Largest Orange Grower Pulls Out of Sunkist
Paramount Citrus Has History Of Marketing Savvy

Delano - Sunkist Growers largest packer, Paramount Citrus, has put the cooperative on notice that it plans to withdraw from the organization they have been part of since 1991. Based in Delano, the company owns or farms about 30,000 acres of citrus and is the state’s largest citrus grower. Based on volume, Paramount provides 20 percent of the oranges sold through Sunkist.

“Paramount sent their letter in a few weeks ago,” confirms Sunkist spokesperson Claire Smith. “We don’t know what their plan is now” except for the fact they are pulling out of the co-op during the few months window the co-op bylaws allow members to withdraw. The pullout must be completed by the end of October – the beginning of the navel orange season.

For Sunkist “this is a significant loss that affects their overhead and revenue” predicts Citrus Mutual president Joel Nelsen. “But I think they will adjust and could even replace the lost volume.”

Most believe the assessment per carton Sunkist growers must kick in to cover the company’s overhead will have to increase.

Nelsen says for Paramount, they will need to gear up their marketing department to move citrus under a new label and attempt to grab new market share, he suggests. Paramount, owned by L.A. businessman Stewart Resnick, has a strong reputation as a keen marketer with success in their Cutie line of mandarins they joint ventured outside the Sunkist umbrella with Sun Pacific, their pistachio and almond products, and new but highly successful pomegranate products. Paramount citrus has packing facilities north of Visalia in Delano.

Resnick’s clout in ag products not only includes citrus, but he is the largest pistachio grower and one of the largest almond producers in the world. Resnick also owns The Franklin Mint and Teleflora through his company Roll International. Resnick himself sat on the Sunkist board for a term.

The relationship between Resnick and many of Sunkist’s smaller Central Valley growers have been uneasy with Resnick clearly urging what he says was needed reforms in the way the 100-year-old plus cooperative operated. He lobbied to get the sister company of Sunkist – Fruit Grower Supply – to sell their extensive timberlands. But in a close vote, the board of Fruit Growers turned down the idea last October. This winter Resnick reportedly was urging a change to Sunkist cooperative governance structure to stock ownership as a few other California co-ops have done in the past few years. This too fell on deaf ears for the majority of Sunkist directors who feared the loss of membership clout if this happened. The turmoil had a hand in the departure of president Jeff Gargiulo in February, say reliable sources. Sunkist is still looking for a new president.

After all this, Paramount withdrew three board members from the co-op in February and later, the president of Paramount Citrus, David Krause, resigned as well leaving no representative from Paramount on the Sunkist board. Krause was the 2005 chairman of Sunkist who was last seen at the co-ops annual meeting in February.

“We’ll be alright without them,” says Orange Cove grower Lee Bailey, a long time Sunkist director, although there will be a period of adjustment to the lower volumes, he says. Bailey was a strong supporter of the current co-ops governance structure.

Letters from both Sunkist and Paramount have gone out to industry suppliers and contacts announcing the split in recent weeks. Similar to Resnick’s interest in transforming the citrus industry, he has been pushing the pistachio industry as well, wanting to get rid of mandatory advertising assessment fees.

One citrus watcher says the industry seems to be diverging between a few larger players like Paramount, Sun Pacific and Booth Farms – who own thousands of acres and the smaller growers and their packing houses who remain part of the Sunkist co-op. Each will be fighting to retain their customer base. But the larger majority are likely to continue to work together through the new citrus organization California Citrus Growers Association working to avoid a flood of product from ruining the market for everyone.

Indeed the problem has been too much fruit – typically of smaller size that is less popular with consumers and therefore unprofitable for growers. The backdrop to this development is that there tends to be more sellers even though in the food business these days there are fewer buyers.

One factor to consider as Paramount sets out on their own is that the California orange industry is looking pretty good these days compared to the problems competitive citrus areas are having with pests, tropical storms and diseases. This year, Florida’s citrus crop will be a third smaller than last year and the disease, citrus greening is ruining the citrus juice business there and in other locations. The disease has been kept out of California so far – virtually the only citrus region in the world where it isn’t a problem.

