Bill Zoslocki, Village I Profiteer, Developer, Broker, Modesto City Council Candidate
By Emerson Drake
It’s election time and the first deadline has passed for candidates to turn in their donation lists called in government
parlance “the 460’s.” The 460’s detail who their donors are, what kind of business they’re in, and where they live. It shows who is supporting them and in what amounts. It also show where they spend their money/donations.
To have an understanding one has to compare over a period of years what the donors share in common and the ideals, if any, they represent. While no examination is perfect, after observing the relationship between certain donors and the politicians they donate to you can get a fairly accurate feel for what the donations portend.
What do the following people and companies have in common? They regularly support the Modesto Chamber of Commerce’s and housing developers slate of candidates. Most of these people donated at an invitation only fundraiser. The was just the first dip into many of these wallets. If the election appears to be close a second and third dip will occur.
Craig Lewis real estate salesman $1,000__Newman Romano LLC Developers $1,000__John Britton Developer $600__JKB Energy Developer $1,000__George Petrulakis Land use attorney$750__Lyons Investments Developer $500__Stephen Endsley Developer $500__Doug Highiet steel sales $1885__Britton – Konynenburg Partners land developers $600__Thomas Neilsen CFO Beard Land Development $200__American Chevrolet $1,000__Central Valley Automotive $500__Chris Tyler Gruet Gable LP Investment $250__John Bentencourt Atherton Assoc. LLP $500__J.David Wright Insurance $300__Michael Winn Building Industry Ass. $200__Kieth Schneider Developer Keystone Corp $100__Earthcalc Inc $100__Dennis Wilson Land Planning Horizon Consulting___ and many more.
The complete listing is included in the following pdf:
At the end of June Mr. Bill still had $14,294.12 left in his bank account to spend. And he’s just getting started. Raising money won’t be a problem for this campaign. Developers, especially home builders, want people beholding to them sitting on the Modesto City Council. If Mr. Bill makes it he’ll be one more vote they have in their pockets. Cha Ching.
Infrastructure Fee Shortfall Plagues Modesto’s Village I
An infrastructure fee shortfall for an 1,840-acre project in the City of Modesto could reach into the tens of millions of dollars and has become a major controversy in the Central Valley city.
No one knows for sure just how large the deficit is, but there is little doubt that the revenue available to the city does not match the amount needed for roads, storm drains, parks and other infrastructure promised in the Village I Specific Plan. And the potential solutions — ranging from increasing fees on future development to asking current residents to pay more taxes to whittling away at planned infrastructure — are all unpalatable.
The reasons for the mess are many. A consultant concluded that fee reductions for the Village I Community Facilities District (CFD) — which the City Council approved in 1994 and 1997 to induce development — created a deficit. The city has compounded the problem by failing to increase fees to account for inflation and rapidly rising land costs. This issue is frequently a front page story in local newspapers and has even drawn the interest of the district attorney, http://www.cp-dr.com/node/882
Eye On Modesto 