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Amy Bublak became Turlock’s first woman mayor in 2018 after a decade on the City Council. A retired police officer and former Stanislaus State athlete, she has built her political identity around public safety, city finances and roads. Her record also includes difficult choices about taxes, fire services and long-delayed neighborhood investments.
How Turlock became home
Bublak grew up in Latrobe, in El Dorado County, and attended Ponderosa High School. Throwing coach Mark Erickson recruited her to Stanislaus State, where she arrived in 1983. She competed in basketball as well as track, earned three NCAA Division III All-American honors and served two terms as student body president. Sociology professor Walter Doraz became a mentor, encouraging her academic work and later graduate studies.
In a 2024 university profile, Bublak also described the welcome she received from fellow student Ray Piro and his Assyrian family. That account explains a personal connection to Turlock beyond her eventual political career. After college, she worked as an emergency medical technician in Contra Costa County, then spent 13 years with Richmond police and seven with Modesto police.
Her undergraduate studies covered sociology and criminal justice. Her official biography records a 2005 master’s degree in public administration and urban government from San Francisco State University. She is married to Milton Richards, a former Stanislaus State athletic director, and entered the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.
Athletics has continued alongside public office. The Journal reported in July 2026 that she won gold in women’s javelin and shot put at that June’s U.S. Police & Fire Championships in San Diego. Those are first-responder competitions, distinct from the university events in which she competed as a student.
Council years and the small-business program
Before winning a council seat in 2008, Bublak served on Turlock’s Planning Commission. By the city’s first district-based council election in 2016, she was vice mayor and seeking the District 4 seat. The Journal’s candidate coverage identified economic development as a focus and credited her with creating the Turlock Business Partnership Incentives Program in 2011.
The program offered $1,000 to qualifying small businesses opening in vacant commercial spaces. A December 2015 report on a council update said 45 businesses had received incentives, with 94 full-time and 83 part-time jobs attributed to the program. These are results reported for its first four years, rather than a current tally of businesses or jobs.
Her early campaign record includes a $4,000 administrative fine approved by California’s Fair Political Practices Commission in July 2014. It concerned Bublak, her 2008 council committee and treasurer Richards: a $1,000 payment was omitted from a campaign statement, and required information about four subvendor payments was missing. The settlement noted they had no previous history of violating the Political Reform Act.
The elections that made her mayor
Bublak won the November 6, 2018 election with a plurality in a four-candidate race. The county’s certified results recorded 8,300 votes, or 37.31%. Incumbent Gary Soiseth received 6,607 votes, former mayor Brad Bates 6,342, and Jaime Franco 930.
Her reelection on November 8, 2022 was a two-candidate contest against former councilmember Gil Esquer. California’s official city-election compilation lists 9,506 votes for Bublak and 8,468 for Esquer, a 52.9%–47.1% result. The different fields matter when comparing the percentages: her first win was a plurality among four candidates; her second was a majority against one challenger.
What the mayor can decide
Turlock uses a council-manager government. The council sets policy and budgets; the city manager oversees operations and staff. The mayor chairs meetings and represents the city. Projects and contracts require council decisions, so the record reflects shared responsibility.
Taxes, infrastructure and the record in office
Measure A and city finances
Bublak cast the sole dissenting vote when the council placed the three-quarter-cent Measure A sales tax on the ballot on July 6, 2020. The meeting minutes record the 4–1 vote. Residents subsequently approved the measure that November.
After passage, she joined a unanimous December 8 council vote authorizing the state agreements needed to implement the tax. Those two votes capture an important distinction in her tenure: opposing a proposed tax and administering revenue approved by voters are separate decisions.
In its August 27, 2026 State of Turlock release, the city reported balanced budgets every year since 2020, reserves rising from $9.8 million to $35 million, and fully staffed police and fire departments. These are the city’s reported financial and staffing results. The tax, council’s spending decisions and staff’s implementation all form part of that record.
Road reconstruction
A substantial commitment came on August 11, 2026, when the council unanimously awarded Teichert Construction a $20.28 million contract for Geer Road between North Golden State Boulevard and Taylor Road. The city’s project announcement describes pavement work, accessible sidewalks, bicycle lanes and pedestrian improvements. It estimated completion in early to mid-2028. The contract award is a documented milestone; the full finished corridor remained a future result when this profile was updated.
Drinking water
The regional surface-water treatment plant opened in November 2023, adding Tuolumne River water to the supplies available to Turlock and Ceres. The Journal’s year-end reporting put the project cost at $230 million and traced the partnership to a regional water authority formed in 2011. Bublak participated in the opening, but the project’s history spans multiple administrations, city councils and Turlock Irrigation District. Water-rate increases helped finance it.
Columbia Pool
The reopening of Columbia Pool in May 2025 was a completed neighborhood investment during her second term, following closure in 2019. The Journal’s reopening report described the roughly $9.1 million renovation, accessible facilities and new picnic areas. It identified Councilmember Rebecka Monez as the pool’s leading advocate and noted former Councilmember Pam Franco’s work securing funding. Bublak joined the ribbon cutting. Read our Columbia Park history and visitor guide.
Fire department management
In January 2022, Bublak supported contracting with Modesto for fire administration, management and command services after Turlock had struggled to fill its permanent chief position. The Journal reported a 4–1 council vote, with Nicole Larson dissenting over the arrangement and its five-year length. The agreement covered department leadership and support functions.
The 2026 campaign and October debate
Bublak announced her bid for a third term in spring 2026, emphasizing finances, public safety, roads and Columbia Pool. The Journal’s announcement report identified Jim Reape and Kelley Coelho as challengers. The November 3 election gives voters a decision about continuing her administration’s approach.
In the Bee’s September candidate questionnaire, she identified major sewer-system investment as an urgent unfinished task. She proposed phased work, prioritizing the most pressing needs and seeking grants and partnerships before adding costs for residents. These are commitments she is proposing for another term.
All three candidates participated in the October 7 debate at Stanislaus State. The Journal reported a 90-minute event with moderator and audience questions.
The Bee’s debate report records Bublak explaining her 2020 tax opposition as a response to residents’ financial strain during the pandemic. She said overseeing voter-approved money was now her responsibility. On city-manager turnover, she challenged a tally that included acting and interim appointments and emphasized the council’s shared responsibility. Her challengers argued for better employee retention and different leadership. Those exchanges concern competing explanations of the record; the debate itself did not establish a single cause for turnover.
Our 2026 mayoral-race coverage compares the candidates’ positions. The mayors timeline places Bublak’s tenure in the longer history of City Hall.
Contact and public participation
The city directory lists abublak@turlock.ca.us. Find City Hall’s phone, mailing address and meeting information in our representatives directory.
Read the other 2026 mayoral candidate profiles: Jim Reape, Kelley Coelho.
This independent profile examines a public official’s public record and statements. Send documented corrections or responses to LocalTurlock.