One battleground where Paramount now has the edge is with the rapid growth of the mandarin industry in California – a joint venture between Paramount and Sun Pacific – in which it has several thousand acres. Mandarins are a strong growth market for the state’s citrus industry who has seen a decline in Valencia volume in the past few years. Meanwhile, some 150,000 new virtually seedless Tango mandarin trees are being planted this season and the acreage of mandarins today – about 12,000 acres – is likely to double in coming years, expects Joel Nelsen.

Sunkist has just a few acres in this growing market and will want to address that, say sources.

No word on the licensing agreement between Paramount and Sunkist on Paramount’s use of the Sunkist label for their pistachios.

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By George Lurie

Visalia - A potentially dramatic turf war between the Visalia City Council and the city's planning commission was averted this week when city councilors decided not to take action on a proposed ordinance that would have tightened council control over planning commission decisions.

At issue: Should appointed planning commissioners or elected city council members be the final arbiter of how major projects in Visalia take shape?

The discussion about revising the planning commission appeal process was spurred on, in part, by the controversy that erupted earlier this year when the planning commission voted 4-0 to allow alcohol to be served at Adventure Park, a decision that was subsequently overturned on a 5-0 vote by the city council after the planning commission decision was appealed by private citizens.

Members of the city's planning commission, who are appointed by the city council, think this latest proposal is a bad idea and voted 4-0 not to support it at a recent planning commission meeting.

But at this week's Visalia City Council meeting, a majority of councilors continued to push for a revision in the appeal process that would give them more power—or at least additional oversight—with regard to how appeals of key planning commission decisions are triggered.

“The planning commission should be the champion of the general plan and good and wise development,” said councilman Greg Collins. “If two (city) council members were to appeal a matter, what's most on their minds is to ensure that any development that's being reviewed has the best design possible…The objective is to have a superior project at the end of the decision-making process.”

The proposed ordinance, which councilors ultimately voted to table for the time being, would have allowed for a direct, city council-triggered appeal and review of specific planning commission rulings when at least two city council members objected to a planning commission decision.

Currently, an appeal of planning commission rulings can only be initiated by an “interested party.”

And the appeal process also requires payment of a $318 filing fee.

“For the average citizen, $300 is a big chunk of change to appeal something,” said Visalian Amy Shuklian, who spoke in opposition to the proposed ordinance at Monday's meeting.

The proposed revision was also opposed by planning commission members, developers and much of the business community.

“This proposal…puts the city at risk of becoming a community where the decisions are made based on the current political hot button, rather than on careful analysis and public input,” read a Visalia Chamber of Commerce “talking point” outlined in a Web mail e-blast widely distributed prior to Monday night's meeting.

At the Monday meeting, a number of prominent members of the business community spoke out against the proposed change.

“I don't think we need to make any changes,” said planning commission member Vincent Salinas.

Anil Chagan, chairman of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce, said: “So far, Visalia has been seen as a model of governance…(The proposed ordinance would) damage (city council's) ability to make rules when you become enforcers of those rules.”

Bob Keenan, executive director of the Tulare County Building Industry Association, asked: “Why would we want to change into a stealth system where two councilors can challenge any decision and put a developer's project in limbo for 30 days?”

As it is currently written, the proposed ordinance would allow councilors to trigger an appeal and would also permit the two council members who initiated the review process to sit in on the public hearing and vote on the appeal.

Many other cities around the Valley including Exeter, Woodlake, Dinuba, Selma, Carlsbad and Lemoore already have similar city council-driven planning review and approval processes in place.

After Monday night's city council meeting, the two members of the planning commission that were in attendance both made a point of speaking with Councilman Collins, who initiated the proposed ordinance and continues to be its chief supporter.

