• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice

The Valley Citizen

Pursuing truth toward justice
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About

LAFCO: Longest Rehearsal in Regional History Continues

July 27, 2012 By Eric Caine 4 Comments

 

Jim DeMartini

The Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) is a government agency charged with protecting farmland and preventing sprawl. In places like Ventura, Yolo, and Sonoma Counties, LAFCO has played a major role in establishing firm boundaries to protect farmland from urban encroachment. Things are different here in Stanislaus County.

“We haven’t done a very good job,” said LAFCO board member Jim DeMartini, who is also a Stanislaus County Supervisor.

DeMartini is well aware that from 1990 to 2000, 81% of the land developed in Stanislaus County was high quality farmland. A farmer himself, DeMartini understands just how different high quality farmland is from farmland in general.

“We have a unique situation here,” said DeMartini at last Wednesday’s LAFCO Board meeting. “Nowhere else in the world has our combination of water, climate, and soil. We can grow 250 different crops and Stanislaus County produces over a billion dollars a year in farm revenue.”

Given that the nation is in the grip of a blistering drought and heat wave that have destroyed thousands of acres of farm produce, local crop revenue is very likely to rise to even higher levels as shortages drive prices up.

But since his term on LAFCO began, DeMartini has faced increasing frustration as local LAFCO Board members too often seem willing to delay any significant action to protect farmland. Wednesday night’s meeting was a classic case in point, as board members demonstrated almost comic examples of the “dither, delay, and defer” tactics that have characterized local politicians for years when it comes to land use policy.

Bill O’Brien, himself a Stanislaus County Supervisor, wanted no part of LAFCO responsibility. “I believe the power resides in the people,” said O’Brien repeatedly.

“But this is what we’re supposed to do,” said DeMartini, obviously exasperated.

DeMartini wasn’t the only one who seemed to be losing patience with the failure of LAFCO to fulfill its duties. Yokuts Sierra Club Chair Brad Barker reminded the board that nothing has happened for years, and board members should realize they can’t make everyone happy.

“No matter what you do, some people are going to be unhappy, so you may as well do the right thing and protect the farmland,” said Barker.

But, despite their charge to protect farmland and oppose sprawl, some board members seemed sympathetic to those who claim there’s no need to protect local farmland. Representatives of the Building Industry Association argued there has been a net increase in farmland in recent years, and to an extent they’re correct.

The problem is, the increase in farmland is due to farmers moving onto less productive soils because we’ve lost so much high quality farmland close to our cities. Whereas high quality farmland can grow over 250 crops with efficient use of water, lower value farmland can grow only four or five crops with far less efficiency.

And while DeMartini exhorted his fellow board members, “to have some backbone,” at the end of the meeting there was once again no progress toward a policy that would protect what is indeed a “unique” farmland resource. The board decided that it needed more study of the various ways to protect farmland and prevent sprawl, and moved on in its endless rehearsal of Act I in another ongoing tragicomedy of political cowardice.

Filed Under: Featured, Politics Tagged With: Jim DeMartini, Stanislaus County farmland, Stanislaus County LAFCO

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Scott Calkins says

    July 28, 2012 at 12:17 am

    I was at the meeting and was impressed by the straight talk that came from Mr. DeMartini. Of all the LAFCO board members he seems to understand best what is at stake if they do not act to make farmland mitigation a reality in Stanislaus County. I did find it somewhat curious that he used some of the same arguments to protect prime farmland that I had used one hour earlier at the StanCOG meeting. At StanCOG I was making a case against the SR132 West expressway project in the FTIP. Even Mr. DeMartini does not recognize the role that a project like SR132 West will have in becoming an engine, or catalyst for sprawl in District 3 of Stanislaus County. I would urge Mr. DeMartini to join me in opposing this misguided project.

