Archive for January, 2011


Education: Just Google It

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January 7, 2011

Students expect to suffer because of budget crisis

[Terence Chea; Jun. 09, 2010] Students who graduated from high school this spring may have collected their diplomas just in time, leaving institutions that are being badly weakened by the nation’s economic downturn. Across the country, mass layoffs of teachers, counselors and other staff members are leading to larger classes and reductions in everything that is not a core subject, including music, art, clubs, sports and other after-school activities. Educators and others worry the cuts could lead to higher dropout rates and lower college attendance as students receive less guidance and become less engaged in school. They fear a generation of young people could be left behind.

At Silver Creek High School in San Jose, Ca., state budget cuts will make things even worse next year. The school probably will have five fewer classroom days and lose three of its four guidance counselors and three of its four custodians, as well as its health aide, mental health coordinator and student activities director. The future of student government, clubs, pep rallies, homecoming and prom is in doubt.

The American Association of School Administrators estimates that 275,000 education jobs will be cut in the coming school year, based on an April survey. Other AASA surveys found that 52 percent of administrators plan to cut extracurricular activities, and 51 percent are reducing elective courses not required for graduation. Tupper Lake Central Schools in New York, will lose 25 percent of its instructional staff in the upcoming school year, which will probably result in bigger classes and the elimination of electives such as photography, modern art and ceramics. Silver Creek High senior Anthony Chavez said he worries that students won’t get the same opportunities with just one counselor for more than 2,400 students. “Through my four years here, my counselors helped me with everything. I’m the first generation in my family to go to college,” he said. “I didn’t even know what SATs were.”

And it’s not just our neighbors who are losing out, we are losing teachers and programming right here too.

Teacher layoffs putting Modesto’s Fremont Open Plan in jeopardy

[ J.N. Sbranti; Jun. 02, 2010] After thriving for 34 years as an alternative elementary school, teacher layoffs are putting Modesto’s Fremont Open Plan in jeopardy. The alternative school has nine teachers, but two of them are retiring and three others have been told they’re being laid off because of budget cuts. Modesto City Schools is slicing $25 million from its 2010-11 budget because of funding shortfalls. To save money, the district is boosting class sizes and reducing teachers. That includes laying off about 55 elementary school educators, based on seniority. “We feel the continuity of our program is in jeopardy,” Fremont Open Plan parent Patti Reeder told trustees.

They weren’t the only community members to share their concerns. With teacher layoffs and school closures, scant humanities or after school programs, some look to other methods of learning.

EDUCATIONAL EMPOWERMENT

Your Mission is to Learn, Act, and Imagine a better community

 

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Employment: We Have Work To Do

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January 7, 2011

Stanislaus County supervisors lay off 16 community services workers

[May 25, 2010]

The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to lay off 16 Community Services Agency workers. The county is cutting services for children and seniors at risk of abuse or neglect to save money. Welfare payouts and payments to in-home care providers and foster parents protected by law would not be affected, but some programs that reduce demand for foster care and nursing homes will be eliminated.
The Community Services Agency’s cost-cutting strategy includes giving up $12.5 million in state and federal social services money because the county can’t afford to put up $3.4 million as its share to secure that funding. “Look at how screwy government funding is,” Supervisor Bill O’Brien said, noting the double-whammy to needy people. The social workers would be laid off in August, but are expected to transfer to positions in job development with salaries entirely paid by state and federal money.

Jobs are being cut across disciplines, and people are looking for any full-time or part-time job they can find.

Modesto-area unemployment rates rise

[Dec. 18, 2009]

Stanislaus County’s jobless hit 17.2 percent, just shy of the year-to-date high it reached in March of 17.5 percent, according to date released by the Employment Development Department.Surrounding counties also saw jumps anywhere from just shy of 2 percentage points for Merced to as little as .3 percent in Tuolumne.
California was among 36 states that saw unemployment fall last month, but it remains among the worst-off states for jobs, tying for third-highest unemployment with Nevada and South Carolina. The improvement in California’s overall unemployment rate comes despite the loss of another 10,200 jobs in November, according to a survey of employers. More than 2.2 million Californians were without work in November. The number does not include the nearly 500,000 workers who have taken low-paying or part-time jobs because that’s all they could find, or the 111,000 people who reported having given up looking for work, according to the state. The bureau says California, with the nation’s highest population, also led the U.S. in job losses in the last year, with 617,000 jobs gone.

