Most public officials would probably rather step on a nail than see someone like rice farmer Bob Frobose show up at a public meeting. Depending on your point of view, Frobose can be seen as a crank, activist, watch dog, concerned citizen, public advocate, and most everything in between and beyond. With a persistence that rockets past intensity into obsession, Frobose differs from most civic critics in his ability to […]
San Joaquin Tributaries Authority
Bee Still Pushing Allen Short’s Water Agenda
Only a few short months ago, Allen Short and the Modesto Bee were pushing the sale of “surplus water” to San Francisco. Short was then General Manager of the Modesto Irrigation District (MID). He departed under a cloud, partly because the sale proposal proved immensely unpopular with local farmers and partly because of an internal investigation yet to be revealed to the public. Despite Short’s demise, the Bee is still […]
Why is Allen Short Still Working for the MID?
There aren’t many occasions when a resignation isn’t really a resignation, but former Modesto Irrigation District (MID) General Manager Allen Short seems to have accomplished the paradoxical event. When Short submitted his resignation, it wasn’t the end of his tenure at the MID. As has been widely reported, Short will now lead the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA), a lobbying organization that is in part subsidized by MID rate […]
Should MID Ratepayers Fund Another Bureaucracy?
When Modesto Irrigation District (MID) General Manager announced his resignation, it was reasonable to conclude he’d be off the payroll. But in an odd twist of circumstances, Short’s new job will in part be funded by the MID. Short was a prime mover in the formation of the San Joaquin Tributary Association, which became the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA) on May 15. MID ratepayers have a right to […]
Allen Short: Still Picking the MID Money Tree
Even though departing Modesto Irrigation District (MID) General Manager Allen Short has been Executive Director of the San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA) since May, the Modesto Bee announced his appointment to the job just last Friday. Short will officially begin the new job January 1, one day after he leaves the MID. The SJTA includes six water districts. It’s essentially a lobbying agency whose joint powers give it more […]