Eye On Modesto

Thoughts and observations about Modesto and Stanislaus County

Archive for the tag “Modesto Chamber of Commerce”

21 Apr 2013
1 Comment

And Now for the Rest of the Story

By Emerson Drake

In the past, especially in a one newspaper town, the Opinions Page Editor had the bully pulpit and was king.  You might

A montage I (Valente Q.C.) made with pictures ...

A montage I (Valente Q.C.) made with pictures that I took for the Infobox in the Modesto, California Article. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

dispute their particular version of events at home, work, or when friends get together but you couldn’t mount a vocal opposition to those special interest groups the Editors supported, those who would run roughshod over average people to get their sometimes exploitative and usually lucrative way.  And in Modesto, that’s the way it’s been.

Enter the new media.  Not facebook or myspace but blogtalk radio and News/Opinion Blogs like this one.  We also have a local public radio station 104.9 FM K-GIG that allows local people to air their concerns. Concerns the Bee ignores when it isn’t convenient to them and their advertisers, advisers, and lobbyists.  In recent years we have seen the Bee adopt a policy that allows people to comment on articles challenging the views and articles of their reporters and Op Ed staff. From talking with many of the reporters and ALL of the Op Ed people the general consensus is most dislike having their version of events challenged.

For an educational experience,  go to a city,  county,  school board, or one of their committee meetings and see if you recognize it when you read about it the next day in the Bee.   You can take this challenge from home by watching the meetings on cable or on streaming video but you really need to be there to experience the totality of the  complexities occurring at these meetings.   As an example, after a recent SalidaMAC meeting Ms. Sly wrote about the evening.  After reading her piece I found it difficult to believe she had been present.  But she was.  That’s the scary part. Her story was barely recognizable. Or maybe I should say her perceptions were more like a glass half empty than half full.  Well, quite honestly, I wasn’t sure she even knew a glass of anything existed. But that’s been the problem all along.

The behind the scenes power structure in Modesto has been basically the same for years.  Yes, some of the faces have changed but the policies have remained the same. And the Bee has continually supported them with their “go along to get along” mantra.  The only real exception to that is when the public, faced with the unpleasant realities of the Village I debacle, over-threw  the developer/real estate bosses who had dominated Modesto’s  political landscape for years.  There was a four or five year window, a kind of renascence if you will, when voters and not political machines were in control.  But then partially thanks to the Bee’s bitter vendetta with Mayor Sabatino, and the dark ages sometimes called Ridenour years,  a developer controlled council re-emerged.

We witnessed a rise in power of the lobbyists at the Modesto Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance.  They once again, thanks to the Bee’s  influence and MID donations of ratepayer’s money, started their campaign of greed.

For twenty years the Bee has promoted the local real estate and home builders contention that planting driveways remains supreme, and look where it got us.  The housing bubble burst and we have a plethora of empty homes seeking owners.  We’ve been turned into a city of renters by the slavish devotion of the Bee to the Chamber’s and the Building Industry Association’s mantra of homes.  Now the cry ringing in our ears is jobs, jobs, jobs.  Yes we do need jobs but isn’t this deja vu?  We heard this from the Alliance and the Chamber six years ago about Westpark and how it would be our salvation.  Well how’s that working out for you?

Also during this time the Modesto Irrigation District was mismanaged into a near fiscal bankruptcy.  But being a monopoly  it’s much easier to survive.  You just raise the rates on electricity.  The millions and millions of dollars lost on the failed geothermal project, the Mountainhouse debacle, the four cities boondoggle, the TANC project power-line project failure, and the doomed garbage burning/biomass  plant helped to create the high electric rates and lost opportunity at the Lodi generating facility which could be saving us money in much greater quantities every single day.

What did all of these have in common?  They were all supported by the Bee.  Every, single, one.

So when the often quoted (in Bee Op Eds) lobbyist/political consultant Mike Lynch was exposed for having taken $52,500 from MID without ever sending them an invoice, blow back was expected.