The day after the meeting, Deputy City Attorney Alex Peltzer suggested that city staffers would “craft some changes to bring the ordinance closer to a middle ground. For example,” Peltzer said, “we could modify the provisions on whether a council member must state the grounds for appeal or leave it silent as it is now.

“If one of your goals is to spur the developer to negotiate further with the city,” Peltzer added, “how does the developer know what the city's concern is if it is not clearly stated up front?”

Peltzer suggested other areas of potential change to the proposed ordinance will emerge from the discussions that council members intend to have with the planning commission.

“This (proposed ordinance) doesn't politicize the process as much as some people say it will,” said Peltzer. “We didn't reinvent anything here. We are just looking at examples of other cities and applying it here. I think the council showed this week that they are very willing to work with the planning commission, understand their concerns and make revisions to the ordinance so that it is not totally objectionable."

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Visalia - Visalia developer Harvey May says his three-acre, block-long project on Santa Fe Avenue and Murray Street is moving forward. The project is one of the first major private East Visalia developments to begin the building process since the Visalia City Council announced their intention to site the new Civic Center east of the traditional downtown area beginning the master planning of about a half mile square area. This older area of town is the historic railroad crossings east of downtown, a mostly rundown part of town and home to the infamous Hobo Jungle area a few blocks to the east. Indeed, the city has suggested this dusty & dilapidated part of town in the heart of a booming city of Visalia is just the right place for a downtown renaissance.

May’s company, Polomo Development, is a believer in the vision and is first out of the chute to promote a new kind of development for Visalia.

“We have as multi phased project with over 90,000-square-feet office space.” The plan was submitted to the city site plan review process this week. “The first phase – a 32,000-square-foot, two-story office is definitely a go,” he says. Construction of the building is expected to start this fall. May says he is working with a client whom he can’t yet talk about. But sources say the client is Buckman Mitchell who would relocate from their downtown Main Street building to the new site in the fall of 2007. The building would be located on the corner of Santa Fe and Murray.

May says the new development, City Centre Professionals Office will be located on Santa Fe, and that within a few years, it will become “one of the most important streets in Visalia” with construction of a new bridge over Highway 198.

The site is just two blocks from the proposed Civic Center – the first phase of which should be under construction about the time the new Buckman Mitchell building is complete. The other two buildings on the site will be “spec” meaning they are seeking tenants for them. Architect on the building is Teter A&E.

Key to the success of the new area is new zoning and parking requirements for East Visalia that went into effect just this week with the adoption of new regulations by the city.

Under the new rules, a builder can construct a more dense office complex, building multi story and enjoying a more relaxed parking requirement from four spaces to three spaces per 1,000 square feet. The new rules also allow the builder to provide just 50 percent of the parking “on site.” That means that the rest of the parking requirement will come from scattered parking garages and lots the city will construct paid for by the 50 percent parking in-lieu fee.

“That’s how we are going to get more parking garages built,” says city council member Don Landers.

May is part of the Downtown Property Improvement District task force on parking and salutes plans to add more parking by adding diagonal parking to Center Street for example. “For the price of a can of paint they can buy 150 spaces that would cost $20,000 per space in a parking garage.” He says that adding more diagonal parking in East Visalia will help jumpstart development there.

May doesn’t believe there is the market yet to build mixed-use offices and residential units in his project, although he sees townhouses with small backyards likely built in the near future. The city wants to have more residential and offices as well as retail mixed in with multi story buildings in East Visalia.

Assistant City Manager Mike Olmos hailed May’s office project saying that “for the first time we are seeing strong interest from the private sector” in East Visalia. Earlier, several public entities, including the Visalia Chamber, Family HealthCare Network and the city have built new projects nearby along with private architect Canby Associates. “I see this project as the first step to rejuvenating this part of town,” says Olmos.

