Fair Board Hires Interim General Manager
Visalian Susie Godfrey Takes Helm Today

By George Lurie

Tulare County - The troubled Tulare County Fair has a new leader: She's a local, “cards-on-the-table gal” and she starts work today.

Visalian Susie Godfrey was named interim general manager of the Tulare County Fair this week following a special meeting at which three finalists for the position were interviewed.

“We are very excited,” said fair board president Peter Alvitre. “We think Susie is going to do some very creative things in a very short period of time.”

Godfrey, 45, born in Bakersfield, has lived in Tulare County since the age of 12 and was a corporate accountant for 18 years before going into media relations and PR.

One of the owners and the day-to-day operator of Visalia-based Vision Marketing and Promotions LLC., for a number of years, Godfrey has been involved in the management of the Porterville and Kings County fairs. She also has been very active in the Tulare County Fair through various affiliations such as CWA (California Women in Agriculture).

Godfrey applied for the position at the urging of fair board member Geneva Shannon.

“I'm a cards-on-the-table kind of gal,” Godfrey told fair board members during a nearly hour-long interview on Tuesday at the fair's administration building. “I'm a team player and willing to do whatever needs to be done…I have had great relationships with the boards at both fairs where I have worked,” she added. “Why this (fair) business gets under your skin, I have no idea. But it does.”

During the past several weeks, the fair board has been conducting a hasty search for an interim general manager after current CEO Candace Patterson announced last month that she was taking a six-month “personal” leave.

Patterson has been under fire since late last year when nearly $15,000 in gate receipts from the 2005 fair was discovered missing. Her leave is linked to “ongoing and serious medical issues,” said a fair insider.

“We fully anticipate the return of Candace Patterson,” said Alvitre. “If Ms. Patterson elects not to return based on personal issues, we'll reopen the application process at that time.”

Godfrey's contract with the fair will run through Sept. 30 of this year.

While Tulare police have run out of leads in their investigation into the stolen gate receipts, fair board members have been closely scrutinizing gate admission policies and have made a number of changes in procedures with regard to how money is handled.

“Red tape has been strangling us,” said Alvitre at Tuesday's special meeting. “But this board is committed to transparency and to making sure that the appropriate checks and balances are in place...We need to make this fair relevant in people's lives again.”

Alvitre characterized Godfrey as “the right fit” for the fair and said, at least for the 2006 version, Godfrey will be the “voice and face” of the fair.

The nine-member fair board was charged with finding a new leader for the 86-year-old fair a scant three months before the kick-off of this year's edition.

Slated to run from Sept. 13-17, the theme of the 2006 fair is: “Home Grown Fun!

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By Cassandra Queen

Tulare County - Retailers in Kings County are taking what the Kings County Tobacco Control Program considers to be “a vital step in protecting children in their cities from tobacco marketing tactics.”

The Hanford-based program says four area retailers recently adopted a voluntary policy to ban all tobacco advertising in their stores. Those businesses include Lemoore retailers, Leoni Pharmacy and Philippine Oriental Market, and Hanford retailers, La Vaquita Market and Kings Gas and Deli Mart.

“Retailers have an opportunity to reduce exposure to tobacco advertising. With their help, tobacco promotional items will become less accessible to children, protecting them from the deadly addiction of tobacco use,” says Oralia Vallejo from the Kings County Department of Public Health. She says that the organization would like to have more retailers “get on board so that the ban becomes a countywide effort.”

State law prohibits the sale of tobacco products to minors, but Vallejo notes that the Tobacco companies' advertising campaigns “continue to target” youth. The ban coincides with California Attorney General Bill Lockyer's continuing efforts to reduce sales of tobacco products to minors. In 1999, Lockyer established a full-time Tobacco Litigation and Enforcement Section to enforce California laws regarding the sale and marketing of tobacco products and the national Master Settlement Agreement, which was reached with tobacco companies in November 1998. (see related story)

In a recent press release regarding the advertising ban, the Kings County Tobacco Control Program notes: “Numerous studies show that nearly 90 percent of smokers begin the deadly habit prior to age 18. Tobacco companies recruit children by conducting advertising campaigns targeting unsuspecting children. This is done by in-store tobacco ads that are placed at children's eye level and near candy and children's items. Adopting anti-tobacco ad policies will help curb another generation from addiction to a deadly product.”

