Making good on one of his campaign promises, Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh held a town hall meeting in west Modesto Saturday, a concrete signal that he intends to be accessible to the entire city. Marsh said he plans to have at least three more such events around town. Marsh acknowledged that Modesto has an image problem, but reiterated his refrain that Modesto is a, “great town.” “We don’t need to […]
Discontent in the Central Valley: The pilfering of personal wealth by government and large corporations, by Bruce Frohman
The Occupy 99% and Tea Party movements were founded on the perception that the citizens of the United States are being systematically fleeced of their wealth by our country’s major institutions. Over time, these institutions are becoming more efficient and effective in extracting money and reducing personal wealth, impoverishing an ever larger percentage of the citizenry using unethical, fraudulent or corrupt behavior. In recent years, government at all levels has […]
99% Spring Movement Comes to Modesto
Saturday, April 28, a plucky band of Valley citizens participated in the “Love Modesto” event by protesting the injustice which enabled big bank executives to haul down millions of dollars in bonuses while their policies punished working people throughout the nation. The demonstrators assembled along the curb in front of the McHenry Avenue Bank of America, eliciting sporadic honks of support from a constant stream of passing cars. A local […]
Tragic Death of Sheriff's Deputy Robert Paris Reopens Discussion of Public Safety Budget, by Bruce Frohman
During his tenure as a Modesto City Councilman, Bruce Frohman was a strong supporter of law enforcement. Recent tragic deaths and shootings have focused attention on ongoing cuts to law enforcement services. Here, Frohman continues the dialog about the need for additional officers and staff. The entire community of Stanislaus County was shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic shooting of Sheriff Deputy Robert Paris in the line of duty. […]
Valley Leaders and Media AWOL on MID Water Sale
The more you look at the proposed Modesto Irrigation District (MID) water sale to San Francisco, the more apparent it becomes that MID manager Allen Short and his allies on the Board of Directors are engaging in a dangerous game of sleight of hand. The fundamental premise of the sale—that MID has water to sell—is so patently false as to make one wonder why the MID has dared voice it. […]
Political Calculus of the MID Water Sale
If there’s anything each of the members of the Modesto Irrigation District Board of Directors (MID) knows for sure, it’s that voters hate rate increases. This fact was painfully evident May 13, 2010, when an angry crowd packed the MID boardroom to protest a five dollar a month rate increase in their electrical bills. And if an angry crowd isn’t enough to discourage rate increases, the Directors also know that […]
Bruce Frohman on Neighborhood Crime
The City of Modesto has an informal goal of having 1.8 police officers for every thousand citizens. The goal is based on the national average in 2002. Modesto has not met the goal since it was established. Given the present staffing level, the police need the help and cooperation of citizens. On April 3, 2012, the Woodland West Neighborhood Association held a neighborhood watch meeting to discuss problems and solutions […]
Excess MID water? "No Way," Say Experts
To hear the Modesto Irrigation District tell it, selling 2,000,000 gallons per day of Tuolumne River Water will have no significant impacts on the river. Stanislaus County Supervisor and Westside farmer Jim DeMartini finds such a claim hard to believe. “I just had my water allotment reduced by fifty percent,” said DeMartini recently. “I get my water from the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) and TID gets its water from the […]
Bruce Frohman on Modesto's Chronic Unemployment Problems
Bruce Frohman was on the Modesto City Council when Modesto posted a forty year low unemployment figure. Here he offers some common sense observations on our chronic unemployment problems. The latest 2012 unemployment figures for Modesto show an official rate of 17.1 percent. During the last 40 years, the lowest unemployment rate in the community was in 2003 at under 9 percent. Following are some of the reasons Modesto has […]
Will MID Directors Be Fleeced In the New Gold Rush?
There’s not much of a mystery why the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Board of Directors wants to sell water to San Francisco. Faced with a water treatment plant that has become an embarrassing money pit and having failed to raise rates enough to maintain infrastructure, they need the money. San Francisco’s demand for water, on the other hand, is at first glance a bit puzzling. As recently as November 17, […]