Sources say it’s just a matter of time before Buckman Mitchell announces their final intentions including what they would do with the existing facility on Main. The likelihood that the Main Street building would be raised and they build a multi story building is less now, say sources, since the medical community hasn’t beaten down their door to subscribe to the idea that was floated in the past few years. The Buckman Mitchell building is right next to the new parking garage that is under construction on Acequia and this could take advantage of the parking availability right next door. With construction of Kaweah Delta’s new hospital wing, the idea was to build more medical office uses adjacent to the parking garage. Instead, the building could be used for retail, some believe.

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By Miles Shuper

Visalia - The morning after failing to get the support they sought from the City of Visalia, Tulare County Supervisors Tuesday voted 4-0 to support putting a one-half cent sales tax for transportation needs on the November ballot.

As it now stands Visalia and Exeter are the only two cities not supporting the revised expenditure plan drafted by the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) which, along with those backing it, say is critical to fix the rural streets, highways and transportation needs of the county. Visalia council members approved the concept of a sales tax but rejected the one being touted by TCAG leaving TCAG members and county miffed. Visalia council members not in support of putting it on the November ballot were Jesus Gamboa, Bob Link and Greg Kirkpatrick. Greg Collins and Don Landers said the county's plan was acceptable.

At least half of the cities that represent fifty percent the county's population, around 400,000, must approve the measure before it can make the ballot. The previous vote at a TCAG committee meeting was 10-4 in favor. However, with expenditure plan and a two-phase project plan amendment made after that vote, a new vote is scheduled for July 24 after cities have seen and voted on the revised proposal. The Exeter City Council deadlocked on that issue, mainly because the city is considering its own sales tax proposal. The rest of the eight cities, except Visalia, have backed the revised proposal which will be voted on at the TCAG session.

The proposed tax would generate an estimated $652 million over a 30-year period with $316.4 million (50 percent) of the funds earmarked for regional projects, $228.4 million (35 percent) for local programs, $91.3million (14 percent) transportation, bicycle and environmental programs, and $6.5million (1 percent) for administration.

Visalia council members voted 3-2 to not support the expenditure plan as it now stands but indicated they favored a sales tax if proceeds and expenditures were governed by an independent board with an equitable voting requirement. Visalia officials have contented that not all details have been ironed out by TCAG and the issue is being “rushed.” A Visalia staff report states: “Simply put, there is not enough time to resolve issues regarding the expenditures plan, plan amendments, and governance before the November 2006 election. City staff believes the transportation sales tax concept is a good on idea that should be supported by the city, but we are very concerned this current effort will fail because it is incomplete, cannot be adequately explained to the voters and does not yet have a proper governance structure.”

A dumbfounded Connie Conway said she couldn't believe the fuss Visalia was putting up over a new road fund that would benefit everyone. “The City of Tulare put this matter on their consent calendar,” says Conway, an indication there wasn't controversy at all in Tulare.

As if to emphasize a the point, several city council members said that “no plan is perfect” with council member Don Landers pointing out that the City of Visalia would get $382 million during the 30-year life of the tax measure and “that's $382 million we would not have” unless we support the tax. Agreeing with Landers was Greg Collins, who says fixing the roads and using money in the bond for bike paths and congestion management will help clean up the Valley air quality problem.

In voting to support the measure Tuesday, supervisor Jim Maples was adamant in the importance of getting the ball rolling for long-overdue highway, road and other transportation need.

“It's an easy call for me,” he a said, adding he has not been able to defend the county's failure to fix roads, the most consistent complaint he has received as a supervisor, “I have no defense for this,” he said, adding he can't support the notion from a particular city which claims the issue needs more study. He said it is wrong not to allow the people to vote on “an issue of this magnitude.”

Other supervisors agreed.

Supervisor Phil Cox, who represents Visalia and is chairman of the TCAG transportation committee drafting the tax and expenditure plan, has been talking with Visalia officials in efforts to get the city's backing. During the Visalia council meeting Monday night Cox noted that although the issue can be put on the ballot without Visalia's official backing, the city's support is needed. Cox noted that Visalia City Manager Steve Salomon and staff have had a big impact on the revised proposal. The push to get the sales tax on the ballot has turned into a sparing match especially regarding the lack of support by Visalia which, according to estimates would receive about $380 million over the 30-year period.