“I try to tell kids, and my teenage son, not to smoke,” says Rathna Chi, owner of Kings Gas and Deli Mart. Chi, a former smoker himself, who notes how difficult it is to quit, recently removed “everything that is cigarette related” from his store windows. He says that he thinks when kids see the ads, it reminds them about cigarettes.

“I think the ads should be banned,” says John Davis, principal of Hanford West High School, which is located across the street from Kings Gas and Deli Mart. He adds: “I don't think in society we should do anything to encourage minors to become addicted to tobacco.”

The Hanford-based Kings County Tobacco Control Program is a grant program of the Kings County Department of Health Services that is funded by a grant from the California Department of Health Services. For more information about the program, contact Oralia Vallejo at the Kings County Tobacco Control Program at (559) 582-3211 ext. 2602 or Melissa Garrison at (559) 999-8264.

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By Robin Kaufman

Tulare County - Tulare County is facing a critical situation. As the general population increases, the number of doctors dwindles.

Concerted and individual efforts in the medical community are attempting to change the situation by championing the cause of physician recruitment in the Valley, specifically in Tulare County.

A February 2004 report from the Central Health Policy Institute (CHPI) at California State University, Fresno identified the interdependence of multiple-policy issues that contribute to what the report deems to be a health care crisis in the Central Valley.

A key finding of the report showed that approximately 24 percent fewer primary care physicians and approximately 50 percent fewer specialists are serving Valley residents than the residents of California as a whole.

“We're coming to a critical mass of people recognizing we have a problem here,” said Dr. Thomas Kim of Family HealthCare Network.

Last fall, Kim and other Visalia health care professionals formed an independent group of physicians called Physician Advocates for Tulare County Healthcare (PATH).

“We're not competing with hospitals or other doctors, but we're trying to help each other,” said Kim.

It's a grassroots organization of “professional people who have agreed we have a lot of health care problems,” said Kim.

Kim and six other health care professionals in PATH spend their own time making others aware of the county's physician shortage and advocating the cause of local physician recruitment.

“We are interested in health care for all people,” said Kim.

PATH is intent on taking its message to community groups such as chambers of commerce and service groups like Rotary.

“People who have the clout ironically have never really thought about themselves,” said Kim.

Policy-makers and business people should be concerned with the physician shortage because people who live in Tulare County often face waiting times up to six months to see a specialist for their ailments.

In many cases, a long wait can be life-threatening and those who have health insurance can afford to go outside the community for their specialist services.

“We're losing money. It's going out of our county and out of our Valley,” said Kim.

Based on hospital visits Tulare County residents make to other counties, Kim estimates Tulare County loses about $845 million dollars annually in the physician specialist business.

To add to the problem, Tulare County is surrounded by other counties that are just as bad off in terms of the low rate of primary physicians and specialists, causing patients to travel to metropolitan cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Diagnosing the Symptoms

“Doctors hang around big cities. It's nothing new. It's always been this way,” said Kim, who hails from Chicago.

Kim attributes the lack of insured patients in Tulare County as a primary reason why doctors are not attracted to living and working here.

Many doctors who are already in Tulare County could do well in bigger cities, according to Kim. He calls the doctors who work in the Valley “mission-driven people.”

“If there is a place where there is no insurance, how are you going to attract those doctors? It's like getting doctors to go to Appalachia,” said Kim.

Kim also cites the area's lack of medical training facilities, institutions of higher learning, and cultural centers all factors that when present in significant numbers generally attract physicians to particular areas.

He also says that doctor's wives generally do not like to live in towns like Visalia due to the lack of upscale department stores such as Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue.

There is also the attrition rate of physicians retiring and dying.

“If we're trying to recruit people, what are we trying to sell them?” said Kim.

