BEAUMONT, CA — With election day approaching, Beaumont voters are preparing to cast ballots in contests that could shape the future of their community, including City Council races.
City Council members approve local policies and municipal budgets, oversee public services and make decisions that affect residents, businesses and neighborhood development.
Patch asked all Beaumont City Council candidates to answer questions about their campaigns, and we are publishing their responses.
Meet Jim Mercado, candidate for Beaumont City Council at-large:
What is your campaign website?
What is your educational background?
I attended the University of San Diego, where I earned a B.A. in Music with an emphasis in vocal performance and a minor in philosophy. I spent two years in the seminary studying for the Catholic priesthood before choosing a different path.
What is your occupation?
Retired optician. For nearly four decades I worked in retail sales and as an optician in Los Angeles while pursuing a career as a singer. I'm a tenor, and I sang opera, jazz, and church music, including at the Hollywood Bowl.
Briefly tell us about your family.
My husband Dan and I have been together 26 years and married for 18. We have no children, but we have nine nieces and nephews and nine grandnieces and grandnephews. I was born and raised in Fontana, so the Inland Empire has always been home.
Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
No.
Age.
68
Do you have previous experience in public office, appointive or elective?
No. This is my first campaign for public office.
Why are you seeking this office?
Eight years ago we moved to Beaumont looking for an affordable place to build a life. I'm running so the next family that moves here finds the same thing.
Beaumont is growing rapidly, and the decisions made at City Hall right now will shape the city for the next thirty years. I want to make sure we grow in a way that works for the people who already live here and for the families who will call Beaumont home in the future.
Residents should have a meaningful voice before major decisions are made. Public money should come with public benefits. And Beaumont should have a real downtown that gives people a reason to live, work, shop and spend time here.
Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ___, and this is what I intend to do about it.
The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is growth that is outpacing our roads and infrastructure.
I hear it across the board. At the doors I knock on, at my weekly coffee hours, everywhere I go in Beaumont, this is what people are talking about. We are approving development faster than we are building the infrastructure to serve it, and residents feel the consequences every day in traffic.
Growth is inevitable, but how we grow is up to us. Here is what I intend to do about it. Before any major development is approved, I will ask whether the roads, water and sewer around it can handle the additional demand, and what the plan is if they can't. I will push for developers to pay their fair share so infrastructure arrives with growth, and when public money goes into a private development, I will advocate for written commitments specifying what residents will receive in return.
If applicable, what are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
Six candidates are running for three seats, and three of them are incumbents. I'm bringing a fresh set of eyes to City Hall. I can look at the city's challenges without being tied to the decisions or assumptions that got us here.
I also believe in being proactive rather than reactive. Too often, the city waits until a problem can no longer be ignored, and then tries to patch it. We should be asking what Beaumont will need five, ten and twenty years from now, and planning for it before we're forced to catch up.
A council member's job isn't just to respond to problems. It's to anticipate them, ask the hard questions before the vote and make decisions that serve the Beaumont we're building toward.
If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?
Beaumont needs a council that anticipates problems and puts residents at the center of decisions about the city's future. The current council has not done enough of either.
Beaumont will see a massive 30% growth surge over the next two decades, so this growth is not a surprise.
Yet development continues to be approved, while the roads and infrastructure needed to support it often come later. Even when the city does plan, it doesn't follow through. The downtown plan was completed in 2024, and very little of it has been built.
Beaumont needs a council that anticipates problems instead of continually catching up to them, and that puts residents at the center of decisions about the city's future.
What more can the city do to support local businesses and increase tax revenue?
Build the downtown we've already planned.
Beaumont needs a stronger local economy, not just more development. A successful downtown creates a recurring source of sales and business tax revenue, gives residents places to work and spend money close to home, and creates opportunities for local businesses to invest and grow. It also gives the people who already live here a downtown they can be proud of.
We have a downtown plan. Now we need to execute it. I would focus on practical steps that make downtown easier to visit and easier to invest in: solve the parking problems, create regular downtown events that bring people there, use the low-cost lease model to bring in tenants, and support the independent businesses already taking a chance on downtown.
The goal is to build a downtown that becomes a lasting part of Beaumont's economy and gives residents a reason to stay, shop, work and spend their time here.
What types of infrastructure projects would you like to see the city invest in?
Roads and traffic relief first, along with the water and sewer capacity to serve the homes we've already built.
Infrastructure should arrive with growth, and the developers whose projects create the need should pay for it.
A city's first obligation is to the people already living in it.
What can you do to address public trust following years of corruption scandals involving city officials?
The corruption scandal of 2016 left Beaumont with a lasting problem of public trust. Seven former city officials were charged in a case involving nearly $43 million in public funds. Rebuilding that trust requires more than financial controls. It requires residents to believe that their city government is listening to them and giving them a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their lives.
The city's own 2020 community survey found that residents did not feel city government listened to them, was transparent with them, or welcomed their involvement. The city created a "Communications and Relationships" category in its strategic plan to address exactly that problem. Yet the city's current performance dashboard says Communications and Relationships is not a strategic priority. The city asked residents what they needed, heard the answer, and then stopped treating it as a priority.
I would advocate for neighborhood sessions before major votes, public information in plain language in both English and Spanish, and when the council makes a decision despite substantial public opposition, residents deserve to understand why.
Public office is a trust, not a privilege. Rebuilding that trust starts with listening, being transparent, and treating residents as partners in Beaumont's future.
What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?
Beyond growth and infrastructure, I want to focus on building a stronger downtown, attracting business, healthcare and educational opportunities, and making Beaumont a cultural and economic hub for the San Gorgonio Pass.
We already have major shopping centers and the advantage of being at the crossroads of the Pass. What our historic downtown needs is investment and a clear purpose. I want to see modern spaces for businesses, healthcare and education alongside restaurants, shops and cultural attractions, with our Historic Society and local history at the heart of it.
As Beaumont grows, we have an opportunity to create a city where people can work, learn, build businesses and enjoy their community close to home, while building a reputation as the hub of the San Gorgonio Pass.
What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
I've had several experiences that taught me how to lead, organize people and follow through on a commitment.
In Los Angeles, I was a principal founder of an outreach ministry at St. Monica Catholic Church, and was presented with the Lumen Christi Award for that work. I also spent years leading the program that guides adults through becoming Catholic, recruiting and training volunteers and managing the program from start to finish.
I also spent four years managing production for a large personal development organization in Los Angeles, with major programs taking place almost every weekend. I was responsible for making sure every program was fully staffed, every detail was handled and every commitment was met. I became the organization's most successful production manager.
Those experiences taught me to listen carefully, bring people together, pay attention to details and follow through. These are the same skills I will bring to the City Council.
What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
The best advice I've ever received is to live with radical hospitality: make room for people, welcome them as they are, and never lose sight of the person who is easiest for society to overlook.
I've carried that idea with me for years. I believe every person has something to contribute, and that when we stop being afraid of one another and start looking for ways to care for one another, we create a stronger community.
Everyone makes a difference. I want my difference to be one that leaves people feeling that they belong.
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