GONE!

Visalia - Embattled Visalia Superintendent Linda Gonzales is expected to be released this week although just how the Board of Trustees will handle the release terms is unclear.  “She’s history,” say sources familiar with the case.

The news comes only hours after Gonzales lost out in a bid to get a job at a New Jersey school district where she was a finalist candidate.

Within the hour of the news coming out of New Jersey, the VUSD Board called for a special board meeting to take place Thursday Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. only hours after this paper goes to press.  If the board takes action on Gonzales’ contract, like putting her on administrative leave, there would be an announcement coming out at the end of the closed door session.

Gonzales had held a narrow 4 to 3 vote of confidence on the board until recent weeks when apparently a healthy majority of the board decided that they had had enough.  A few weeks ago former board chair Russ Bassett questioned Gonzales’ right to fund legal fees for studies the board had not approved of including an investigation of the County Dept. of Education.

In the past few months the board ordered an audit of the management of VUSD - an audit that is expected to be highly critical of Gonzales’ tenure.  Dr. Jake Abbott has completed the report and it was expected to be heard at the last board meeting.  The report has been postponed again until late September - the first time Abbott can make the presentation.  Still, the actual ordering of the audit that interviewed scores of community leaders and staffers appeared to be a sign that the support for Gonzales was eroding on the board.  “If VUSD was a patient in the hospital, how would you describe her prospects?” was the opening question Abbott asked in interviews.  “We’ve got a new team together - all we need is a new quarterback,” says a school board member privately.

Indeed, the board has quietly filled three top positions at VUSD district office with veteran management including: Dr. Mark Fulmer, Assistant Superintendent Administrative Services, Kay Van Andel, Assistant Superintendent Human Resource Development, and Carlyn Lambert, Assistant Supervisor of Curriculum.  Already they are making the rounds of local service clubs, being introduced around.  All have some local roots.

Even some who will vote to oust Gonzales says she’s done much good in Visalia.  “That story should come out,” says one.

Supporter Curt Lewin says the board ought to give her another year’s contract “although I doubt that is in the cards.”  The bottom line is that “I’ve agreed with virtually all her decisions from band uniforms on,” says Lewin “although some find fault in the process part.”  Gonzales has been criticized for lack of communication involving both community and board in some decisions but instead pushed her agenda ahead of support of it.

Key to Gonzales’ effort has been to try to raise test scores and equalize services across the district where some of the schools have a large low income population.  Test scores did go up in the most recent round although moderately.  The gain was especially noticeable in elementary math scores.  She is credited with bringing in millions in state funds for the district under the Voluntary Integration Program.

On the critical side, Visalian Mike Huggins says he supports the formation of a citizens group to immediately look for a replacement for Gonzales.  “We need to bring in an interim now,” says Huggins.  With the new assistant superintendent a new team could be put together, he believes.  Huggins blames Gonzales and the board for missing out on VUSD’s chance to get modernization money this year by not filing quickly enough, something the board said was unavoidable.  A citizens group has pushed for a state investigation of how the district uses Title 1 money - a report that has not been completed.  District officials say they expect to be cleared on any wrong doing.

Gonzales has at least until June 2001 on her contract.  Today’s meeting has multiple agenda items on the closed door portion relating to a continuing evaluation of her work.  But it also says there will be no action taken on the contract as a result of the evaluation.  But there is a separate agenda item titled “dismissal or release of a district employee” that would likely allow that action.  If the board decides there is cause to let her go they don’t have to pay the contract.  If they decide to put her on administrative leave they pay the remainder of the contract.

Gonzales came to the district in 1998 with high hopes the trouble that dogged  her last school district job would not follow her.  But much of it did with the actions dividing the board and community and resulting last fall in the three new board members who came in with a mandate to clean house.  A recall of the remainder of the board failed but narrowly as controversy over Gonzales was the meat and potatoes in the local media for months on end.
But last fall Gonzales went in a shell and had little communication with the community or news media.  She hired a personal spokesperson for the district to do the job.

Still, there was a sense she was constantly under attack.  Last fall she announced she would not seek to renew her contract and therefore put herself in a position as a lame duck this week.  Earlier this year there was a big fuss when Gonzales hired an attorney to go after the Visalia Times Delta for what she said was intentionally misrepresenting the facts.  The district dropped the action later.  Now the board appears to be saying that “it’s time to move on.”

In other school news this week, the district is awaiting Judge Patrick O’Hara’s ruling on a suit filed by a contractor that suggest VUSD did not follow the rules in awarding a bid to build the new high school.  The ruling is expected this week.  If they lose “we could lose the state monies because of the deal,” says spokesperson Anthony Escobar.  If they win the construction of the new high school begins right away, expected to open in August 2002.

Visalia - For many Visalians, it will be like going home one more time now that Stone Blue Inc.has officially taken over the former Sierra Pacific Apparel jeans sewing plant in North Visalia.

