When incumbent Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow brags about his leadership, he likes to compare the county to the City of Modesto. That’s what he did during an interview with the Modesto Bee when he said, “Look at how the city is doing and ask if you want that kind of leadership for the county.” Withrow is running for office against Tony Madrigal, a current Modesto City Councilmember. Withrow was […]
Terry Withrow
Valley Voters: With Democracy in Peril
There are two imperatives this election year. First and foremost is the pressing need to defeat American authoritarianism. That need obliterates almost everything else. It can be addressed by withholding votes from Republicans no matter who or where they are and no matter what they’re running for. Led by Donald Trump, the Republican Party has made clear its opposition to free and fair elections, democratic rule, and commitment to the […]
Outcry Rises over Supervisor’s Seeming Sympathy with Insurrection
The day after the attempted coup of January 6, Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow published comments on his Facebook page that offered an eerie echo of Donald Trump’s now infamous remarks that there were “good people on both sides” during the demonstrations in Charlottesville. Withrow said that there were “sincere people on both sides” of the coup attempt, and tried to establish equivalence between the demonstrations after the death of […]
Back to School? You First!
The San Joaquin Valley, from Stockton on south to Bakersfield, is a hot spot for the spread of the Coronavirus, the persistent killer that has raged through the nation almost exactly the way public health experts said it would. In what has become typical local reasoning, many of the Valley’s elected leaders have decided the rising infection numbers mean we should reopen our schools. Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow has […]
The Water Manager’s Grand Plan
The regional water summit in Modesto on January 16 had its share of high moments, but one of the most revealing came from Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) General Manager Steve Knell. Knell has been under pressure from local farmers and their supporters to keep OID water local. OID has a long history of water sales outside the region and its Board of Directors approved a proposed water sale to Westlands […]