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 […]
History
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 […]
Coming Soon to the State Theatre: California History
What better venue than Modesto’s historic State Theatre to view a documentary film of one of the greatest eras of California history? Edmund G. “Pat” Brown was among the last of California’s larger than life politicians back when it was still possible to be both visionary and progressive. “California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown,” features a cast including some of the Golden State’s greatest and most […]
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 […]
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 […]
Is the MID Taxing Customers Illegally with the “Falling Water Charge”?
Just when it looked like things couldn’t get any worse for the Modesto Irrigation District (MID), the heavens opened and delivered a world of trouble in falling water. In the arcane parlance of irrigation districts, “falling water” is water that falls from dams and spillways to provide electricity. Some districts impose on their customers a “Falling Water Charge.” The Falling Water Charge is an attempt to capture the value […]
LAFCo Policy More Complicated than Bee Article Implies, by Scott Calkins
Last Wednesday’s LAFCo decision to require mitigation for encroachment onto ag land met with wide approval, but Scott Calkins has an insider’s view that might temper the celebration. No one denies the decision was a big step forward, but parts of the policy are cause for real concern. Here’s Scott with the inside story. I attended the LAFCo meeting on September 26, 2012 and read the article that appeared […]
Restore the San Joaquin River for Jobs, Farms, and Fish
Mike Wade, Executive Director of the Farm Water Coalition, is an outstanding advocate for farmers. He always has a good command of facts and is ever-vigilant for threats to farmers’ water supplies. Recently, however, he’s been too narrowly focused on the needs of a few farmers at the expense of farmers in general, especially those who farm the San Joaquin Delta. Wade’s recent criticism of a study that shows […]