What can we do about this? How can we bring jobs back? Not just seasonal jobs or stimulus funded jobs, but long term employment? What kind of jobs will give us the most return on our investment?

EMPLOYMENT EMPOWERMENT

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Crime: Someone Is Watching

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January 7, 2011

Modesto Mayor’s proposal calls for big police, fire hits

[Ken Carlson, May. 15, 2010]
Modesto may be forced to shed 60 positions to close a $12.7 million general fund shortfall. Public safety will take the brunt of the cuts, with police losing 35 positions and the Fire Department losing 10. The Police Department will shed 13 sworn officers and a dozen community services officers, more than a third of the nonsworn officers who respond to burglaries, stolen vehicle reports and vandalism.
The budget again calls for nonunion employees to take a 5 percent salary cut in the form of furlough days. “Our organization is trying to work with the city to resolve these budget issues,” said Tony Arguelles, president of the MPOA. “If you have this many layoffs, there is no doubt it would have an impact on the department and the citizens of Modesto.” Under the budget plan, the department would lose eight police officers, two detectives, two sergeants and a lieutenant. Six of the 35 threatened police positions are vacant. When the number of officers is cut, the department commits available staff to respond to major incidents such as robberies and violent crimes, Arguelles said. But it loses the ability to have fully staffed gang, narcotics and auto theft units. Councilman Garrad Marsh, a Finance Committee member, said that with the revenue declines, the city has no choice but to reduce public safety costs.

Safety officers aren’t just being down-sized, they are at risk for being closed down.

City governments rethink how, or if, services provided

Laid-off police officers, unmowed parks, closed libraries. Those are the visible reminders of government’s new, stripped-down reality. Some say there’s no end in sight. While the private sector talks about glimmers of recovery, the conversation at city halls and county buildings across the Northern San Joaquin Valley isn’t about when things will improve. It’s about how government has to redefine itself.
Leaders aren’t wondering how to provide services, they’re wondering if they should provide them at all. Some say public agencies must learn to make do under a state of “permanent fiscal stress.” The discussion for local governments has shifted from “creative budgeting” to “service redesign.”

Here’s a look at what the public can expect more of as cities re-imagine their roles.

 

  • Sharing with other cities. Need police? Ask the city next door. Lathrop, contracts with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department for its police services. For small cities such as Oakdale, consolidation will be essential to long-term survival.
  • Contracting. In Chicago, it’s parking meters. In Modesto, it’s park maintenance. This  relieves cities of a significant burden: employee benefits and retirement costs.
  • Residents paying for services. Receive medical care from a Tracy firefighter? Get ready to write a $300 check. Charging people for city services as they use them is a growing trend.
  • Taxes. Modesto could pay for a police and fire force to match the city’s population growth if it charged every homeowner a $500 yearly tax. Could you imagine a scenario where people would be willing to pay that fee?

Would a city-wide surveillance network help? After all, let’s not just take back one night, but all of them.

SAFETY and PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT

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Health: Your Body, Electric

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January 6, 2011

Hospital prices rise rapidly:
California facilities charging far more than actual costs

[B. Calvan & P. Reese, Apr. 19, 2010]

Behind every public uproar are some hidden facts. Here’s one about rising health insurance rates in California: Sharp jumps in hospital costs are a big part of the story.

Hospitals are charging insurance companies, and by extension their customers, billions of dollars for expenses not directly related to care. These include new hospital wings, new technology and services for the uninsured.

Sacramento-based Sutter Health has negotiated rates with “markups” more than double what it costs them to provide services. Memorial Medical Center and Sutter Gould Medical Foundation in Modesto are part of the Sutter Health system.

Hospitals say their charges to insurers are justified and necessary. Under law, hospitals must report the total amount of money they spend to provide services to insured patients each year, how much they bill insurance companies and how much they wind up collecting.

Based on those numbers, California hospitals charged insurers 53 percent more than what they told the state it cost them to provide services. In 2005, the gap was 40 percent.

Sutter Health has faced scrutiny for its pricing practices. Five years ago, Cal-PERS, the state’s largest buyer of health services, forced one of its key insurers to drop 13 Sutter Health hospitals from its stable of providers because CalPERS deemed the Sutter facilities too expensive.Insurers and hospitals negotiate discounted rates, and hospitals have different price structures for each insurance network they decide to join. In some cases, hospitals have blocked efforts to shed more light on their pricing policies. Revealing the information, they say, could reduce competition in the industry.