When it was exposed that Ms. Sly had been in possession of MID documents for several months detailing the funneling of money from MID through a third party not only to Mike Lynch but Mark Looker, Janice Keating and Carol Whiteside, but maintained her silence, blow back was expected.

When it was exposed that only Tom Van Groningen and Glen Wild on the MID Board along with the guidance and support of General Manager Allen Short were aware of Ms. Whiteside receiving payments from Martino Graphics, blow back was expected.

I will continue to offer Ms. Sly-Herrero the opportunity to discuss these issues in a public forum as I have in the past. I wonder if she would prefer live TV or Radio?

Blow back is expected.

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20 Apr 2013
2 Comments

Modesto’s Chamber is Trying to Undermine Ag Mitigation

By Emerson Drake

Once in a while I have one of those moments where the curtain lifts and “understanding of the big picture” is achieved.  I

parking lot

parking lot (Photo credit: liikennevalo)

had one of those when I read the Modesto Chamber of Commerce’s letter to Stanislaus County’s Local Agency Formation Commission or  (LAFCO ).  The letter complains that not enough of their members were aware of Citizen openings on the Commission and they protested the way LAFCO  interviews and chooses the appointees.    Here is the pdf of the letter:

Chamber04022013

Now I find it disingenuous when they say “despite some knowledge of this in the business community, we recently received feedback from some of our members who were not aware of the openings.”  Strange since Brad Hawn, who is on the Chamber Board of Directors is one of the finalists.  And with lobbyist Cecil Russell on the payroll shouldn’t the fault have been his?  But it actually gets worse. Of the three signers from the Chamber the first is real estate agent Craig Lewis who, by his statements,  has misled the planning Commission during the last two meetings.  The second ,  Steve Madison,  recently of Stanco fame but was on the Building Industry Association (BIA) Board of Directors when they sued Stanislaus County to remove Ag Mitigation and lost in State Court costing the taxpayers  over $300,000 in legal fees. And of course Chamber lobbyist Cecil Russell is the third signatory.  Their obvious intent is to do away with LAFCO’s Ag Mitigation policy. An aside here, you will notice Modesto’s logo on the bottom of page one of the letter.  While speaking to Councilman Dave Geer at a recent Council strategy session, this logo is copy-written and can only be used by the City of Modesto.  So I called and emailed the City Manager’s office to inquire.  But Gregg Nyhoff was too busy to get back to me. The fact Mr. Nyhoff’s  called an ex-officio on the letter head probably doesn’t have anything to do with it.

Why is this organized attempt to game LAFCO a concern?  Well it follows a Modesto City Council meeting where Councilman Dave Cogdill seconded by Councilwoman Stephanie Burnside, passed a resolution disallowing Modesto the opportunity to have an Ag Mitigation policy of its own.  Mayor Marsh was the only person to vote against the motion. The Councilwoman after the meeting said she wanted to vote for the Mayor’s proposal of 1-1 mitigation only on prime farmland but failed to explain why she didn’t. This was the second of two votes.  The first vote was a special interest give away to Mike Zagaris and the Trombetta family involving Tivoli.  When Tivoli, a housing development, was first discussed, land mitigation was required.  But thanks to Councilman Cogdill’s “deal” all land inside Modesto’s city limits will be given a free pass for Ag Mitigation.

If the Chamber can undermine LAFCO’s determination to mitigate farmland by stacking the deck then we’ll be planting driveways where we now plant crops.  Remember an acre of farmland brings in about $25,000 worth of positive cash flow for the county.  It costs cities after taxes and fees  between $3,000 and $5,000 for each acre of housing every year. And what is Mr’ Madison and Mr’ Lewis’ specialty?  You guessed it HOUSING.

