Jim “Jimbo” Garrison was fighting back tears as he explained why he didn’t want to leave the 624 Ninth Street apartments where he’s formed a tight band of friends. “These are my friends, these are my family,” he said. “What right do they have to make us leave? What right do they have to move us to a motel and put us through a program?” According to Garrison, the City […]
Search Results for: homeless
Like it or not, Local Leaders Own Trump
Every Stanislaus County Supervisor supported Donald Trump, as did most local politicians, including Jeff Denham. Lately, many have been hearing complaints about the president’s support for racists and Nazis as well as criticism of his appointees. Just before the Stanislaus County Supervisor’s meeting of August 22, a supervisor was heard telling a friend he was, “tired of hearing about Donald Trump.” He added, “What does Donald Trump have to do […]
More Trouble at 624
Reports of a missing child brought a mini-fleet of police cars to 624 9th Street Saturday afternoon. Supposedly taken by a young woman known as “Baby Girl,” four year old Thomas (TJ) couldn’t be found in or around the building when his mother notified police. At least one resident of the condemned building thought the child had been taken away for a bath or shower. “We can’t use our showers […]
Falling Through the Cracks at 624 9th Street
When Israel Gonzales first heard there would be help moving to a new location, he was hopeful. “I don’t want to live in the park,” he says, “it’s not safe. There are too many bad people.” But two weeks after news of the condemned building at 624 9th Street in Modesto shocked city officials enough to allocate relocation money for tenants of the vermin-infested structure, Israel Gonzales still has nowhere […]
DJ Jaffe Skewers County’s Laura’s Law Study
People who routinely deal with Seriously Mentally Ill (SMI) friends and family overwhelmingly favor Laura’s Law, which makes it possible for a judge to order professional assistance for mentally ill people who otherwise wouldn’t accept help. Many studies have shown that Laura’s Law is both cost-effective and successful in reducing the harm caused when mentally ill people refuse assistance. Given the preponderance of such studies, Stanislaus County’s decision to hire […]
Ninth Street apartments: “Worst I’ve ever seen,” says attorney
“Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members—the last, the least, the littlest.” Cardinal Roger Mahony, 1998 With fifteen years’ experience representing tenants’ rights, Joseph Tobener has seen a lot of dilapidated buildings and apartments, including the warehouse that was the location for Oakland’s notorious “Ghost Ship” fire. But when he saw the horrid conditions at the recently condemned 624 Ninth Street location, […]
Republicans in the Valley: The Red Menace
“Yet, hear me, people, we have now to deal with another race – small and feeble when our fathers first met them but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possession is a disease with them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break but the poor may not. They take their tithes from the poor […]
Taxes, Card Tricks, and Black Magic
Though it seemed out of character, Republican support for last year’s Stanislaus County road tax, Measure L, was actually a natural evolutionary stage in a tax revolt that began in California forty years ago and has wreaked social and environmental havoc ever since. Launched by Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann in 1977 through the initiative process, Proposition 13 heralded the anti-tax revolt and Reagan Revolution that still dominate federal, state, […]
Republican Bill? A lot more than $68,461 for Ann Coulter
Modesto gadfly Emerson Drake’s gifts for political theater were never more apparent than when he presented a bill for $68,461 to Jim DeMartini at the June 13 meeting of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors. Drake was protesting using tax dollars to pay for security when the Republican Central Committee (DeMartini is committee chairman) sponsored a fundraiser featuring Ann Coulter. Lost in the whirlwind of debate and controversy over the […]
Will Denham Challengers Learn from Eggman’s Mistakes?
Ever since taking office years ago, Congressman Jeff Denham has done a poor job of representing his district. Yet, he was able to win reelection over challenger Michael Eggman in the last two elections, mostly because Eggman made critical mistakes. Will the next Democratic Party candidate make the same mistakes? The biggest mistake Michael Eggman made in running for Congress was his strict adherence to the Democratic Party platform. The platform works […]