 

 

And for those who do not currently have health insurance, the new health care system overhaul will have a profound impact – with a few glitches. Are we willing to let virtual doctors take care of our needs? Are we comfortable with computers playing a central role in our health care?

Many in Stanislaus County lack insurance, on government plans

By Ken Carlson, Mar. 23, 2010

In approving an overhaul of the health care system, Congress seemed to write a prescription for a place like Stanislaus County, with its large numbers of residents who are uninsured or in government health programs.

The federal government, starting in 2014, will offer subsidies to help families and individuals buy affordable health insurance and will expand the federal and state Medi-Cal program now serving almost 124,000 county residents.

Some county health-care providers praised the bill, saying it will provide security for consumers and expand the base of patients able to pay for medical care.

Some predicted, however, a shortage of doctors to serve the newly insured.

Dr. Amarjit Dhaliwal, a cancer specialist in Modesto, praised the section of the bill that will prevent insurers from dropping or rejecting patients who have ongoing medical conditions. He said he has seen women with breast cancer dropped from insurance coverage in the middle of treatment. “That is not going to happen any more,” the oncologist said.

The California Primary Care Association, representing more than 800 community health centers in the state, believes the Medi-Cal expansion will add 1.7 million people to the health program, and an additional 2 million to 3 million will buy health insurance.Carmela Castellano-Garcia, the group’s chief executive officer, said the impact on the Central Valley will be profound, although the region’s undocumented population won’t be able to buy subsidized insurance.

Besides giving Medi-Cal benefits to childless adults for the first time, the bill includes $9.5 billion to help community health centers expand services and hire health care providers. An additional $1.5 billion is set aside for paying the education loans for new doctors agreeing to work in medically under-served areas such as the San Joaquin Valley.

 

 

There are many people who can’t wait for the new health care overhaul to go into effect, and many more who will need to stay as healthy as possible until it does.

 

 

HEALTH CHALLENGE

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Housing: Recreate the World You Live In

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January 6, 2011

Modesto airport area still isn’t at top of government’s to-do list

[Leslie Albrecht, May. 16, 2010]

Carolyn Milligan lives around the corner from a broken promise. Her duplex in Modesto backs up to an empty lot. Ten years ago, the city loaned $100,000 to a nonprofit developer who promised to build houses on four such lots in the airport neighborhood.

The houses were never built and the lots are still empty. On the one near Milligan’s house, a discarded couch nestles in tall grass. The ramshackle area in southeast Modesto has made frequent appearances on city and county to-do lists over the years. It never gets to the top.

The area is home to about 500 households. Settled by Dust Bowl immigrants in the 1930s, it was once known as “Little Oklahoma.” It’s still home to families hanging on to Modesto’s bottom rung. It’s mired in poverty and crime, and lacks basic services such as sidewalks and grocery stores.

Some progress has been made. There are now curbs and gutters. A park opened behind the school in 2005, built after an 11-year lobbying effort by residents. A mobile health clinic is stationed outside the school; a sheriff’s substation opened in the neighborhood in 2003.

But despite decades of promises from city and county officials, systemic change has proved elusive. Millions of government dollars that could have shored up the neighborhood have gone unspent, and plans for the neighborhood’s revival have gathered dust in city and county offices.

In 2009, Mayor Ridenour said Modesto would receive $8 million in federal relief, $2 million of which would be aimed specifically at buying foreclosed homes in the airport neighborhood. The county doesn’t want to build sewers, curbs, sidewalks and gutters until there’s a way to pay to maintain that infrastructure.In 2006, Modesto approved an airport neighborhood revitalization strategy. The plan included building a community center on an empty lot, attracting a full-service grocery store, reviving a neglected community garden, starting a Neighborhood Watch group, starting a tool bank for residents, and giving small loans to businesses. Progress has been slow. The city won federal approval for the strategy in late 2008.

With that hurdle cleared, Modesto could have awarded federal money to organizations that directly serve the airport neighborhood. That didn’t happen until this month. In May, the City Council approved a $20,000 grant to the Healthy Start site at Orville Wright School.

Airport resident Alex Salas, 22, said he’d put more cops at the top of the list, along with a gang injunction, the anti-gang measure used to fight gang activity in south Modesto.

City officials say they’ll make better use of a second round of federal funding Modesto received in January. The city won $25 million, of which $10.5 million will pay for buying and fixing up foreclosures and vacant properties.

