Former Modesto City Councilman Bruce Frohman didn’t give up leadership when he left the Council. He’s always been a beacon of civic awareness. Here, Frohman sounds an urgent alarm over yet another toxic waste site in Modesto. Every time a rock is flipped over in Modesto, another toxic waste site is sitting there like a scorpion, ready to inflict pain and suffering. While serving on the Modesto City Council from 1999 […]
Environment
Water, Water Everywhere, Part II: The Big Thirst
In what is likely a sign of the times, farmers in Brawley are selling water for more than they can make growing a crop. Closer to home, the Modesto Irrigation District, amid the din of protesting farmers, is contemplating selling water to San Francisco, a city whose big thirst broke John Muir’s heart when it succeeded in damming (and damning) the Hetch Hetchy Valley. The City of Patterson, which has […]
Water, water everywhere: The Great Valley Mirage
When Jay Wells noticed the City of Patterson was sinking another well in his neighborhood he sounded the alarm. “I raised a fuss,” he said recently. “I was worried about over drafting.” Like everyone in Patterson, Wells relies on groundwater for his residence and his business. He was worried that the City’s increasing demands would put too great a strain on the local aquifer. Patterson has over half a dozen […]
School Scams: How to Leap City Limits, Vault Spheres of Influence and Sprawl Beyond the General Plan
Because they are not subject to the Local Agency Formation Comission’s (LAFCO) authority, schools are among the most potent weapons in the sprawlers’ arsenal. No one knows this better than Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini, who acquired first-hand knowledge of school scams shortly after winning election in 2004. “The Patterson School Board wanted to put a school out on Zacharias Road near the intersection of Baldwin Road,” said DeMartini […]
DeMartini, Barker and Jackman on Cities' Failure to Protect Farmland
Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini is nobody’s patsy. So when Stanislaus County cities presented their growth plans to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) at last July’s meeting, DeMartini smelled a rat. “They weren’t plans at all,” he says. “They may as well have been written by the BIA (Building Industry Association).” As far as DeMartini could tell, none of the cities had established firm boundaries. DeMartini was especially miffed […]
Denham to Sacrifice Wild and Scenic on an Altar of Houses
Once in office, Congressman Jeff Denham wasted no time introducing legislation all too typical of the far right’s assault on the public interest. HR 869 looks innocuous enough on its surface. Touted as another, “jobs, jobs, jobs,” project, the Bill would raise the height of the Exchequer Dam. Denham claims, The benefits of this law will provide up to 70,000 acre-feet of additional water, which can serve 1,700 homes and […]
CEQA in the San Joaquin Valley: A Boon to Citizens
Shrouded in mystery and misinformation, and once again under intense attack by developer-driven politicians, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is one of the least understood and most powerful weapons Valley citizens have against the negative effects of growth and sprawl. Perhaps because it’s associated with lawyers and litigation, CEQA has never been recognized as the layman’s tool it really is. And mass media have done a poor job characterizing […]