In a move very likely to revive local controversies and bitter memories, Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) water attorney Tim O’Laughlin has been hired by Trinitas Partners to manage its huge Hawaiian farming operation in Maui, where it’s known as “Mahi Pono.” Now an entity with too many names and subsidiaries to list, Trinitas/Mahi Pono recently purchased 56,000 acres in Maui for $267 million from sugar cane growers Alexander & Baldwin. […]
Search Results for: OID
Did Trinitas Leave OID Holding the Bag (Again)?
When the big-time investors from the Bay Area showed up in Oakdale saying they were ready to become farmers, the city swooned. Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) was entranced by their offer to build infrastructure for water deliveries and offered them bargain-basement water rates and a sweet annexation deal, even while it had previously denied many long-term farmers’ applications. When a few local farmers suggested Trinitas Partners was yet another “turn […]
Stench Rises over OID Recall
Over the last few years, the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) has conducted a secret water sale, failed to re-district according to state law, sold water by abandoning its water rights, annexed out-of-the-region buyers into the district at bargain rates while rejecting offers from local farmers to pay more for OID water, lost a water sale because it failed to observe requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, barred newly elected […]
More Claims of Lies on OID Recall
To hear Deanne Dalrymple tell it, Oakdale farmers Louis Brichetto and Bob Frobose are a couple of bullying “frauds” who are opposed to the attempted recall of Linda Santos from the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) Board of Directors for purely personal reasons—Frobose because he’s Santos’ business partner and friend and Brichetto because he hopes Santos will help him obtain OID surface water for his out-of-district almond orchards. Dalrymple, an Oakdale […]
Jeff Denham’s Voter Avoidance Handbook
Since the November election, Congressman Jeff Denham’s indifference to voters in his own district has become increasingly evident. When his political party was out of power and all that could be done was obstruct, Denham quietly served as a dead weight anchor, accomplishing nothing and stopping others from moving forward to solve problems. Now that Congressman Denham has his preferred president, he’s ducked any leadership role on the issues and […]
OID: How to Endanger a Species
To hear Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) management tell it, 3000 acres is a mere pittance. The acreage is what OID estimates would be fallowed in a program it calls the “On-Farm Conservation Program.” OID claims the area is so small and environmental impacts so low that there’s no need for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The program is currently part of a lawsuit by the Oakdale Groundwater Alliance. Attorneys for […]
OID Suit about More than Water
Over most of its forty-six year history, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has been most often associated with developers and urban sprawl. With few exceptions, agriculture was virtually exempt from CEQA review. The almond boom and a six-year drought changed everything. Today, farming is no longer surrounded by a holy aura. The farmer as corporate businessman is as much a part of the ag image as the family farmer […]
OID Suit Sets Ugly Precedent
From the very beginning, the Oakdale Irrigation District’s (OID) lawsuit against board members Gail Altieri and Linda Santos stunk of intimidation by way of litigation. It was thus not much of a surprise when Stanislaus County Judge John Freeland ruled OID’s claims amounted, “to placing handcuffs on Defendants’ ability to effectively operate as duly elected members of the Plaintiff’s Board of Directors.” Among the more telling aspects of the case […]
OID: If it Looks Like a Duck
News that the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) is suing two of its own board members should surprise no one familiar with OID shenanigans over the past few years. Even after two long-tenured directors were booted out by an overwhelming majority last election, OID management and three remaining directors have stubbornly refused to change direction and face the realities of a new water world. OID shares some of its problems with […]
OID Program Fails Transparency Test Says Director
In the following statement released to local media, newly elected Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) board member Linda Santos says the OID On-farm Conservation Program has not been openly and adequately explained to the public. I ran for the Oakdale Irrigation District board to help bring transparency and accountability to the district, and I have spent tremendous effort to do just that. Keeping our community’s water local is essential. With too many […]