City staff members are recruiting a full-service grocery store. Modesto recently set aside $1.4 million in federal money for curbs, gutters and sidewalks.

The city has $94,000 in federal money to promote economic development in the area. Some of it could help neighborhood residents form small businesses. “This is real community capacity building. It’s people working with one another to achieve change. It’s working toward self-sufficiency,” Ramirez said.

The foreclosure crisis is by no means localized to the airport district, nor is it limited to the failings of home developers.

Valley residents tangled in loan-aid scam

[Merrill Balassone, May. 21, 2010]

Homeowners from seven Stanislaus County cities were among the victims of a multimillion-dollar loan modification scheme run out of a Southern California boiler room, the state attorney general said.

The victims handed over fees of as much as $5,000 to help keep their houses out of foreclosure. “I almost lost the house because I was depending on them to mediate the process and they never did,” said Jeff Carnie, an Oakdale resident who sought help from the group.

Nine men have been charged with 97 criminal counts including grand theft, unlawful foreclosure consulting, tax evasion and conspiracy.
The men are accused of bilking $2.3 million from 1,500 homeowners, including some in Modesto, Turlock, Ceres, Oakdale, Riverbank, Manteca and Newman.The three-county region including Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties continues to have the highest percentage of defaulted mortgages in California.Since 2007, when the region’s housing crisis began, nearly 52,500 Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin County homes have been lost to foreclosure. That includes about 12.7 percent of all houses and condos in Stanislaus, 15.5 percent in Merced and 13.9 percent in San Joaquin.

These certainly aren’t the only challenges faced by home owners in Modesto. Furthermore, once a home is left vacant it becomes a community problem on many levels. What an we, average citizens, do about this? How can we re-think housing environments and the cliche of the white picket fence?

 

 

HOUSING CHALLENGE

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Traffic: Showing Up is Half the Battle

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January 6, 2011

SkyWest ending Modesto – Los Angeles flights after two years

[BEN van der MEER, Mar. 27, 2008]

SkyWest Airlines will discontinue round-trip flights between Modesto and Los Angeles.

Citing high fuel prices and insufficient revenue, Airport Manager Jerome Thiele said the Modesto-Los Angeles flights were consistently full, but SkyWest wasn’t satisfied with the revenue from those flights.

The airline had an introductory one-way price of $79 when the flights began in June 2006. At that time, the city of Modesto had a one-year agreement to pay SkyWest as much as $550,000 if the airline’s flights weren’t profitable. After that the city and airline were on their own.

Thiele said the Los Angeles flights helped Modesto to a record number of boarding passengers in 2007, with 51,587 taking flights from the airport. “Those flights definitely stimulated the market here,” Thiele said. “The LA flights were very popular.”

Joy Madison, Modesto Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer, said SkyWest’s announcement is doubly disappointing because the problem wasn’t that travelers weren’t taking the planes.

“Any time you lose air service, it’s harder for the local businesses,” said Madison. “It’s a recruiting and a retention tool.”

Before SkyWest’s flights started, Modesto hadn’t had air service to Los Angeles since 1992, when American Eagle stopped its service.

SkyWest also will drop one daily flight to San Francisco from Modesto on Wednesdays and Thursdays for the same reasons as the Los Angeles flights.

Thiele and Madison said they believe it’s possible Modesto can restore air service to Los Angeles, based on the popularity of SkyWest’s flights. “We hope to be able to turn this around,” Thiele said. “Given the population, the population growth and the economic base here, there is a market.”

Future transportation expansion, and how it could offer a glimmer of economic hope to the workforce as well as the local economy, is a greatly coveted prize.

Riverbank might try to attract rail depot:
City leaders will decide on challenge to Modesto

Riverbank might compete with Modesto for Stanislaus County’s only high-speed rail station.

Riverbank City Council members will review whether to challenge Modesto’s presumed lock on the only station between Stockton and Merced.  “I think it’s very feasible, it would make a lot of sense and truly could be a regional hub not just for Riverbank but for the whole area,” Riverbank Mayor Virginia Madueño said.

The possibility of a contest hinges on which of the county’s railroads ultimately are preferred by state rail authorities. And that might depend heavily on how each meets the needs of high-speed rail not here, but in other counties to the south: Decisions over which lines to use in Fresno and Merced counties might dictate which railroad right of way is chosen for Stanislaus County.

The Riverbank-Modesto competition could arise only if rail authorities approve the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe line running east of Modesto, with an Amtrak stop near the end of Briggsmore Avenue. That line continues north through Riverbank, which had an Amtrak station until 1999.

