Prior to the arrival of Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Director Larry Byrd, the MID Board of Directors and General Manager Allen Short represented one of the last bastions of Old Modesto. Immune from public criticism and well connected through social satraps like Tom Van Groningen, the MID operated one of the largest budgets in the region with virtually no citizen oversight. Because of this recent history, there’s one over-arching issue […]