One county official who was discussing the issue criticized Visalia by comparing it to a youngster picking up all his marbles and going home because he didn't like the rules.

Supervisor Connie Conway cited the need for Tulare County to assume the role of a self-help county which uses local taxing plans for financing roads and other needs. According to Conway, there are 11 self-help counties which represent 85percent of the state's population.

A key factor in pushing the tax plan is that those counties that tax themselves to help pay for roads and not just depend on state and federal monies tend to get more state and federal monies. Fresno County is cited as a prime example.

Funds raised by the sales tax would make Tulare County a self-help county, a fact which frequently is raised by TCAG staff and committee members pushing to get the issue to the voters.

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By Robin Kaufman

Tulare County - When Maria Gonzalez became a patient at the Family HealthCare Network clinic in Porterville, she knew that she was expecting a baby. What she did not expect was that she would one day be sitting on the organization's board of directors.

After being a patient and board member with Family HealthCare Network (FHCN) for more than eight years, Gonzalez credits her success in life to the mentoring, support and inspiration she has found in the FHCN staff.

“Not only have they impacted my life in a medical sense, but in my personal life,” said Gonzalez.

When Gonzalez became a board member, she had no education beyond a high school diploma. She is currently finishing her teaching credential and hopes to teach kindergarten or sixth grade.

“They just changed the whole world for me,” said Gonzalez.

The mission of the organization has evolved over the years. It has changed from serving Spanish speaking farm workers, to serving people who are underserved, to serving anyone in the community with health care needs.

Gonzalez, the mother of four with a fifth child on the way, has used FHCN services for her entire family because of the well trained and well informed physicians.

“There are some awesome providers. I don't know where they find them,” said Gonzalez.

She also enjoys the convenience of having multiple services in one building for the ease of coordinating scheduled visits for her family.

Another plus is the on-site social services department that aids with Medi-Cal coverage and allows her to avoid a two hour wait in county offices.

FHCN was designated as a Federally Qualified Health Center in 1989. As such, the organization provides a sliding fee scale based on family size and income for self-pay patients. Most patients pay a nominal fee of $20 per visit and patients can be billed for their fees over time. FHCN also accepts private insurance.

“It helps us to better care for the population,” said Harry Foster, FHCN president and CEO.

FHCN is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary and will be hosting special events for its patients and the community throughout the year.

Each month, FHCN has been focusing on a particular aspect of health. In July it is childhood nutrition. FHCN is currently promoting the new Appetite for Life Program; a unique nutrition and exercise class for children.

On the second Friday of each month, the FHCN centers will celebrate the anniversary by having promotional giveaways.

“It's our way of saying thank you to the community,” said Sabrina Jimenez, FHCN executive assistant.

FHCN is the county's largest primary health care provider as well as one of the largest employers in Tulare County.

Medicine With a Mission

“In 1976 folks from the communities of Woodlake and Porterville determined that they wanted to do something about the fact that Spanish speaking workers did not have access to healthcare,” said Foster.

Those folks put together a private, non profit corporation called United Health Organization (UHO) to serve the two communities. Each site had a part-time general practitioner that would see patients about eight hours a week.

At the instigation of the Porterville board members, the assets of UHO were split in 1978 with the Woodlake site becoming Woodlake Health Center and the Porterville board members creating a separate group called Porterville Family Health Center, Inc. (PFHC), which would later evolve into FHCN.

“The Porterville site is our flagship, so to speak,” said Foster.

The current mission statement of FHCN is: “We provide quality health care to everyone in the communities we serve.”

“Everyone in the community” includes serving those who are not covered by health insurance. Currently, 55 percent of FHCN patients receive Medi-Cal and 20 percent to 25 percent of patients are self-pay patients. The balance of the patients does have commercial insurance coverage.