Modesto City Council members are lobbying for alignment on a Union Pacific line running downtown. Years ago, the city built a depot used by buses and taxis. The depot could serve trains as well because it’s right next to Union Pacific tracks.

The council unanimously threw support to that line last week, saying bullet train passengers could play a role in continuing efforts for downtown revitalization.

Riverbank, which sprung up next to a railroad, finished a $9 million upgrade to its downtown four months ago and envisions shopping, offices, a plaza and maybe a sports complex on a former cannery site nearby. A depot on the line that used to serve the cannery could deposit passengers in the middle of the new development, officials say.

“Riverbank was the center of the railroad in Stanislaus County for a long, long time,” City Manager Rich Holmer said. “We want to see that continue.”

Modesto Councilman Garrad Marsh said downtown Modesto is much more central to most of the county’s residents, including its three largest cities — Modesto, Turlock and Ceres — as well as the county’s West Side communities. The Union Pacific line roughly parallels Highway 99, the valley’s motor vehicle backbone.

Modesto also remains in the running for a stop on a possible extension of the Altamont Commuter Express rail coming from the Bay Area with its current terminus in Stockton. Riverbank could make a play for that line as well, if the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe right of way is chosen.

Here in the local commute arenas, lack of communication provides real barriers, and traffic jams, to commuters.

Yosemite roadwork delayed again:
Railroad crossings send traffic back to one lane

Despite years of planning and construction, $2 million in cost overruns and official pleas for patience, the promise of four smoothly flowing lanes from Modesto to Empire is being held up.Before the $10 million widening, vehicles had access to a center turn lane and shoulders for turns. Both were removed with the new stripes. “They’ve created a traffic jam that wasn’t there,” said Chris Rose, a transportation supervisor.

At issue are crossings on the Modesto & Empire Traction Co. railroad running parallel to Yosemite. Large eastbound trucks can’t make right turns without swinging wide to the left — into the left lane, if two lanes were there. They wouldn’t encroach on the other lane if the railroad crossings were larger.

Widening the railroad crossings could cost $750,000 in money that never was set aside.

The county’s public works department hopes to secure state funding for the Mariposa crossing, Harris said, which could be done this summer. StanCOG’s policy board will be asked to shift money left over from widening Yosemite to the two remaining crossings, Harris said.

“Why (the state) didn’t identify this as a safety issue several years ago, I can’t answer,” Harris said. “We’re going to be working very, very hard to get this done just as fast as we possibly can.”

“It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money,” Mark Cardoza said of the widening project. “They got rid of one choke point and now we’ve got a new one, defeating the whole purpose of the project. I wish they’d get their ducks in a row and get it right the first time.”

And then there are the bike paths – problematic mostly because there are so many bike paths with critical gaps to creating a free-flowing route from one area of the city to another.

 

 

TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGE

 

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Leisure: At Last A Day of Rest

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January 6, 2011

Movie’s Over: Ceres drive-in theater will not reopen this year, or ever again

The era of the drive-in theater is over, and it’s not coming back. Owners of the Ceres Theatre & Flea Market — the region’s last drive-in — have confirmed that the show will not go on. They’ve put the property up for sale.

The drive-in had entertained families since 1948. It offered double features during warm-weather months, charging by the car load.

Atwater resident Megan Brudzinski said her parents started taking her to the Ceres drive-in when she was 8. “It was just a fun time,” she said. “It was a family thing. I’m disappointed that it’s closing. There’s not many drive-ins around any more.”

Charlie Leffingwell said he and his wife went to the Ceres drive-in a few times each season.

“I thought it was neat when I moved to Modesto that the one here was still open,” he said. “It’s kind of a nostalgic thing. But we enjoyed being outside. It’s a whole different genre than going to an indoor theater where it’s crowded.”

The site has four entrance and exit points, which was important back in the days when as many as 600 cars poured out after movies ended.

Fewer than 500 remain nationwide, according to DriveInTheater.com, which lists thousands of defunct theaters, including Modesto’s McHenry Drive-In and Prescott Drive-In, Turlock’s Lucky Drive-In and Merced’s Starlite Drive-In.

And if you aren’t interested in the latest “blockbuster” remake, you will still have a hard time enjoying some of your favorite local Great American pasttimes…

Valley cities’ seasonal activities getting some trims

As city governments continue to look for ways to cut back their budgets, some of the pastimes of summer — softball games, day camps, recreation center games — are among the targets.