Kim believes that a solution to the physician shortage in Tulare County will occur only when the community comes together to attack the problem. “A beginning is better than nothing,” said Kim.

Funding a Cure

In a 2006-07 budget brought forward at the Kaweah Delta Health Care District's (KDHCD) most recent Strategic Planning Committee Meeting, $2.5 million had been allocated to physician recruitment a 111.9 percent jump from what was spent on physician recruitment in fiscal year 2005-06.

“This [physician recruitment] is one of our top priorities,” said KDHCD's Chief Executive Officer Lindsay Mann.

The physician fees budget at KDHCD will also increase by 21.4 percent from last year. At the meeting, Dr. Adolph Nava raised concerns about KDHCD's allocated physician fees and their relationship to physician retention.

Over time Nava has observed that, “The budget eliminates specialists that cannot get reimbursed.”

Nava acknowledged that a 21.4 percent increase in KDHCD's budget for physician fees would be important in keeping physician specialists content and retaining them in the district.

When doctors fees are allocated adequately, physicians would “feel like they are part of the hospital,” said Nava.

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By Kim Clemons

Visalia - Newly appointed president of College of the Sequoias, Dr. William Scroggins, is on campus today to begin familiarizing himself with various characteristics of the college.

“I'm still climbing the learning curve,” says Scroggins, 58, regarding his familiarity with COS.

Scroggins will lead the 10,000 student campus and receive a base salary of $175,000 per year. His new salary is approximately $40,000 more than his salary as former interim president at Modesto Junior College.

During today's meetings, Scroggins hopes to talk about possible solutions to COS' enrollment issues, as well as other concerns on campus.

Scroggins says that the enrollment issues COS is facing are not uncommon.

“About two-thirds of the community colleges in California have had enrollment decline,” said Scroggins, naming the growing economy and the hike in student fees as the causes.

“We will discuss some of the solutions used at Modesto and see about possibly bringing some of them here,” said Scroggins, who warns that there is not one solution to repair the problem.

“You can't write a prescription to fix it,” says Scroggins.

Having been involved in, and had experience with on-line classes, Scroggins sees the advantages for some students and believes that the elements are in place for growth with on-line classes for COS.

“Work and family demands do affect scheduling,” says Scroggins, noting weekend schooling has worked well for other colleges and could be something for COS to investigate.

Whatever is decided for the college, Scroggins says that it will be done as a team.

“We will need a top-notch infrastructure with staff, support services and resources in place so it works well,” says Scroggins.

High on Scroggins agenda is filling the two vacant vice president positions: one in academic affairs and the other in student services. Scroggins says that now that the president's position is filled and there is stable leadership in place, he hopes that candidates will be more motivated to apply.

Spending more than 30 years at the community college level has allowed Scroggins the opportunity to have already worked with some of the key players at COS.

When applying for the position, Scroggins says that he educated himself on the recent happenings of the campus.

The knowledge Scroggins gained while being president of the state academic senate executive committee for two years is what encouraged him to go into administration.

“I spent quite a bit of time in Sacramento, working in the chancellor's office on curriculum unit and the student services unit,” says Scroggins. “I learned a lot about the community college system by going out to colleges, making presentations around the state.”

Scroggins' passion for assisting students in achieving their full educational potential comes from personal experience and is what drew him to the teaching profession.

“I was the first in my family to go to college,” says Scroggins, who wants community colleges to continue to be open and accessible to everyone.

Last week Scroggins was in Hanford for the ground-breaking ceremony for the Hanford Joint Educational Center and Sports Complex. Scroggins said the ceremony was his first official event as COS president.

After the ceremony, Scroggins met with members of Hanford city council, Hanford high school board and COS board where the discussion for putting a bond measure on the ballet for the fall was on the agenda.

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Visalia - Look for the bumper stickers to start appearing around Tulare County any day.

“Free Mill Creek!” the stickers will proclaim, in reference to the rushing watercourse that is buried in concrete culverts directly below large chunks of downtown Visalia.