After hearing Brent Sinclair mouthing the exact same words that Mr. Lewis used at the last meeting, it has become apparent the General Plan Amendment meetings are just a dog and pony show.  Otherwise Modesto would have made sure the GPA meeting was advertised as well as the recent City Plaza sticker fest.  We have to hope the council appointees on the Planning Commission will listen to the desires of our citizens.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not suggesting citizens should give up. We need to redouble our efforts to retake Modesto from the same developers who brought us the housing debacle in 2008.

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18 Apr 2013

Modesto’s Strategic Plan Meeting Thursday 5-7 PM

The meeting is being held at 1010 10th St Plaza.  Free hot dogs, cheeseburgers, potato chips, and ice cream will be provided.  More importantly you have a chance to weigh-in on what directions you would like to see Modesto move in.

Grilled hot dogs

Grilled hot dogs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s a wide range of options from a half cent sales tax for police and fire to economic development.  So come on down and let your voice be heard by placing the eight dots you’ll be given on what you consider to be your highest priority items.

And if you feel like mentioning the now more expensive phone poll (from $25,00 to $35,500) that doesn’t allow cell users an opportunity to be selected even better.:)

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14 Apr 2013

Important Meeting Monday 6 PM General Plan Amendment Don’t Miss It

Monday, April 15, 2013  at 6:00 PM a Public Workshop is going to be held at Davis High School’s “Little Theater”

Stopsign

Stopsign (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

regarding the General Plan Amendment.  The whole point of the workshop supposedly  is to find out what the COMMUNITY/CITIZENS of Modesto really want to see our city evolve into and where to focus growth.  The Mayor and City Council sat down with staff and the maps show the result of their conversations.  Unfortunately many of these staff members have become representatives of our developer driven council. The last time the General Plan was extensively revised was by a developer driven city council in 1995.  As we have seen in recent council votes, we again have a developer driven and controlled council. I know I used developer driven council three times in the last three sentences,  but those are the facts, it was true than and its true now.  You don’t have to take my word for it check the campaign donation lists  available on the city website(except for those they have removed and you have to make an appointment to see)  and see for yourself who the majority of the $1,000 donations came from.

A sentence straight out of the meeting  flyer explains much if you read between the lines. “Broad public participation will help ensure that the amended plan reflects the community’s preferences and values to the maximum extent possible.”  If it’s really the public’s plan why wouldn’t it reflect the public’s values COMPLETELY?  Could it be because special interests groups come first in Modesto?

When I asked the council at a recent meeting why the workshops are being held on Monday nights if the really want public participation?  And several council members just smiled. Monday night’s are traditionally the hardest time to get people to venture out of their homes.  In addition General Manager Gregg Nyhoff announced he was going to spend $25,000 on a phone survey since only 80 people came out to participate at similar workshops on a different topic.

I have been trying since early Thursday to get details on how the phone numbers for this phone poll will be chosen.  This story was written on Sunday and so far no response.  My question originated after I read an article stating in 2006 only 10% of homes were without land-lines using cells instead. In 2010 that number had increased to 25% and a 2013  survey showed 51.7% of homes don’t use land-lines and rely on cellular phones. So where are those poll phone numbers coming from?

It gets worse when you look at the percentages of young professionals and middle and lower-income people who use ONLY cellular phones.  Now if we were to examine the rates of developers and real estate agents who use land-lines the numbers obviously skew towards 100 percent.  So who will be better represented by the phone poll, taxpaying citizens or developers?

At the first workshop developers, real estate agents, and lobbyists, were out in force and we expect they will, like rats, multiply for the Monday night’s second workshop. This series of meetings will effect you if you live in or around Modesto, yes Salida that includes you too.   So if you want any chance  at all to effect zoning, growth patterns,  guide development to particular areas,  have questions, or just want to have your say, Monday night 4/15/13 at 6:00 PM be at Grace Davis High School’s “Little Theater” next to the tennis courts (East side) 1200 West Rumble Road.

Mark your Calendars and Come on Out to the General Amendment workshop.  I’ll see you there.