Expansion and Growth

Foster has been with FHCN for close to 24 years and has seen the small Porterville outpatient care facility that was once Highway 190 Market evolve into the FHCN of today.

After having held numerous positions in health care and hospital administration in Utah, Foster decided he “wanted to be involved in an underserved area.” The administrator job at Porterville was “the first thing that popped up,” said Foster, and he joined the organization as executive director in September of 1982.

Among other access challenges that the population experienced was the lack of access to prenatal care. “People just weren't getting access to care during their prenatal period,” said Foster.

PFHC co-managed the prenatal care provided to pregnant women with a local obstetrician/gynecologist. PFHC staff would care for them to the 36th week of pregnancy. They were then directed to an obstetrician in Lindsay and birthing at Lindsay Hospital.

The first expansion for PFHC came through a federal government request that the organization serve the community of Tipton. The combination of a state contract, federal funding and a designation of Porterville being a health professional shortage area (HPSA) led to PFHC gaining two board-certified family practitioners and one general practitioner.

The HPSA designation allowed PFHC to attract physicians who were working off educational loan obligations with the government by serving in the National Health Services Corps (NHSC).

“All of a sudden these doctors from really good schools were interested in Porterville,” said Foster.

And Porterville took notice. Bankers, lawyers, and city officials began using PFHC's services, according to Foster.

“We gained a reputation for being a hot-shot Latino professional place,” said Foster. “These people [doctors] were really good professionals.”

The organization then applied for, and received medical staff privileges at Sierra View District Hospital in Porterville in 1984.

There is a trend Foster has seen when FHCN goes into new communities. The two major needs are obstetrical care and dental care, he said.

“We are the only developed country in the world that does not have a health policy,” said Foster. He feels the lack of a national policy contributes to the dysfunctional and high-cost “system of care” we have in the United States. At FHCN policy is guided by a board of directors composed of volunteers, most of whom are patients.

According to Foster, the board of directors “owns” FHCN and gives direction to the staff by continuing to re-evaluate the needs of the communities FHCN serves and planning to address those needs.

In about 1989, PFHC decided to expand beyond Porterville and they established a center in Ivanhoe. “Ivanhoe was our biggest area of need at one point,” said Foster.

In the early 1990s FHCN began looking to expand in Visalia. In 1995 the organization merged with the Women and Family Health Services organization, which was located on Meadow Lane and absorbed the 17 people in their staff. They also decided to rename the private, nonprofit corporation to more appropriately reflect all sites. The new name: Family HealthCare Network.

“It took off so fast!” said Foster.

Visalia now has two FHCN centers, one on North Bridge St. and the other on Oak St.

“They are both pretty well maxed right now,” said Foster.

Currently, FHCN has health care center locations in Cutler-Orosi, Goshen, Ivanhoe, Porterville, Springville, Three Rivers, Visalia, Woodlake and Hanford.

Treating the Whole Patient

FHCN offers services that go beyond what most people would expect from an outpatient center. Nutritional counseling and health education and outreach services are provided to everyone who needs them and patients also have access to transportation and translation services.

“It's a different model; utilizing what we call enabling services,” said Foster.

About five years ago FHCN added two unique programs to complement their more traditional medical practices: integrated behavioral health and integrated complementary and alternative medicine. The impetus for adding the holistic programs came from Foster's personal experience.

“My wife had been seeing a homeopath for a respiratory problem that she had,” said Foster.

Seeing her marked improvement made Foster a believer in the benefits of approaching health care from a holistic orientation.

The newest program added to the list of FHCN services is integrated behavioral health care. FHCN was one of the first organizations in California to institute such a program, according to Foster. “It's now starting to pick up speed across the state,” he said.

“About seven out of ten people who seek primary care services are visiting the doctor for a reason that is behavioral-based, they just don't realize it,” said Foster, “Primary care doctors get very little exposure and training on how to deal with addressing that.”

