Even though departing Modesto Irrigation District (MID) General Manager Allen Short has been Executive Director of the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA) since May, the Modesto Bee announced his appointment to the job just last Friday. Short will officially begin the new job January 1, one day after he leaves the MID. The SJTA includes six water districts. It’s essentially a lobbying agency whose joint powers give it more […]
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Priceless Valley Farmland is Blowing in the Wind, by Bruce Frohman
Efforts of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to gain control of water used by local farmers captured many recent newspaper headlines, but little attention has been given another insidious problem, the loss of farm land top soil. Some dubious farming practices are a threat to the viability of farming in the San Joaquin Valley. Loss of essential top soil can be as damaging as the inability to secure […]
Has the Modesto Bee Become a Follower of the Valley’s New Media?
To his credit, the Modesto Bee’s Garth Stapley did acknowledge that Emerson Drake provided much of the subject matter of Stapley’s most recent Modesto Irrigation District (MID) report. In fact, Drake, via his Eye on Modesto website, broke the news of MID payouts to “consultants” via the circuitous route of Martino Graphic Design well before the Bee decided to cover the story. Stapley was responsible enough to credit Drake for his […]
Short and O’Laughlin Flee Rising Tide of Problems at MID
Six months ago, no one could have guessed the Modesto Irrigation District’s (MID) General Manager and General Counsel would be leaving under a cloud formed by a cascade of Falling Water. Six months ago, no one would have predicted that a slow-talking cowboy from eastern Stanislaus County would take on Allen Short, Tim O’Laughlin, four MID Directors, and the Modesto Bee and prevail over them all. Newly-elected Director Larry […]
Modesto Police Department Low Staffing Levels of the 1990s Resurface, by Bruce Frohman
Former Modesto City Councilman Bruce Frohman has an insider’s view of problems with City budgets and police staffing. Here, he offers an up-to-the-minute look at current problems with staffing in the Modesto Police Department. News Item: California Highway Patrol to Help Stockton Police Department Maintain Order The recent decision of the California Highway Patrol to help the Stockton Police Department sparked this writer’s interest in examining Modesto Police Department operations to […]
Bee Scales New Heights of Hypocrisy
Long-time readers of the Modesto Bee have known that for the last two decades, any time the Bee takes a position on an issue it also abandons objectivity and fair play. Thus, it was no surprise that when the Modesto Irrigation District’s (MID) proposed water sale to San Francisco was rejected, the Bee immediately began a campaign to get the sale back on the table. The means the Bee […]
MID Falling Water Charge: Subsidy or Slush Fund?
According to Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini, news that local farmers have been receiving subsidies amounting to $89 million over seventeen years was as big a surprise to farmers as to anyone else.“Ninety-nine out of a hundred farmers have never heard of the Falling Water Charge,” said DeMartini last Friday.The Falling Water Charge is the controversial fee (some would say “tax”) that the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) imposes on […]
Restore the Delta Coalition: “Our Books are Open”; "Who's Funding You?"
Sometimes in the water wars it can be difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys. In the following press release, the good guys, Restore the Delta Coalition (RTD), respond to a smear by the bad guys. If you’re in doubt about who’s who, check out the RTD’s supporters. Anytime you have the Natural Resources Defense Council and the fly fisherman together for nature, you have the […]
Read the Memorandum That May Drown the MID in Falling Water
The Valley Citizen has obtained an internal Modesto Irrigation District (MID) memorandum. Almost ten pages long, the memorandum provides legal analysis of possible consequences for the MID of Proposition 26. Proposition 26 was approved by California voters in 2010. Its purpose was to prohibit unjustified fees and costs imposed by entities that provide public services. In 1995, the MID added a “Falling Water Charge” to its bill for […]
Citizens of Salida Will Decide Their Future, by Bruce Frohman
The City of Modesto has started an effort to annex the small unincorporated town of Salida. In doing so, the citizens of Salida will be forced to decide their town’s future. They have three basic options. They can annex to the City of Modesto, incorporate as their own city, or leave themselves unincorporated. The Annexation Option If Salida annexes to the City of Modesto, residents will get the advantage […]