Escrow closed this week clearing the way for the North Santa Fe Avenue plant to power up its production lines and increase its hiring.

When the former owner, Chic by H.I.S. announced in March that it was closing down the Visalia plant nearly 300 workers lost their jobs. Now, nearly six months later many of those same workers could be rehired in coming months. Although the plant has continued to stay in production the work force had dwindled to 15 to 20 in recent months. Now, according to plant manager Chuck Thomas, the task rehiring a work force in the coming months can gain momentum.

Because the sale to a new owner was anticipated, former workers were aware that a re-hiring process likely would be coming. Thomas said 400 applications were distributed and 400 were returned. Although new hiring will depend on work orders, Thomas said it is likely that 300 or more workers could be employed by spring. That level would be close to the job totals prior to the layoffs announced by Chic by H.I.S.  which now is Durango Apparel based in Durango, Mexico. Durango Apparel now has all its production in Mexico, a cost-cutting move necessitated when the company faced difficult financial times.  According to financial reports early this year Chic by H.I.S. a New York based firm, lost 83 per cent of its value in a year. In February the firm’s chief executive officer resigned at the time the company announced it if was restructuring. The company’s sales fell 10 per cent, a reflection of the slump in retain denim market at that time.

Stone Blue, a Los Angeles based Korean immigrant jean manufacturer with rootes in the garment industry , produces jeans for Abecrombie & Fitch. Other clients could be coming in the future, company officials said.
Jeff Paul, former co-owner of Sierra Pacific Apparel with Ernie Acquafresca, said Stone Blue purchased all the equipment in the Visalia plant and assumed the least of the building from long-time owner Louis Kennedy of Beverly Hills.

The impact of the aged sewing plant has been a big one in Visalia. For many years Bayly Manufacturing was one of the area’s biggest private employers. Acquafresca, who was with Bayly from 1965 to 1988, reopened the plant along with Paul. They took the new company, Sierra Pacific Apparel from annual sales of $1.5 million to $22 million in the 11 years they owned the firm. According to Acquafresca, the Visalia plant cranked out an average of 65,000 garments a day at peak production periods. And, with an estimated $100,000 a week payroll , the jeans plant was important to the local economy. It is apparent that another resurrection of the Visalia plant will be felt in the city’s financial bloodstream.

Many of the former Bayly workers stayed on with Sierra Pacific and then with CHIC by H.I.S. Now, according to Thomas, many of those laid off earlier this year will be rehired as the new operator, Stone Blue, powers up its production. Thomas, who himself  has had four employers in his 16-plus years at the plant, estimated that up to100 people have worker for all four companies.

The rebirth of the Visalia clothing plant comes as an estimated 600,000 garment industry jobs were lost in the last decade to other countries where labor costs are far lower. Still the strength of the LA garment industry has been a factor because much of the design work happens here, industry sources say.

Now a Tulare County group will take on the Center in coming months in what will be  closely watched by the multi billion valley industry.  The Allied Industries group has gathered a war chest to defend a new Environmental Impact Report for a proposed dairy in Tulare County.  Quad Knopf has been hired to do the EIR that would be a supplement to the County’s problematic EIR.  “We found that the current EIR didn’t go far enough,” says an industry source, particularly on air and water issues.  “So the new EIR will focus on state-of-the-art mitigation measures and thorough analysis of these issues to make the project’s EIR bullet proof” when the Center tries to take the project to court.  In a nutshell, that’s the plan, says Mike Henderson a member of the Allied Industries.  Spokesman for the group Al Oliver was not available for comment.

The proposed dairy project’s new “draft” EIR should be prepared by the end of September and sent out for comments.  Then it will be finalized and resubmitted to the County in a multi month process.  But come next spring the matter could go to the Board of Supervisors where the Center will likely show up and complain that the EIR is inadequate.  Once the project is approved the Center will likely show up and complain that the EIR is inadequate.  Once the project is approved the Center will file suit and the matter will be litigated, says the industry sources.  “That’s the only way to get out of the mess we’re in now,” says the source.

The fear is that the central valley will no longer be the choice for relocation of dairies and that in turn could halt the effort to gain more dairy industry jobs.  On the controversial side of the coin, all this focus on dairy’s environmental problems may focus research and solutions to air emissions and water contamination problems that nobody wants.  If we can get an answer to the questions of just how much of an emission problem do cows pose and what is the best technology for cleaning it up - what can the industry afford?  Will the costs kill the healthiest industry in Tulare County and one of the few that is thriving?

A Sept. 12 hearing in Hanford led by Assemblyman Dean Florez who chairs the Assembly Ag Committee could focus the need for more monies for each some hope.