The program has six doctoral-level psychologists who work together with the primary care providers. When a FHCN provider thinks an underlying cause of a patient's health problem may be psychogenic, the provider will tell the patient that there is another doctor that has a specialized training and skills in managing such problems, and the primary care provider invites his colleague into the exam room, with the approval of the patient.

Foster refers to the process as “a warm hand-off.” The psychologist, whose title is behavior health consultant, will do a 15-minute intake evaluation and develop a treatment plan for the primary care provider to execute.

“We have to help our patients help themselves,” said Foster.

FHCN provides services in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, internal medicine, family planning, dentistry, clinical laboratory, radiology, mammography, ultrasound, integrated complementary alternative medicine, pharmacy, health education and promotion, translation, integrated behavioral health, nutritional counseling, community outreach and transportation services.

“We are close to adding a general surgeon to take care of the surgical needs of our patients,” said Foster.

Above and Beyond: The Future of FHCN

Through the years, Foster and FHCN have received numerous accolades recognizing the work they have done.

FHCN was one of the first ambulatory-care facilities in California and the only facility in Tulare County to be accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of HealthCare Organizations.

FHCN has also ventured beyond Tulare County and into Kings County. Soon there will be a grand opening of an expanded Hanford site. The renovation of the old Sears Auto building at 8th and Phillips streets is to be completed in August.

Recently FHCN secured $8,800,000 in bonds through the California Statewide Communities Development Authority for the consolidation of existing loans, new facility upgrades, and new equipment.

The new construction loans will target the Porterville, and Cutler-Orosi locations. Part of the bond money will also pay for vehicles, computer equipment and software for all the organization's operations.

The organization has plans to not only add to sites in the future, but also add more services.

With an annual budget of approximately $48 million, FHCN has a slim profit margin, but continues to grow to care for more people in the community.

The vision of the organization is to become the premier multi-specialty health care organization in Tulare and Kings counties.

“We're having one of our best years in history,” said Foster.

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By Robin Kaufman

Visalia - Senate Bill 1056, of which Assemblyman Bill Maze (R-Visalia) is a principal coauthor, has been batted around the state assembly this summer and will be before the legislators again when they reconvene in August.

The bill would add sections to the California Food and Agricultural code that would leave regulatory matters concerning nursery stock such as seeds exclusively in the hands of state agencies.

Supporters of the bill say that the legislation will insure that the state's growers can continue to choose from the best available management practices and technology for their farm operations while opponents charge that the bill undermines local authority on all matters relating to seeds.

In the latest amended version of the bill, the provisions of the law would not apply seed regulations and ordinances lawfully enacted by a local government prior to July 1, 2006, a change from an earlier version that had the grandfathering-in date as July 1, 2007.

Mendocino, Trinity, and Marin counties, along with the cities of Arcata and Point Arena have enacted their own regulations that ban genetically engineered crops. As the bill now stands, these local regulations would still apply.

In March 2004, Mendocino County voters passed Measure H with an ordinance that states: “The people of Mendocino County wish to protect the county's agriculture, environment, economy, and private property from genetic pollution by genetically modified organisms.”

“It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to propagate, cultivate, raise, or grow genetically modified organisms in Mendocino County.”

Brad Caudill, executive director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau, said the state and local farm bureaus support the bill because the county-to-county fights about bioengineered crops are counter productive.

“It should not be up to individual counties that may not fully understand the scientific realities of the situation,” said Caudill.

But John Miller, a Ducor farmer and Green party candidate for the 21st Congressional District, is of the opinion that the bill would take away the cities' and counties' abilities to help ensure the well-being and health of their citizens.

“The large chemical companies and big agribusiness already control more of our food supply than is wise for a healthy democracy,” said Miller. “The stories regarding genetically modified corn and wind drift pollination on surrounding farms that have occurred in Canada and the Midwestern United States should be chilling to anyone who believes in individual rights and the ability of farmers to farm their lands.”

Recently, a movement to ban genetically modified crops was defeated in Sonoma County.

“It took a huge amount of money to educate the community,” said Caudill.

