The two best economic indicators last week weren’t in the business section of your daily newspaper. Instead, they came in the form of a political announcement and a little-noticed vote by one of the most obscure committees in county government. The political announcement was Dave Lopez’s formal declaration he would run for Mayor of Modesto against incumbent Garrad Marsh. Citing his opposition to Marsh’s proposal for an increase in the […]
Stanislaus County LAFCO
LAFCo: The Developers’ Best Kept Secret
Ask a Stanislaus County resident what LAFCo is, and there’s a 99% chance you’ll draw a blank look. That same resident may lament the ongoing loss of local farmland and the blighted appearance of empty houses and brown yards but never know that there exists a local government agency charged with preserving farmland and preventing sprawl. Unfortunately, that agency has been the developers’ best kept secret. By the 1950s, the […]
LAFCO: Longest Rehearsal in Regional History Continues
The Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) is a government agency charged with protecting farmland and preventing sprawl. In places like Ventura, Yolo, and Sonoma Counties, LAFCO has played a major role in establishing firm boundaries to protect farmland from urban encroachment. Things are different here in Stanislaus County. “We haven’t done a very good job,” said LAFCO board member Jim DeMartini, who is also a Stanislaus County Supervisor. DeMartini […]