Meet the candidate: Chad Givens

With three seats open for the Shafter City Council, there are six residents looking to fill those vacancies come November. Chad Givens is currently serving on the City Council and is looking to retain his seat. He was elected to the council four years ago and has seen the city grow economically and become one of the most credit-worthy cities in the state.

Givens works as a project manager for a local agricultural company building homes and infrastructure for local residents and communities through a philanthropic effort for rural communities.

He has lived in Shafter his entire life, going to school through K-12, graduating from Shafter High School, and has been a local youth pastor for the last 17 years.

He and his wife Vanessa have three children, a daughter Lauren and twin girls Faith and Grace.

Givens believes he has a lot to offer the city of Shafter. "I bring to the table a strong financial analysis background monitoring budgets and schedules for various private and public money projects," he said.

He also spends a lot of time within the community and with the youth of the community working to build big values and opportunities into their future.

"My passion for our young people and future residents and leaders of Shafter, as well as being a husband and father of three, drives me to see changes to and enhancements that benefit the local families, businesses and future residents," he said.

He said Shafter's median age is roughly 35, a category that he and his wife are currently in, so they have many young families that are all looking at what the city is doing for that age group and socioeconomic status. Givens said the city needs to focus on these young families as they continue to grow.

"I have personally spent time with city staff discussing various business opportunities and am working to create a vision planning session for local businesses and residents to determine what the downtown district may look like in the near future," he said.

Givens said that as a council member, he would have the opportunity to help determine policy for business development and could work to support city staff in their creativity to see business growth.