Modesto is making significant cuts to its recreation programs.

In Modesto, the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods Department needs to cut the equivalent of 10¾ full-time positions for a savings of $1.2 million in the budget year that starts July 1. Director Julie Hannon said that will mean cuts at the city’s recreation centers, which will operate six hours per day rather than eight.

“Additionally, the summer camp programs will be eliminated along with the Graceada Park program and the Youth Commission,” she said. The city is considering looking for a private operator to handle its sports leagues.

With money so scarce, cities including Modesto and Turlock have dropped their scholarship programs, which helped low-income families pay for classes and camps. Both departments are seeking grants and trying to get donations for scholarship funds.

“Rundown parks might be the first thing people notice if Stanislaus County leaders follow the advice of their money experts.”

Stanislaus County Board studies cuts from park upkeep to cemeteries

[Garth Stapley, June 9, 2010]

Faced with losing $18 million from their general fund, county supervisors are expected to weigh recommendations such as:

  • Frank Raines Regional Park would be open only on weekends. Its Deer Creek Camp Recreation Hall would be boarded up and no longer available to rent.
  • County officials would plan few or no maintenance projects at the Kiwanis Youth Camp, and would all but ignore the Roberts Ferry, French Bar and La Grange cemeteries, repairing vandalism only when “essential to health or safety.”
  • Even the county’s most visible public spaces would suffer reduced maintenance, including Tenth Street Place, the courthouse lawn in downtown Modesto, the old Scenic hospital, the Denair Amtrak station, the former Modesto City Hall behind the Gallo Arts Center, and grounds around the coroner’s office on Oakdale Road, north of Scenic Drive.
  • After-school and summer programs run by the county’s Police Activities League could disappear from Parklawn and Salida parks.

The dismal outlook for parks is just an example of service slashing among the county’s 27 departments. Leaders are studying an array of potential cuts, including reducing library hours, closing some offices a few days a year and closing a 64-bed jail wing.

Bleak times will force county government to reinvent itself, leaders say. “We know we have to restructure and reduce service levels because we know 2010-11 is going to be worse,” Nino said.

Are there ways to increase the options we have for providing recreational services and enhancing the lifestyles of Modesto and area citizens? How can we infuse more play into our own individual lives, and help other get out and play? In which areas can community involvement improve a bleak situation?

 

 

LEISURE CHALLENGE

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Arts: Express Yourself

Filed Under: Missions by Super Mama — 19 Comments
January 6, 2011

Fourth Fizzle: Fireworks going off in fewer places

[Lisa Millegan Renner, Jul. 02, 201o]

Valley residents have fewer options to watch Fourth of July fireworks than in past years.

Livingston canceled its show because it couldn’t afford it. Ripon and Delhi eliminated their shows last year because of a lack of funds.

“A lot of people are upset,” said Lynette Van Laar, Ripon city clerk and finance director, adding that the city government had paid for the displays in the past. “We had people who would send in a little bit of money in their water bills (for fireworks), but it wasn’t near enough. “

Fireworks still will explode this weekend at Modesto’s John Thurman Field, Manteca’s Big League Dreams sports facility, Don Pedro Reservoir and Oakdale’s Woodward Reservoir. Many valley towns also are planning parades and community festivals, and residents can buy their own more modest fireworks.

Turlock’s fireworks show fizzled out in part because Turlock Chamber of Commerce President Sharon Silva assumed that California State University, Stanislaus, would host them again as it did for 24 years. She hopes the chamber can help sponsor a fireworks show in 2011.

“People do care that we celebrate. Especially in today’s environment, we want to make sure that we celebrate our independence.”

With all the budget cuts in Ripon, Laar said the City Council couldn’t justify continuing to fund fireworks.

“We’ve got to keep the employees, so we’ve got to let some of the fluff stuff go,” she said.

Sam Garrett of the Modesto Jaycees, which sponsors Modesto’s Fourth of July celebration, said his group barely scraped together the money to put on the parade, hold the festival in Graceada Park and contribute to the Modesto Nuts’ fireworks show at John Thurman Field on Saturday. The group couldn’t put on a laser show at Enslen Park this year as it did last year because it didn’t have enough money.

It’s a truly heroic act for average citizens to send money in with their water bills to support a cultural celebration for all of Modesto, and several nearby towns, to enjoy. How could a hero help guide the city into harnessing this heroic community spirit.