And you probably didn't even know Mill Creek was being held captive.

In the early 1900s, as Visalia was being developed, major portions of Mill Creek were enclosed in a series of concrete culverts and channeled underground through what would later become the downtown business district.

The campaign to liberate or re-surface Mill Creek and possibly incorporate a 'river walk' theme into the East Visalia redevelopment plan began this month when the Visalia city council ordered a $50,000 feasibility study focusing on restoring Mill Creek.

Similar efforts in places like Berkeley, San Luis Obispo and San Antonio, Tex., have produced spectacular results.

And even if city officials decide not to free Mill Creek, some day soon, they will still have to deal with the buried stretches of the waterway. That's because many sections of the concrete culvert it flows through are reaching the end of their life span and will soon require repair or reconstruction.

Now, as the momentum builds to undo a century-old civic engineering decision and reinsert running water in the downtown landscape, key city officials and several dozen downtown landowners and developers must be convinced that working together to revitalize Mill Creek is in Visalia's best interest.

Reclaiming the long-buried asset and restoring flowing water throughout downtown Visalia is an idea that makes sense both aesthetically and financially according to many key city leaders, including City Manager Steve Salomon, who showed his support by recommending council approve the feasibility study.

“The creek has obvious social as well as economic value to the community,” said Brian Kempf, director of the Urban Tree Foundation. “Places like San Luis Obispo and San Antonio have added a lot of value from having an open waterway run through a core of their downtown. It attracts people, encourages them to walk and has some passive recreational value as well.”

Kempf envisions a resurfaced Mill Creek as a place for people who work or visit downtown to “get outside and have a picturesque area to take a stroll.”

City planners have already incorporated a year-round “water feature” most likely a small pond just east of the new Civic Center into their redevelopment plans for East Visalia.

City Councilman and downtown business owner Bob Link believes a resurfaced Mill Creek would “create more ambiance downtown and would hopefully make people stay longer.”

A revitalized Mill Creek “would give people who work downtown a great place to take a break or have lunch,” said Supervisor Phil Cox, who supports the plan. “This would be another piece of the puzzle as downtown continues to grow.” “

Anything that we can do to spruce up downtown would be great,” said Mike Fligor, owner of Fugazzi's restaurant. “I'm all for it as long as it's done right. It needs to be well maintained and have plenty of water running.”

Since Mill Creek originates in Lake Kaweah, city officials would be challenged to keep it running year-round. Although the creek runs fast and furious during the spring runoff season, part of the year, it goes dry.

Keith Korsgaden, a part-owner of Dharma's Restaurant, which sits on the edge of Mill Creek at Santa Fe Avenue and Center Street, and the soon-to-be-opened Crawdaddy's at Main and Bridge streets, supports the plan but has concerns about how redevelopment might affect property owners.

Korsgaden's partnership group recently purchased a large parcel at Garden and Main streets and is seeking a special-use permit for its potential use as a parking lot for Crawdaddy's. The property, formerly an automotive display area for Razzari Ford, also fronts Mill Creek.

“I think the idea of making a nicer, more attractive downtown is great, but how (the redevelopment) will impact those who own property on or near Mill Creek must be given much consideration,” Korsgaden said.

Kaweah Delta Hospital CEO Lindsay Mann, who supports the plan, considers the stretch of Mill Creek that runs through the hospital's property a major asset.

Just west of downtown, where Mill Creek resurfaces, Rosa's Italian restaurant, located at Mineral King Avenue and Johnson Street, has experienced some structural problems and settling because of its proximity to the creek.

But Luigi Cristallo, owner of Rosa's, thinks the plan to resurface Mill Creek is “great. I can't think of anything but positive results, just as long as we don't lose our parking lot” which is adjacent to the waterway, said Cristallo. “I'm in favor of anything that will enhance the look of Visalia.”

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By Miles Shuper

Tulare County - A construction bid of nearly $3 million has been awarded to build a second “village” at SCICON, Tulare County's famed 1,100-acre science and conservation outdoor campus near Springville.

