News item: The Modesto Bee reported in its Thursday edition that the Modesto City Council voted 5-2 in favor of adding Wood Colony to its General Plan map. Councilmembers Zoslocki and Lopez voted against the addition. In politics, everything has a logical explanation. Oftentimes, the logic seems impossible to follow. Undoubtedly, to some, the Tuesday night decision looks crazy. Let’s look for some logic. At the end of a 7 hour meeting, Mayor Garrad Marsh stated […]
Bill Zoslocki
Why Certain City Council Members Want A New General Plan
At the January 28, 2014 Modesto City Council meeting, Councilmembers Dave Cogdill Jr., Bill Zoslocki, and Dave Lopez voted to begin a comprehensive rewrite of the Modesto General Plan. A majority of the City Council voted down the proposal due to the high cost, but what exactly were the three proponents after? Councilmember Cogdill stated that the Modesto General Plan was out of date because it had not been updated “since 1995” and because […]
Asphalt Empire: Ramped Up and Ready to Roll
The surest signs of another growth boom binge are recent maneuvers by the Asphalt Empire. All the evidence suggests we’re in for another round of runaway growth followed by all the ugly consequences. First, there was the announcement that Bill Zoslocki was running for the Modesto City Council. Zoslocki, a prime mover in the Village I debacle, is also a former president of the Building Industry Association. As a candidate […]
City Council: Joe Muratore’s Revealing Moment
Bruce Frohman’s insider’s view of the Modesto City Council (below) offers a sobering look at local politics. Last Tuesday’s Council meeting confirmed Frohman’s claims—developers rule—but there were at least two episodes that shed even more light on the City’s current and future political realities. The first revealing moment came just after Councilmember John Gunderson moved to put Denny Jackman’s Residential Urban Limit proposal on the November ballot. During the comment […]