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11 Apr 2013
1 Comment

Presented to at the Modesto Irrigation District April 9,2013

By Joan Rutschow

The over regulation of farmers by the State Water Resources Control Board will have a devasting effect on farmlands, agriculture income, and jobs.

The recent proposal by the WRCB to release 35% of the unimpaired flow on the Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne Rivers

The department logo.

The department logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

will have the following estimated and unacceptable outcomes:

1. Fallowing as many as 220,000 acres of farmland.

2. Loss of $187 Million in ag income and using a 7x economic multiplier according to the Modesto Chamber of Commerce equates in their estimate to $1.3 Billion.  But it is MUCH WORSE:  220,000 acres of permanent  crops which is what will have to be abandoned.  An average 5,000 lbs. at $2.50  per lb. equals gross farm-gate value times the economic multiplier of 7x equals $87,000 of economic benefit to those ag communities.  Apply this to 220,000 acres and it is a very big economic hit of $19.2 Billion that we currently HAVE and will LOSE.

3. Unfortunately, the WRCB is willing to sacrifice our agricultural livelihood and destroy our entire community.  All for the purpose of providing striped bass with exorbitantly priced salmon for every meal.

I personally attended the Don Pedro re-licensing meeting at Modesto Irrigation Headquarters on January 30 and 31st, 2013.  We were told by the meeting attendees that 93% of the young salmon in the rivers were killed by PREDATORS – mainly large mouth bass!  HUMAN NEEDS MUST COME FIRST!  Farmers MUST be allowed adequate water to provide food and fiber as needed by our growing population.  With our present drier water pattern, water is more important than ever!  There is NO GUARANTEE that the proposed release of 35% of the unimpaired flow of the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced Rivers would significantly save the salmon population, but would definitely GREATLY HARM FARMLANDS (FOOD PRODUCTION!), agriculture income and jobs!

Respectfully,

Joan Rutschow

Modesto Ca.

 

 

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06 Apr 2013

One Public Meeting On and Another Off and What it Means to You

Chamber pot

Chamber pot (Photo credit: Pete Reed)

By Emerson Drake

The General Plan Amendment Public Workshop is still scheduled for Monday April 15, 2010 at 6:00 PM at Davis High School “Little Theater” (1200  West Rumble) park near the tennis courts on the East side of the school.

We can question if whether these meetings will make a difference or not but if no one goes and speaks out they’ll do what they want without  an argument and we will have nothing to refute their discussion points with at City Council.  The Modesto Chamber of Commerce Lobbyist Cecil Russell has been recruiting real estate salesmen and developers like Craig Lewis, Dennis Wilson, Bill Zoslocki,  and others to speak out in favor of planting driveways on Prime Farmland.  This cabal (the Chamber and their fellow conspiracists)  is also VERY interested in Modesto’s attempt to annexation of Salida.  Modesto’s City Manager Gregg Nyhoff (of the bungled nitrate in the well water issue) recently decided to spend $25,000 on a phone poll because they didn’t get enough public input on a prior set of public workshops.

Please understand if you live in Modesto and Stanislaus county this General Plan will affect us for the next 20 years.  Don’t let just a few greedy people decide our future for us.

As an aside, you just have to appreciate the conniving being done when they say they want public involvement  then they schedule the public meetings on Monday nights and one of them is the final day for taxes being due.

Secondly: The monthly city and county Liaison meeting has been cancelled.  For those curious, Salida was NOT on the agenda.

For those wondering about the picture, it’s what we won’t have if Modesto developers get their way.:)   It also might be my new symbol for an article involving the Modesto Chamber of Commerce and or their developer buddies.

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03 Mar 2013

Modesto’s Tin Cup Ordinance Goes to Committee Monday at 5:00

By Emerson Drake

Last adjusted in 2005, Modesto’s  Time Is Now To Clean Up Politics or TIN CUP ordinance is being voted on for the second

English: Author: Carl Skaggs This image was ta...