Spots still open on culture board

[Feb. 07, 2010]

The Modesto City Council is looking for applicants to the city’s Culture Commission. Two seats are open. The commission advises on matters pertaining to art, literature, music and other activities as well as the McHenry Museum and the McHenry Mansion. The position has been less fun in recent years, as the city has scaled down a small pot of money it set aside for culture grants.

Many people are more than willing to do something heroic. Many times their good efforts and intentions are simply thwarted by the red tape and obstacles put in the way.

Hope ride runs out of gas for now

[Jeff Jardine, Feb. 11, 2010]

I sat and watched roughly 2,200 motorcycles vroom by. It was the Sierra Hope Ride, which, from 1995 through 2009, has generated nearly $3 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

No more, though — or at least not this year. Organizers Art Mitchell of Modesto and Karen and Allen Aldridge of Jamestown have canceled the event.

The number on the ride from Modesto to Jamestown ultimately grew so big that some folks along the way complained it gridlocked their towns and required too many police resources. Modesto, Riverbank, Oakdale, the counties of Stanislaus and Tuolumne, CalTrans and other agencies began charging for parade permits to cover police and other costs — costs that rose over the years.

“We went from two to nine permits, said Allen Aldridge who, with wife Karen — Mitchell’s daughter — manages Jamestown Harley-Davidson and helped organize the rides. “Cities that used to donate it could no longer because of their own financial situations.”

Oakdale charged nothing in 2006, the first year the ride went through town. Every year since, the city charged $380 for what amounted to a parade permit. And the Police Department — which dedicated 12 officers and 13 volunteers — billed the event $1,400 to cover costs each year.

Sierra Hope also paid more than $2,000 to shut down a segment of Briggsmore Avenue coming through Modesto.

Liability insurance costs also rose, with the cities wanting proof of insurance as the ride passed.

Then there was — still is — the recession. In 2005, 2,200 riders each paid the $50 registration fee to participate. For the ride’s first 13 years, it ended with festivities at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds in Sonora. Riders had to show proof they’d paid before entering the fairgrounds; those who hadn’t paid did so at the gate.

All told, the 2005 event generated about $355,700 in gross revenue and turned $314,000 — 88 percent — over to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

In 2009, 1,800 riders paid their fees, but about 1,200 more rode along without registering.

“Last year, there were at least 3,000 by the time we got to Jamestown,” said Mitchell, who owns Modesto’s Mitchell Harley-Davidson and Jamestown Harley- Davidson.

What happened?

A year earlier, organizers had tried to liven up the afterparty by moving it to Jamestown, where they took over the town’s quaint main street. They approached Tuolumne County officials about installing a temporary fence around the downtown but found it would be too costly. Consequently, they had no way to keep out those who hadn’t paid.

Last year’s event grossed only $155,000, with $84,000 — only 54 percent — going to the MDA.

Ultimately, these piker bikers helped kill the event, not only for the charity but also for those who paid and helped raise money.

It didn’t help that the Muscular Dystrophy Association closed its Modesto office and now coordinates its Stanislaus County efforts from a regional office in Sacramento.

“We still love raising money to help people,” Karen Aldridge said. “We have so many riders who are awesome people and want to help.”

Said Mitchell, “Nobody makes it easy — even to give money.”

Can we harness this energy of generosity? Can we give the people of Modesto an outlet to celebrating and supporting cultural, artistic, and charitable events?

 

ARTS & CULTURE CHALLENGE

 

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We Have Come Full Circle

Filed Under: Missions by Super Mama — 7 Comments
January 6, 2011

Modesto’s budget deficit rises to $12M

[Leslie Albrecht, Apr. 20, 2010]

Modesto’s projected budget shortfall has swelled to $12 million, up from the $8 million to $10 million leaders anticipated earlier this year.

Officials will spend the next month hammering out how to bridge the spending gap in the $103 million general fund, which pays for police, fire, parks and other quality of life services.

The deficit grew after some departments failed to meet revenue goals, said Mayor Jim Ridenour. He declined to say which departments.

Modesto recently received one piece of better budget news: Sales tax revenue in the last quarter of 2009 met projections. That’s important because sales tax is the city’s biggest source of general fund revenue. Those dollars have dried up as the economic decline has kept shoppers out of stores.

Ridenour and City Manager Greg Nyhoff have asked department heads to paint a picture of how potential cuts would affect their operations. They’re asking all department leaders to prepare scenarios cutting 3 percent, 5 percent, 7 percent and 10 percent of their budgets.