    Sincerely,

    Scott Calkins

    Reply
  2. Terhesa Gamboa says

    July 28, 2012 at 4:12 pm

    I was at the meeting last Wednesday. I was amazed by the inaction of the board. I was also dismayed by the document the staff prepared for the board. It is vague and ineffective. I was very impressed by Mr. DeMartini. He has a firm grasp on what needs to be done. His fellow board members need to get with the same program and do their jobs. Enough with the delays. Protect our farmland now.

    Reply
  3. Bruce Frohman says

    July 29, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    Denny Jackman and I have been trying since the 1980’s to get our local legislators to establish urban limit lines. In all that time, our community has been stuck in the same position thanks to the effective opposition of the building industry. The developers are using the same tactics that were used to completely pave over the Santa Clara and San Fernando Valleys of California. Because we have not had food shortages, they continue to be effective. When the food shortages start, it will be too late to start saving farm land. Everyone will become aware of the food shortages when prices start to rise rapidly. Next year will be an introduction to what is soon to become a regular event. Selling our water to San Francisco will bring sooner the future food shortages and the day of reckoning for our negligent stewardship of the land.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Stanislaus LAFCo Develops Farmland Preservation Policy | Groundswell - San Joaquin Valley says:
    July 30, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    […] produces over a billion dollars a year in farm revenue,” said DiMartini at the LAFCo meeting.  The Valley Citizen detailed DiMartini’s role while acknowledged that LAFCo’s in other counties, including […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

California faces catastrophic flood dangers ? and a need to invest billions in protection
California faces catastrophic flood dangers and a need to invest billions in protection
A new state plan for the Central Valley calls for spending as much as $30 billion over 30 years to prepare for the dangers.
www.latimes.com
Oakland will get millions for the ?inhumane? crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it?s not enough
Oakland will get millions for the “inhumane” crisis at one huge homeless encampment. Officials say it’s not enough
Gavin Newsom’s administration has awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to come up with…
www.sfchronicle.com
Alaska?s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Alaska’s Fisheries Are Collapsing. This Congresswoman Is Taking on the Industry She Says Is to Blame.
Mary Peltola won her election by campaigning on a platform to save the state’s prized fisheries. A powerful fishing lobby is standing in her way.
www.politico.com
Jimmy Carter's final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
Jimmy Carter’s final foe: A parasitic worm that preyed on millions in Africa and Asia
One of former President Carter’s biggest hopes is wiping out an infectious parasitic disease that’s plagued humans for millennia. How close is he?
www.latimes.com
Climate Extremes Threaten California?s Central Valley Songbirds - Eos
Climate Extremes Threaten California’s Central Valley Songbirds – Eos
A “nestbox highway” in California’s Central Valley is guiding songbirds to safe nesting sites and giving scientists a peek at fledgling success in a changing climate.
eos.org
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Alaska Republican touts benefits of children being abused to death
Republican David Eastman suggested the death of child abuse victims could be a “cost savings” to wider society.
www.newsweek.com
Editorial: Newsom's drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Editorial: Newsom’s drought order amid wet winter threatens iconic California species
Gov. Gavin Newsom has effectively ended environmental regulations protecting California rivers and migratory fish by extending drought-year waivers.
www.latimes.com
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
Two-thirds of McPherson Square homeless remain on street, D.C. says
As of Thursday, just two of the more than 70 residents of McPherson Square had been placed in permanent D.C. housing.
www.washingtonpost.com
More Building Won?t Make Housing Affordable
More Building Won’t Make Housing Affordable
America’s housing crisis has reached unfathomable proportions. But new construction isn’t enough to solve it.
newrepublic.com
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Why YIMBYs are about to sue the daylights out of cities across the Bay Area
Housing advocates are about to deliver a message to the Bay Area: Comply with state…
www.sfchronicle.com
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty 'Law of the River' holds sway
At the heart of Colorado River crisis, the mighty ‘Law of the River’ holds sway
At the heart of tensions over water allotments from the Colorado River is a complex set of agreements and decrees known as the ‘Law of the River.’
www.latimes.com
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America's largest rainforest
Biden restores roadless protection to the Tongass, North America’s largest rainforest
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
theconversation.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design