English: Author: Carl Skaggs This image was taken by me on January 14, 2010 in Modesto, California I hereby relinquish all rights to this photo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

time by Modesto’s Safety and Community Committee.  The last time the ordinance was changed the Modesto Chamber of Commerce was the petitioner.  They actually wanted to get rid of campaign limits altogether (no surprise) but a compromise was reached at the insistence of the Councilman Garrad Marsh(Marsh wanted to keep the limit at $1,000.  A donation can be made with a limit of $3,000 before a member of the city council including the Mayor, had to recuse themselves from voting on the contributor’s bill

We’ve been trying to get the TIN CUP total rolled back for several years and the requested

levels are a $1,000 contribution for council races and $2,000 for mayor with a 48 month window.  Since 2005 we instituted council districts, there by lowering campaign costs.  A council candidate has only one sixth of the city to “get the message out”  to.

In fact there is no limit,  and will be no  limit on how much anyone can donate. It just helps keep the old quid pro quo in check.  At least that’s the goal according to some, and levels the playing fields say others. It should come out of committee unscathed since it’s the wording agreed upon by the committee during their January  meeting.  The vote then was Councilmen Geer and Gunderson voting for and Councilman Lopez against.

Councilman Lopez like to say he believes someone running for Council should have the guts to ask for $3,000 yet he doesn’t. He asks for $2,999 so he can still vote for a donors project.

For the public there is NO downside to the change.  It helps to level the playing field between average citizens and deep pocketed special interest groups.

Here are the top ten contributors for the 2012 city elections.  Some of the totals would astound you, like the over $20,000 to Brad Hawn by Stephen Endsley over one year before the elections.

1  –  Dr. Steve Endsley
2  –  David Wright
3  –  George Petrulakis
4  –  Modesto Police Officers Association PAC**
5  –  City Signs
6  –  Modesto City Firefighters COPE (PAC)
7  –  Dr. Aruna Chopra including Chopra Development
8  –  Modesto Chamber of Commerce PAC (MOPAC)
9  –  Russ Newman including Newman Romano LLC
10 – Chris Tyler

After all what do a couple of City Unions, a developer under indictment, a developer not under indictment,  several lobbyists, a SCAP Director loving insurance salesman, a land use attorney,  and a Gallo In-Law have in common?

Could it be to make friends and influence people and their votes?    I heard a politician say, “Money doesn’t buy access to me or my vote.”  

My response is fine, then the limits won’t stop you from voting YES on lower TIN CUP limits.

Here is the pdf of the entire ordinance: 28221703032013111122796

Please don’t hesitate to call or email your Council representative and let them know how you feel.   Lets take the special interest money out of politics.

Tell them to Vote Yes for lower TIN CUP limits.

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11 Feb 2013

The Goodwin Report in Full

By Emerson Drake

So now it’s finally out for public consumption.  No more being passed just from one back room buddy to another.  No more just having the Alliance or the Modesto Chamber of Commerce being privy to the information YOUR tax dollars bought.

Take the time to review it and let it all soak in. We’ll be discussing the report in the near future in detail. But first, we, like you, have some questions that need answered. Feel free to add  your questions and  comments to this article. The questions we don’t know the answers to we’ll add to our own list and find out for you.

Salida_FIA_Report_(02.06.13_Final) (1)

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30 Jan 2013
1 Comment

What’s on America’s Mind Wednesday at 7:00 PM

Radio RED 104.9 FM

Radio RED 104.9 FM (Photo credit: Mahdi Ayat.)

Topics include the Salida MAC meeting last night and some of Mayor Marsh’s comments, Councilman Cogdill throwing a snit, The illegal meeting held by the Work Force Alliance,  The passing around of confidential documents to the Alliance and the Modesto Chamber of Commerce, Janice Keating being in denial about her pay for performance during the water sale, ta councilman deleting his annexation emails, the Don Pedro relicensing, and women in the military, these and more so tune in at 7:00PM Wednesday and find out the things you really  need to know.