Ridenour said he also asked departments to show him what 8 percent cuts to personnel budgets would look like.

“That gives me a good idea of where we would be if we just laid a bunch of people off, which we’re not going to do, but we wanted to see what it would look like,” Ridenour said.

In the Police Department, even the smallest level of cuts would mean losing employees, said Chief Mike Harden.

“At the end of the day, to get that target, it’s personnel costs, which make up about 80 percent of my entire budget,” Harden said. “We’ve had to offer up both sworn and civilian staff alike.”

Harden said it’s too early to say how many employees, if any, the Police Department could lose.

He and other officials will know more after the city completes negotiations with employee unions. All of those groups skipped pay raises last year except the police officers union.

The city will hold a series of public budget workshops in May. Ridenour is scheduled to present his proposed budget to the City Council in early June. The city’s new budget year starts July 1.

 

Modesto ranks near bottom in another quality-of-life survey
Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health? Not so much, Gallup says

[Feb. 17, 2010]

Modesto ranks near the bottom of another national survey rating the quality of life among metropolitan areas.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that came out Tuesday ranked Modesto 130th among the 134 small and mid-size metropolitan areas in the United States. The Fort Smith, Ark., area ranked last while Boulder, Colo., was No. 1.

Among large metro areas, San Jose was tops and Brimingham, Ala., was at the bottom.

 

Time for that ‘vision thing’

[Adam Ashton, Aug. 09, 2010]

What’s next, Modesto?

“It might be time to talk about the vision thing again,” said former Mayor Carol Whiteside.

Should that mayor be someone who keeps the lights on and the budget balanced, reflecting realistic goals as Modesto emerges from the recession?

Should the city’s next leader shake up the powerful, as Sabatino did?

Or should a mayor have that “vision thing” to project a Modesto that wouldn’t keep turning up on lists of miserable places to live?

Whiteside’s looking for the latter.

“As we come out of the recession, we ought to be talking about quality of life … the package of things you expect from a city this size,” she said.

After seven years, Ridenour’s fingerprints are all over City Hall.

During his tenure, the city dealt with unsexy subjects such as a sewer plant expansion while keeping the budget balanced in the worst economy since the Great Depression. He pivoted the city to embrace regionalized and privatized services to save taxpayers’ cash.

Ridenour’s council also accomplished a couple of political reforms that Sabatino wanted but couldn’t build a consensus to execute: raising the pay of elected officials and instituting district elections for council races. Those changes could open Modesto to new political voices over time.

Ridenour did the work without drawing much attention to himself, a counterpoint to Sabatino’s years when council meetings sometimes lasted past midnight, for good or ill.

But the council with Ridenour has been the opposite of Sabatino’s in another way. Unlike the bunch who sat on the council with Sabatino, the current group can give residents the impression that it’s an exclusive body whose members disagree over little aside from zoning disputes.

Two council members likely are going to run for mayor next year, and the field could open up with candidates with business or public safety backgrounds.

City Councilman Brad Hawn has both feet in the mayor’s race, and Councilman Garrad Marsh is rumored to be getting ready to run, too. They have virtually indistinguishable voting records on the council, but they have different politics and different bases on which to draw if they follow through.

Hawn is a Republican, an artist, an engineer, and he’s the guy who takes on some of the grunt work on utilities and budgets on the council.

Marsh is a Democrat, a supporter of nonprofit groups, the owner of McHenry Bowl, and he’s best known for advocating slow-growth policies.

Next year, rake ‘em over the coals and get them to tell you, “What’s next, Modesto?”

Are there ways to increase the options we have for providing recreational services and enhancing the lifestyles of Modesto and area citizens? How can we infuse more play into our own individual lives, and help other get out and play? In which areas can community involvement improve a bleak situation?

QUALITY OF LIFE CHALLENGE

  • REVIEW – You have educated yourself about many of Modesto’s quality of life issues in your earlier missions. How can you pass that knowledge on to others?
  • ACT – What can you do about it?Help us decide:
    • WHICH great challenges and social problems should the /Building Imagination Alliance tackle next?
    • WHO would you encourage to play Season 2?
    • HOW would you change the game for Season 2?
    • WHAT new tools would you want as a Super Hero?
    • WHY would you come back for a second Season? What more would you want from the experience?
  • IMAGINE – Unleash your creativity and return to the scene of the battle to learn what we can do next.
  • Ask A Mentor for Help
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