“If the talks fail in the end, we have to be prepared to line the canal.”  The opposing sides had agreed to work to come to an agreement on an alternative to lining the canal that would mean more water for TID and compensation of the water for the water they lose as it seeps into the ground on a 10 mile journey into the district.  An 11th hour compromise late last month headed off more court and media battles over the contentious issue.

“We’re very disappointed,” says POWER member and property owner Margaret Peterson, that this action would come at the same time both sides are getting together.  Attorney for POWER and Dr. Mitts, Don Mooney, said that TID action “is not supported by law” and will lose in court.  TID seeks to halt Mitts right to take water out of the canal, something Mitts claims his deed allows. “This is an issue we need to resolve whether we line the canal or not,” says Hill.  Likewise, there are a handful of other property owners that TID will likely take condemnation action on says Hill if they don’t accept the district’s request to buy out their interest.  “They are going to go after the rest of us too,” says Peterson.

It isn’t clear how quickly this latest flap will be heard in local court but it could be soon.
Since announcing a cease fire in the dispute and an agreement to aim to October 10th to delay any lining of the canal, the POWER group offered an olive branch when they quit their appeal of the CEQA ruling over the adequacy of the TID’s Environmental Impact Report.  That complaint would not have been heard for months anyway since a judge refused to allow an injunction at the time of the appeal.

A separate legal action - a complaint by 24 property owners along the canal to put a restraining order or injunction on TID’s ability to carry out the construction activity.

Hill says he isn’t sure if the canal contractor could build it if the project starts as late as October 10 before next spring when the canal will be needed for irrigation.  “That was as long as we could wait.”

The breakthrough on the canal issue came as the City of Visalia agreed to work with property owners, TID and the Kaweah Water Conservation District to fashion a compromise that would bring in the annual average of federal CVP water into the region.  TID had said they would take only 60% of the average because of the high cost.  That has worried other jurisdictions who depend annually on this imported water to recharge area aquifers.  Details of the latest proposal - apparently agreed to in principle, have not been released.  Still, it is likely that the citizens of Visalia will be asked to raise their water rates a small amount to help pay for water benefits they would expect to see.

In a related issue, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Bill Sanders, says the County is working on an ordinance similar to what is in the works in Fresno County that could limit the export of water that was pumped from the underground outside the county.  “It’s just a matter of time for legal departments to come up with the wording,” he says.

That’s become an issue because many expect TID to sell some water outside the area.  TID officials have declined to say whether they would or would not.

While support for a guest worker plan has earned Republican Rodriguez financial support - it isn’t clear the issue will be a big vote getter for the TV anchorman turned politician.  Still it has boosted Rodriguez’s spirit.

Both the California Farm Bureau and Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League announced in the past few days they would back Rodriguez citing immigration reform (the guest worker plan) among other issues as the reason why.  Participants at a recent Nisei sponsored dinner coughed up $80,000 to help fund the Rodriguez campaign.  The league boasts 1000 members.

Dooley, a 10 year veteran congressman and a farmer himself who has championed water and trade issues, says the guest worker plan remains virtually the only issue of disagreement with the state Farm Bureau.
While Dooley calls the current plan (HR 4056) irresponsible and “indentured servitude”, Rodriguez praises the bill since it would provide a more certain labor supply for agriculture.

What is not certain however, is whether this stance will “play in Parlier” - i.e. sway the Latino and swing voters who will decide this election.

“These are jobs people don’t want,” says Rodriguez, “hard jobs that you can’t get the unemployed to take.”  Rodriguez says legalizing immigrant workers “will take them out of the shadows” and stop the abuse of smuggling workers who are desperate to get into the U.S.  “This is a better way for growers to get workers.”  He wonders “why should people have to ride in the trunk to come here and get a piece of the American dream.”

Dooley, who was in Cutler recently for the dedication of a business center says, “When you look at an area of the district like Cutler that has 36% unemployment, you have to be cautious about inviting more workers from outside the country.  My opponent wants to bring in tens of thousands of new workers when there isn’t evidence that even one nectarine, plum or orange was not picked because of a labor shortage.”

Farmers - particularly in the raisin harvest have complained about labor shortages in years past but so far this September a California Farm Bureau spokesman said labor shortages were “spotty” and unlike other years the issue has not shown up on the radar screen.

Farm groups have worked to get a guest worker plan revived for the past five years and see the year 2000 as the year a convergence of forces will get the job done.  With labor shortages increasing in some parts of the nation and a strong economy across the country, they feel congressional support may allow them to be part of the compromise bill this year.

They want an expansion of the current H2-A program that would allow thousands of Mexican farmworkers to come to California to pick our crops and go home if they have be working for at least 150 days or more a year.  The bill says that is the immigrant worker returns to farming for 5 to 7 years they could apply for permanent legal status.  Republican Congressman Richard Pombo has promoted a pilot program with no numerical limitations that may be heard in early September in the House.