104.9 FM Modesto our Flag Ship station

The call-in number is 1-347-215-9414

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27 Jan 2013
3 Comments

Local Politics, It’s an Insiders Game

By Emerson Drake

Imagine, if you will, a hit and run driver who killed a man is sentenced.  The local Sheriff has the ability to decide if he spends his sentence of a year actually in jail or allowed to spend his time at home with an ankle bracelet.  The Sheriff gets calls and visits from people he refers to as Rotarians who ask him to allow this man to stay out of jail because in his words “he’s written grants that have brought lots of money to Stanislaus County.” The Sheriff’s policy was no home detention for crimes of violence and a fatal hit-and-run fits that description.  The perpetrator not only received this “special treatment” he  even received lax follow-up on his home detention and was seen several times out and about town, from the Gallo Center, to the Brenden movie theater in the evenings when he should have been at home.

The Sheriff’s name was Adam Christianson and the Rotarians he referred to were members of the Stanislaus County Workforce Alliance, Chamber of Commerce, and the Rotary. The man’s name was Joe Gibbs.  The group he worked for was called Stanislaus Community Assistance Program or SCAP.  What most people remember of the SCAP debacle is Mr. Gibbs wanted to be paid over $600,000 dollars for his grant writing ability. 

Official seal of County of Stanislaus

Well, that and the fact he and his wife placed her parents in one of the fanciest remodeled homes while using SCAP staff to rent out the two homes her parents owned.

Less remembered is the joke of an investigation Modesto City Manager Greg Nyhoff performed. The total paper trail was an email to SCAP warning them about the Bee’s investigative article.

What many people aren’t aware of is the continuing SCAP connection at city hall. Not only have former SCAP board members been placed on multiple city committees, they still promote on the city website some of the companies involved. From the company that attempted to channel $62,500 to Benchmark Realty (then owned by Councilman Joe Muratore and his business partner Ryan Swehla), to Joe Gibbs and SCAP.

Joe Gibbs

Stanislaus Community Assistance Project (SCAP)

2209 Coffee Rd. Suite A

Modesto, CA 95355

(209) 572-2437

Jgibbs1@scap4.org

Ryan Swhela

Trinity Ventures

1120 13th Street. Suite I

Modesto, CA 95354

(209) 380-4425

ryan@trinityventures.us

You can see for yourself here  NSP2 Developers straight from the city website.

Recently J.David Wright, Modesto’s third largest political contributor in the last local election helped, Frank Ploof  get placed on the Citizens Housing and Community Development Commission.  It is bad enough that Ploof is a former member of  SCAP’s Board of Directors, he spent 10 months helping Daryl Fair, the former SCAP Board Chairman with a nonprofit that hadn’t filed their papers with the IRS for several years and had lost their nonprofit status.  Now Mr. Wright is also promoting Mr. Fair to run a day drop-in-center for the homeless.  All he needs is a grant. That’s correct,  he wants to stick his hand back in the honey jar, your pocket and mine.   Watching Wright show up at the last city council for the expressed reason of making sure Ploof received the necessary votes sure took the cake. By the way, despite all of the SCAP connections and the fake nonprofit, the vote was 5-1. Councilman Lopez voted against with Councilman Muratore recusing himself from the discussion and vote.

Watching the city representative make sure their “insider friends”, the Beard Industrial Trust, receive special treatment from the LAFCO Board, which cost Modesto millions of dollars between property taxes and utility fees, was enough to turn a citizens stomach. But quite honestly it was just business as usual for Modesto and the County we live in.

Since the Alliance and the Modesto Chamber of Commerce are 501 (c) (6)’s,  they can lobby to their heart’s content and allow donors to receive “business deductions”.  The donors can EXPECT some return on their investment according to Bill Bassett, and receive special favors  from the City and County.

Our Mayor likes to say “Politics just happens to most people.”  Maybe he’s correct, but between the back door, and behind the scenes  dealings that go on every day how is a citizen supposed to have a chance?

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