\n
Clovis residents are seeing a familiar surname in this year\u2019s city council election. District 1 candidate Mason Magsig, 22, a commercial banker and real estate agent, is the son of Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig.<\/p>\n
If elected, Magsig will become the youngest councilmember in Clovis history, breaking the record set by his father, who served Clovis constituents for 16 years, by 14 months, Magsig told The Fresno Bee. He said his father inspired him to serve the community.<\/p>\n
Magsig is vying for the seat with Maeketah Sayasane, who worked for the Fresno Police Department for several years and currently serves as an analyst in Fresno city\u2019s planning department.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not have the last name. People don\u2019t know me, so I have to work extra hard,\u201d Sayasane said. \u201cBut I have the experience, I have the background, I have the knowledge, the education, and I really want to bring that to the forefront for this district.\u201d<\/p>\n
This November marks the first year that Clovis shifts<\/a> from an at-large to a district-based voting system, meaning voters will choose the councilmember who lives in their neighborhood to represent them. The Bee sat down with the two candidates for District 1 to learn about their goals and priorities.<\/p>\n Mason Magsig<\/p>\n Magsig said he remembered starting to walk precincts for different political races as young as 12 years old, and he has always had a history and political itch. Witnessing how his father cared for his constituents and took calls no matter the time, Magsig was motivated to enter politics and develop effective policies to improve people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to run at a young age because I\u2019ve never been someone who waits until it\u2019s kind of the status quo to do something,\u201d Magsig said. \u201cI\u2019m running for Clovis City Council because I want the Clovis that I grew up in to be replicated for when I have kids of my own.\u201d<\/p>\n He would like to focus on being proactive in making sure that Clovis is continuing the level of safety and formulating a plan to improve that as time goes on, he said.<\/p>\n A lot of politicians talk about the need to increase police officers and firefighters, but they don\u2019t talk about how to pay for it, Magsig said. He plans to increase tax revenues, not from sales tax or property taxes, but by bringing more business parks into the city.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to have more areas for businesses in the city to operate and be headquartered, that way, we get that tax revenue,\u201d Magsig said.<\/p>\n Current city council members possess extensive experience in hospitals and public administration, Magsig said, while he would bring business knowledge gained from his work in banking and real estate, such as connections with developers, business finances and tax growth knowledge acquired through his work in loans.<\/p>\n Plus, he\u2019ll be the first Gen Z to be elected to the city, which means he knows \u201chow expensive it is to buy a home and how these costs can affect someone trying to get off their feet and pursue a life on their own,\u201d Magsig added.<\/p>\n For the city\u2019s future development, Magsig wants to see the city continue to grow eastward and northward.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to have a city that doesn\u2019t grow on top of each other. I want to have a city that grows outward, and new homes are able to have backyards that kids can play in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Magsig is a firm believer in local control, and he said he is going to advocate for support from state policies to benefit Clovis.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that our city should determine the types of housing that\u2019s here, and that\u2019s not to say that I\u2019m against apartments or condos or smaller homes, because everyone needs to have a starting place,\u201d he said. \u201dBut things, for example, fire sprinklers are needed in newer homes. All these things go straight to the bottom line, which the buyer pays for because the developer still needs to have the profit margin. So it\u2019s not a matter of the developers being greedy, it\u2019s actually a matter of Sacramento requiring so much and forcing costs upon the builders that ultimately are just paid by the buyer.\u201d<\/p>\n When The Bee asked Magsig about his plans for his political career, he said these days, the political landscape could undergo significant changes in the span of a year or two. He has political aspirations, but he does not yet know what opportunities will be available in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, I\u2019m very focused on being an effective city council member and being one that can reflect on what I\u2019ve done in the past and use my track record as proof that I am worth it for the voters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Maeketah Sayasane<\/p>\n A homeowner in Clovis\u2019s District 1 for nearly 12 years, Sayasane is running for the city council for the second time.<\/p>\n In 2019, when she ran for office for the first time, Sayasane froze during a forum when asked a question about planning process. At the time, she was working for the Fresno Police and knew nothing about urban planning.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then this is why I know Jesus is real. This is a full circle moment for me because then a promotional opportunity presented itself for me in 2022 for the planning department,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I can tell anyone who asks if they want to know about planning, housing element, all of that, I\u2019m your person.\u201d<\/p>\n Sayasane said her years of experience as a GIS analyst with the Fresno Police Department and the Planning Department will provide Clovis council with practical solutions to housing and safety issues.<\/p>\n The city has to abide by the state regulations, but it can do it smartly. She also believes that the city can be more involved in holding the apartment complexes accountable, she said.<\/p>\n In conversations with neighbors, people mentioned to her that everyone knows some apartment complexes turn a blind eye to gang activity or drug use among their residents, Sayasane said. She suggested analyzing police incident reports for each apartment complex and imposing fines on complex management with an excessive number of service calls, thereby requiring apartment complexes to proactively monitor the issues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to get people on the street. We\u2019re just trying to hold people accountable. There are rules, especially if they\u2019re getting some type of subsidized housing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n If elected, Sayasane plans to use her experience in this area to establish rules to have the city, the police, and the apartment complexes working together to address the safety issue, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to see more single moms and children in those homes. We shouldn\u2019t be housing people who don\u2019t want to follow the rules and who are just bringing clientele to the neighborhood,\u201d she said. \u201cI can help develop that, and it would be a perfect trifecta where we can say we want to house people who are low income, but just we don\u2019t want them doing drugs. That\u2019s just common sense. Even if our hands are tied, we can do it smartly.\u201d<\/p>\n Another priority for Sayasane is beautifying the streets. Located in the southwestern part of Clovis\u2014the relatively older part of the city\u2014she said that sometimes residents feel their district has been forgotten. She would like to see District 1 looking sharp, \u201cEspecially since District 1 is the entryway coming from Fresno,\u201d she said, and helps residents to build a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n Sayasane chose Clovis to be home because of the shorter response time of the city departments, and she was hungry for the Clovis way of life, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI still love the tradition. There are ways that may be older fashion, but that\u2019s okay because new is not always better,\u201d she added. \u201cIf I were elected, I would still try to maintain the Clovis way of life, but maintaining it for me would be getting back to basics and start holding people accountable and start using common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n