After a late afternoon meeting, Stanislaus County Supervisors and representatives of the Service Employees International Union 521 (SEIU) reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday. Both sides appeared to give a little as the SEIU negotiating team accepted the county’s offer of a 3% raise on condition of retroactive pay. The union had asked for 5% and the county had rejected both the 5% terms and retroactive pay. Dozens of workers […]
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Bumpy Start to New Year for Stanislaus Supervisors
Dozens of striking county workers attended the Stanislaus County Supervisors’ meeting on January 8 and spokespeople implored the supervisors to reach an agreement. To their credit, Stanislaus County Supervisors went back to the bargaining table directly after the meeting—though as of Tuesday night there was still no agreement. Most of the workers on strike are in social services and behavioral health, including child and senior support, disability, and mental health. […]
California Democratic Supermajority Might not Benefit Valley
Wins by Anna Caballero and Mellissa Hurtado assured a Democratic supermajority in all three branches of California government. Below, former Modesto City Councilman Bruce Frohman argues that the supermajority may not bring much relief to the manifold problems of the San Joaquin Valley. Local Democrats may feel overjoyed about their party’s supermajority in the California State Legislature, but euphoria may end up as disappointment. If legislators don’t deliver, Republicans will […]
Is Modesto Vulnerable to Destruction by Fire?
Just outside the northern edge of the Central Valley, the Town of Paradise has been destroyed by fire. The destruction should be called a holocaust as over 6500 structures were damaged, including the town’s central core. In light of last year’s Santa Rosa holocaust and this year’s Redding and Paradise disasters, how vulnerable is Modesto to a comparable event? Modesto has never had a fire that destroyed an entire neighborhood, […]
General Election Guide for CA-10
Few midterm elections have been as consequential as this year’s. Most observers are calling the elections a referendum on Donald Trump, but off-year elections generally do reflect on the president, no matter who’s in office. While we believe Donald Trump is wrong for the Valley and wrong for the nation, we think the focus now should be on our local candidates as much as possible. In some cases, we can’t […]
Frank Damrell: Ready and Able to Serve Now
Stanislaus County’s Supervisors’ District 4 includes a large swath of the City of Modesto. It’s by far the most urban district in the entire county. It’s also the district most impacted by homelessness and crime. The incumbent supervisor, Dick Monteith, is by all accounts a good man, but no one thinks of him as pro-active. Now in his mid-eighties, Monteith has been a throwback to the supervisor of old, a […]
Off The Wire
Liberal Justices Come Out Swinging In Uphill Battle Over Criminalizing Homelessness The liberal justices pounced aggressively in oral arguments Monday over a city… talkingpointsmemo.com Mojave desert tortoise designated as endangered The California Fish and Game Commission unanimously approved designating the Mojave desert tortoise as endangered. sjvsun.com Global wine glut compounds headaches for struggling California vineyards Struggling California vineyards are having to compete with bargain-basement wine prices from overseas growers, due […]
Trump was, “the elephant in the room,” for Denham Event
“When he was asked about hate, the elephant in the room was the president,” said Modesto resident Ken Schroeder after Congressman Jeff Denham’s appearance at the Red Event Center in downtown Modesto on Tuesday. The event was sponsored by the Latino Community Roundtable. And even though the president’s name rarely came up during Denham’s question-and- answer session, Donald Trump’s policies hovered like a dark shadow over the entire program. In […]
Last Minute Guide to Stanislaus Elections
The only flaw in Thomas Friedman’s recent column in the New York Times is he didn’t include advice all down the ballot. The message is clear enough: If you want to save the traditions and institutions that constitute American values, vote for a Democrat. Still, there are cases where multiple Democrats are running and other cases where we must choose between two Republicans. So for those who are still mulling […]
Local Politics: The Republican Double Standard
Valley Democrats need to follow the Republican example and put party over person Especially since Donald Trump prevailed in the 2016 presidential election, Democrats have been urged to develop better understanding and sympathy for Trump supporters. The idea is that Trump supporters have good reasons to support Trump and Democrats need to understand and address those reasons so that they can develop a winning platform next election. We call BS. […]