The farm bureaus have put forth the message that a county by county patchwork of regulation undermines the agricultural viability of California's nearly 600,000 acres of biotech-improved crops. Also, current and newly developed food, fiber and agricultural products can be grown in California once they have been thoroughly researched and properly reviewed through the state regulatory process.

“It does take the argument out of the county and up to the state level where the experts reside,” said Caudill.

“What we should really be focusing on is the safety of these crops and the effects of their environment on consumers,” said Miller.

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Leprino West in Lemoore is in the process of hiring more than 50 new employees to work at the big cheese plant after some in-house construction improvements, say reliable sources. The plant is the nation’s largest mozzarella cheese plant. Leprino is already considering another major expansion at the plant that could increase production by 50 percent but would require major new investment. Higher costs in California are weighing against the plan, however.

Developer Johnny George continues to breathe new life in the old Visalia olive plant and now will redevelop the sister olive plant building on Santa Fe in Visalia. On Tulare Ave. George says he has a deal to lease 40,000 square feet to an office furniture manufacturer that will bring 40 jobs to town. The company will be in operation in January. Other companies are coming into the large vacant building as well. On Santa Fe he plans to use the 60,000 square foot building for light industrial or storage on 8 acres where the olive company once stored the olives. A phase 1 environmental review has given them a clean bill of health, he says. On the take-away side George has backed off from developing a commercial complex at Plaza and 198 citing the long time line to build there.

The Stockmen’s Bank announced earnings of $6.8 million through the second quarter of 2006, up more than 23 percent as compared to $5.5 million of the first quarter of 2005.

Dr. Baz, the asthma doctor from Fresno, wants to build a new two-story complex on Noble between Denny’s and Pizza Hut in Visalia.

Carl’s Jr. in Visalia got a notice from the Air Board that they had cooked a few too many quarter pounders one month last year. Their permit allows them to grill up 450 pounds of meat a day but they went over by four pounds or 16 Happy Stars that month. Not sure what happens if you come in for your burger and the drive thru lady says the Air Board has turned off the grill.

Major infrastructure going in at the Traver feedmill owned by Foster Farms – that big landmark along Highway 99. The company wants to build a community barn, whose grain storage barn and a rail loop on 104 acres to serve those long unit trains full of corn. Those long train rail loops can be used to park a 100 car train to provide corn used to make ethanol. No word if there are any plans here for that in the future. The Traver feedmill lacks a long off loading track.

Dinuba is in the early stages of developing a new industrial park on its northwest corner. After talks with Reedley the town may cooperate to earmark several hundred acres around the old sawmill for industry – the only place in Dinuba where an industrial park with rail access could work. Their existing industrial park on Alta has no rail nearby. City manager Ed Todd says the county is working with the city along with the property owners to make it happen. Currently there is only a co-generation power plant operating at the site.

Cellulose based ethanol made from ag waste products is “three to five years off” says Pacific Ethanol’s Tom Koehler. Pacific Ethanol is reportedly close to signing contracts with companies who have been researching the process, but Koehler told the Voice he could not comment on the prospect. Koehler, the brother of the Pacific Ethanol’s CEO Neil Koehler, says the next big step for California ethanol will be approval by the Air Resource Board likely this fall to allow gas blenders to up the percentage of ethanol in California gas tanks to 10 percent from its current 5.7 percent threshold. “The governor has made it clear he supports more biofuels in California,” says Koehler, citing Schwarzenegger’s recent statement at the company’s Madera ethanol plant in the past few week.

Sequoia Park is choking on high ozone levels this month. Park specialist Annie Esperanza says the Air Quality Index regularly reaches past 160, a level considered unhealthy for everyone. It has been more typical to reach the 100 level in past years, she says. The AQI index for Tulare County as a whole listed on the Air Board web site is from 119 – a level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Sequoia would be higher than Kern listed this week at 127. The park has the highest ozone level of any national park as high pressure and temps well over 100 have been visiting California for several weeks.

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