The new addition initially will increase student capacity from 8,400 fifth- and sixth-grade students per year to 10,800, according to Rick Mitchell, SCICON administrator who says the expansion is expected to accommodate projected student growth for 12 to 15 years.

Sequoia Construction of Visalia was awarded the contract Tuesday by the Tulare County Board of Education.

Construction should begin in two to three weeks and is expected to be completed in January and could be opened for sixth grade students in March, April and May. Sixth graders from throughout the county spend a week each year. Fifth grade students annually have a one-day stay.

Mitchell said the new village will accommodate an additional 2,400 students annually. After initial construction the new village can be added as needed and eventually a new dining lodge could be built allowing an additional 7,200 students per year bringing the total to 15,600.

The new village will consist of six cabins, restrooms, a covered meeting area, staff and teacher housing, and a music amphitheater. The new village will be on the western edge of the property. The existing village is on the eastern edge.

Mitchell said students in the new village will have their own trail guides and activities, but will be able to share meals at the existing dining lodge.

Funding for the project has come from a number of sources, including an anonymous donation of $811,000 about a year ago, the Department of Education, service clubs, and participating school districts.

During the planning stages for expansion, consideration was given to developing a second, separate SCICON, Mitchell said, but with tradition, its room for expansion, and its location next to the Sequoia National Forest, “school districts decided they did not want to lose the qualities which make SCICON what it is.”

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Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman may have won an overwhelming 65 percent to 35 percent victory, and fourth term in office, in the most recent primary election, but voters in Three Rivers, Lemon Cove and Woodlake voted more than two-to-one in favor of Wittman’s opponent, current Woodlake Sheriff John Zapalac.

“From the very outset, Zapalac campaigned on the issue that outlying areas like Three Rivers are underserved and that it is time for a change,” wrote John Elliott, editor of Three River’s The Kaweah Commonwealth in the paper’s post-election edition. “Evidently, local voters agreed with Zapalac.”

Bryan Pinto, 26, the former Visalia police officer tried and acquitted in 2003 on charges that he had sex with a 16-year-old boy, still wants his job back.

A local teenager said he had sex with the police officer on two separate occasions. Pinto, who is openly homosexual, denied the allegations and said he was acting as a mentor to the boy. Placed on paid administrative leave after his arrest, Pinto was subsequently terminated when police investigators discovered that Pinto had lied about his knowledge in another sexual misconduct case.

Last month, a Tulare County judge ruled VPD must rehire Pinto, who has been working odd jobs in Fresno for nearly two years, said his attorney, Joseph Arnold.

"Mr. Pinto is ready, willing and able to return to his former duties," Arnold said.

But Deputy City Attorney Alex Peltzer said city officials remain concerned about the fact that Pinto lied to investigators.

“If he can lie once, what will stop him from doing it again,” said Peltzer. “And if we rehired Mr. Pinto and he was ever called into court to testify about future cases, his history could be used against him” and his testimony would be discredited.

The City of Visalia has already spent nearly $90,000 on legal fees in the case and although the Times-Delta, in a recent editorial, urged city officials to “park your biases out behind the barn and get on with life,” it appears more and more likely the city will decide to appeal the case all the way to the state Supreme Court.

Kraft has put about 18 acres north of their Highway 99 cheese plant on the sales block. The company has been on a cost-cutting campaign. City officials say the land will likely attract a new food processor to Tulare. The site would be accessed by an extension of K Street.

Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) will hold a special meeting Monday, June 26, and is expected to approve a countywide sales tax measure to support road building. The measure would appear on the November ballot.

Cal Water is in the process of purchasing approximately one acre of land from Self Help Enterprises and will be installing a ground level storage tank and booster and is also considering drilling a water well.

The tank will be located on the south side of Riggin at the Road 76 alignment and once completed, the facility will serve the community of Goshen and the Visalia Industrial Park.

“It will improve the peak period demand and fire flows once its on-line,” said Cal Water’s District Manager Phil Mirwald. “We expect the deal to close escrow before the end of the week.”

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