Lopez vs Monteith We wouldn’t sink to the Bee tactic of holding the current administration responsible for the sins of its predecessors, but it is amusing to see the Bee endorse City Councilman Dave Lopez for Stanislaus County Supervisor. During the campaign for the one cent sales tax, the Bee argued we couldn’t trust Modesto City Government, mostly because of scandals that happened during the Ridenour administration, which the Bee […]
Dave Lopez
Logic Behind Votes to Add Wood Colony to Sphere Of Influence
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 […]
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 Councilmember Cogdill stated that the Modesto General Plan was out of date because it had not been updated “since 1995” and because […]
City Council: Cogdill Shines, Lopez Stumbles
Denny Jackman likes to say his Residential Urban Limit (RUL) proposal eliminates bait and switch tactics, which occur when developers propose commercial and industrial projects and then switch to housing. Another thing the plan does is force players in the land-use game to show their cards. This was apparent when Jackman first put the proposal before the Modesto City Council. At that time, Village I developer and current City Council […]
Lopez vs Monteith: Analysis by Bruce Frohman
The Modesto Bee reported last week that Modesto City Councilman Dave Lopez intends to unseat Stanislaus County Supervisor Dick Monteith next election. Monteith told the Bee that he has no plan to retire. However, the 80+ year old incumbent could decide at a later date to retire rather than seek reelection. If Monteith announces his retirement early enough, other candidates will probably join the competition. Historically, when an incumbent does not run for reelection, more candidates seek office. However, Supervisor Monteith […]
Lopez vs Monteith: Developers Can't Lose
Modesto City Councilman Dave Lopez has made all the right moves, beginning with his revelation of last year’s SCAP scandal to the Modesto Bee. It doesn’t much matter that a Grand Jury ruled Lopez should have brought the SCAP affair to the Mayor and City Council instead of the Bee. In going to the Bee first, Lopez positioned himself as a crusader for the public interest and endeared himself […]