Coming after years of unprecedented immigration into the state and central valley - both legally and illegally - the issue of an influx of poor and uneducated workers may be controversial indeed.  Amnesty for 2.7  million undocumented California residents in the 1986 Immigration Reform Act contributes to the belief among many that more immigrants have come to the state than the economy can absorb.  Part of the controversy relates to the fact that much of the 20th District suffers from persistent double digit unemployment.  In Tulare County in July during the peak of the fruit harvest, unemployment stood at nearly 16%.  There is a largely immigrant workforce already here without work.

“More workers will just compound the indigent problems both our hospitals and schools have,” says Dooley.  Instead, Dooley says farmers have to live with supply and demand all the time and with labor costs, too.  “Maybe if they paid $7 or 8 an hour you’d get the unemployed to come out to work.”

Over the past decade the growing number of poor people here has impacted local services from schools to hospitals to the police departments.  Already estimates of undocumented workers in California is around 52% and is rising according to a UC Davis report.

Some towns - typically poor farmworkers towns - suffer far higher unemployment numbers like Parlier, Cutler-Orosi and Earlimart, 30 to 50% unemployment.  The small cities remain the only place seasonal immigrant workers can afford to live given the lack of housing for farmworkers.  Others have warned about a two-tiered society and the wide income gap between the large number of low income people and a declining middle class as unhealthy.
Hispanics comprise fully 55% of the district’s voters.  The fact that Rich Rodriguez is an Exeter native Hispanic would seem tailored to gain votes.  But Hispanics have in the past resented many Republicans anti-immigrant rhetoric.

That has changed this year with the Texas presidential candidate, George W. Bush at the head of the ticket.  Bush has made it a conscious strategy to lure the Hispanic vote and Rodriguez’s candidacy has gained strong Republican support because they feel this time around Dooley may be vulnerable.

Rodriguez says he believes his message is catching on.  An early August poll done by his campaign showed him up by one point.  “Frankly I was surprised,” says Rodriguez.  He says he plans to reach out to more Hispanics over the next few weeks during a 16th of September celebration around the district.  Rodriguez says although his Spanish is not too good, he asks the Spanish language audience to bear with him.  Rodriguez grew up in Exeter and worked in the fields in his youth.  He says the Spanish language his grandparents used “never sank in.”
While the central valley - compared to some of the state - is friendly to Republican candidates, the 20th District with a majority Hispanic population is less so.

In 1996 while Clinton took 52% of the vote in the 20th District, Dooley got 57%.  In 1998 Dooley won with 61%.
Ag is clearly the number one industry in the district with 7 out of 10 jobs related to farming.

Dooley says while the state Farm Bureau has backed his opponent, many local Farm Bureau leaders like Chuck Nichols of Visalia have endorsed him. He has a big list of contributors from the ag industry as well.
Bush campaigned in the central valley last month speaking Spanish at some stops.  Bush’s nephew at the Republication Convention had compared the Texas Governor to former UFW president Cesar Chavez.  Current UFW president Arturo Rodriguez has lashed out at Bush for failing to close a federal loophole in his state that allows some farmworkers to be paid less than the minimum wage.  Some workers on smaller Texas farms make only $3.35 an hour.

Bush and Republicans have an uphill battle to attract the Hispanic vote.  In the March 7th primary 21% voted for Bush while Gore received 55% of Hispanics who voted.

The issue over support in the Hispanic community is a hot one with Hispanic Rodriguez counting some 4 district elected officials who are Hispanic in his camp.   Dooley on the other hand, says he “has over 90% of the Hispanic community leaders endorsing my candidacy.”  Prominent among them is Dinuba Republican Fred Ruiz.

Farmers justify the guest worker plan because of widespread belief that the current system is broken.  Farmers are put in the position of checking documentation from workers at the very time they are pressed for time during harvest.  Meanwhile, stepped up enforcement of the border may have reduced the workforce, farmers say they need to harvest some crops.

Some farmers say their issue with Dooley is that he too often sides with the Democratic line on votes and doesn’t display the independence they hoped he would.

Meanwhile, farmers are frustrated by all the support the high tech industry is getting from congress including Dooley and a likely support for granting visas for foreigners working in that industry.

Nisei Farmers League president Manuel Cunha said he figures a new immigration reform bill will pass this year and amnesty for illegals that are already here could be part of it along with the high tech workers.  Cunha says a farm guest worker plan will be part of the package that will come to the floor.

Dooley said this week that “talks have broken down and they aren’t even close to any kind of compromise.”  Dooley was back on the House floor this week after summer recess.

It is clear that Dooley will stand in the way of passing this law and a win by Al Gore is likely to do the same.
Will we see the two candidates face off.  Rodriguez knows there will be a Channel 18 debate and likely one on Channel 30, his old stomping ground.  He says he is stumping most of this week in Kern County where he is lesser known.