Kalisa Rochester, a retired probation officer and professor at Merced College, is running to replace Tyler Button for Atwater City Council District 2.
Rochester studied criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University before moving to California in 1998. After waitressing and interning at the Merced Police Department, she joined the probation department as a juvenile institution officer. From there, she moved her way up the ladder over 25 years, eventually reaching the role of Chief Probation Officer.
“I was the Chief for three years, and I made the difficult decision to retire in November of last year. I accepted a position at the college teaching full-time, so I teach criminal justice at Merced College,” said Rochester. “I really enjoy it because it gave me the opportunity to go back to the basics, like teaching our young people how to work with justice…I think we’ve forgotten how to talk to people, and how to work with people, and how to case manage.”
During her time at the probation department, Rochester made efforts to better integrate the department with the community it serves, including providing Thanksgiving meals and working with Operation Christmas Star, which provides toys and clothing to children. She now hopes to bring what she learned to the Atwater City Council.
“I do care deeply about the community…I just think that we can really do some big things. I know that there are budget constraints but you have to prioritize, and you have to look at it and dig in, and figure things out. I’ve always been a fixer,” said Rochester. The district she hopes to represent includes some Atwater neighborhoods that are a little rough around the edges, but she looks at them with hopefulness. “That’s something that I just have a passion for, is working with everyone in the community and making sure everyone is equally represented.”
She believes the strategies she utilized as Chief Probation Officer will translate well in helping the city.
“I believe in transparency,” said Rochester. She provided an example of how she made public the decision-making processes utilized by the department. “I just believe that you have to keep people informed of what potential issues are there. If people are well informed, then I think that there’s not all of this ambiguity of feeling like there’s some conspiracy.”
Rochester describes much of her focus on the future of Atwater, including the development of jobs and reinvigoration of downtown.
“I have a 20-year-old daughter who’s still here working and going to Merced College, and I just wonder: where is she gonna work when she’s finished with school, where will she work here and, and how will that be supported?” said Rochester. “I really am concerned deeply about how we are going to keep the younger folks here and make them want to stay here. What is it exactly that would make you stay here? Do you want to see a bike path? Do you want to see walking trails?”
To find the answer to those questions, Rochester suggests it may be as simple as asking: “So maybe even having those kinds of open forums where we’re trying to bring younger folks in to ask ‘what is it that you’re looking for?’ We need to make some solid investments. That’s how I try to approach things, just with a common sense perspective.”
Her only current opponent is Adrian Lopez-Juarez, a farmworker who has been endorsed by Councilmember Tyler Button.