Valley Voice Newspaper

Water Bond Won't Make February Ballot
Initiative to Counter Perata Likely

California - Although there are hopes for some rain in the Central Valley this week, the Sierra, at press time, remains bone dry this winter as legislators in Sacramento came up dry again in their search for a statewide water bond both Democrats and Republicans could back.

The two sides came very close to a deal that would have placed one $10 billion compromise water bond on the February ballot. But close was not good enough. “We just ran out of time,” says Tim Quinn, executive director of ACWA, Association of California Water Agencies.

“But at least we’ve got both Republicans and Democrats still working together on a plan.”

For the first time that plan would include above ground water storage – dams that would be strategically placed to capture and store water that could be moved around the state.

“We worked late into the night last week,” says Ron Jacobsma of Friant Water Users, “but in the end we came up short over storage and how bond spending on dams would be authorized.”

The big news was that for the first time the state’s top Democrat, Don Perata (D-Oakland), was willing to fund new dams but how the funding would be overseen could not be agreed upon as the final hour to place the matter on the ballot approached. “My understanding is that all the military personnel ballots have to be sent out by December 7,” says Jacobsma. Perata has expressed disappointment over the failure to make the deadline as well.

In recent days, the state Department of Water Resources announced an initial allocation of water delivery from the State Water Project at just 25%. That’s the lowest allocation since 2003. Last year at this time it was 60%.

Even this week, public entities, like the City of Visalia, had urged support for the governor’s Infrastructure Water Plan, urging negotiations to place the matter on the February ballot. Their message – conservation is not enough. They point out that:

California’s water system is in great need of improvements. California’s population is expected to grow by more than 600,000 each year; by 2020, California’s population is expected to increase to 48 million.

Recent studies project that California will lose 25% of its snowpack by 2050. These anticipated changes in hydrology necessitate greater storage capacity for dry years, as well as increased flood protection for wet years. The Department of Water Resources’ projections indicate California’s average annual water demand will increase by between 1.7 and 6 million acre-feet by 2030.

SB 3xx would authorize $9.085 billion in general obligation bonds with $5.1 billion allocated for critically needed surface storage projects, $500 million for local surface storage and groundwater projects and $1.9 billion allocated for Delta Sustainability which will provide funding for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and for the Delta Vision Process. The measure also provides $500 million for Resource Restoration legacy issues and for invasive species issues.

In the meantime, Senator Perata’s effort to get his $6.8 billion water bond (with no above-ground water storage) on the November ballot will likely be countered in the next few weeks by a coalition group’s effort to put forward a “dueling bond’ closer to the governor’s formula that includes dams. Both bond initiatives would need to collect enough signatures to make the November ballot.

But the pro-dam bond may have some new strategic allies. California Alliance for Jobs – a group of several labor unions – will join forces with ag interests and others promoting the bond muddying the water between the Democrat and Republican backed bonds. “The unions can get the ear of the Democrats far better than ag interests,” says an informed source.

Jim Earp, executive director of the labor group which represents 2,000 state contractors and 80,000 union construction workers, confirms the group has been working to broker a compromise between the governor and Senator Perata. Earp says he believes they’ve made a breakthrough in the sense that “most Democrats and environmental leaders will support additional storage as part of a package.”

Dueling Bond Measures

Earp says it is clear that “California would be a dust bowl without its systems of dams and canals” and that most people can readily understand that. He says Perata has put his initiative on the back burner but confirms “a coalition of water interests, including ourselves, will likely file an initiative with water storage,” in coming weeks.

The potential battle of the bonds is likely to help broker a compromise on the ballot next November during the general elections. Supporters don’t want a bond measure on the June ballot because so few voters will likely participate this next June since the primary has been moved to February.

As a backdrop to the water bond issues, the Delta Vision process to come up with a solution to environmental decline and failing infrastructure in the Sacramento Delta region is likely to propose more infrastructure improvements, including a version of the peripheral canal. But Quinn says the Vision process appears to be heading in the wrong direction when it calls for reduced supply south of the delta even after major infrastructure. In addition, the Vision process proposes some kind of “Delta Czar,” says Quinn, who would have unprecedented power over water allocations.

Besides the issue of how to appropriate funds for the dams, Ron Jacobsma told the Voice “there is some concern that funding for dams will be held to some higher standard” that didn’t seem to go down well with some.

County Wants Bigger Slice of Revenue Pie
Could Include Sales Tax Sharing With Cities

Tulare County - Tulare County’s General Plan Update process is heading to the finish line in the next few months. One piece of unfinished business that has all the cities grumbling and the county apparently flustered is the issue of revenue sharing.

The update is expected to be taken up next month in front of the Board of Supervisors. The document will outline the growth plan for the county. But it will also be a blueprint for how the county will pay its bills in the future in anticipation of unprecedented growth in the valley. For Supervisor Allen Ishida, the future is revenue sharing, including sales tax monies for the county.

“All government is being run by sales tax revenue and the county gets very little of it,” Ishida says candidly. “We need a local source of funds. Right now we are too dependent on state monies.”

To increase revenue, the county has a multi-prong approach that includes implementation of impact fees for the first time in its history. Also, it wants to update a property tax sharing agreement with the cities and it wants a piece of the action – when it comes to the sales tax revenue pie. That will come out of the hide of cities that depend on sales tax to fund more than half their budgets.

The arm-wrestling over sales tax sharing began a few years ago when the county started the general plan process.

Tulare County cities want the county to direct urban growth to within their boundaries, but they may have to share sales tax and other revenues that growth generates to make this happen.

If the county adopts a new policy proposed for its general plan, revenue sharing could become an issue when cities request annexations, do general plan updates or seek permission to expand their spheres of influence.

This would be in addition to a development impact fee program the county is working on which would result in developers paying impact fees to the county even when their project is within a city’s limits.

The impact fee proposal already has generated concern among the cities, which are complaining about the timing of the proposal and the county’s failure to talk with the cities before it developed a plan.

Chief County Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau said the cities have encouraged the county to adopt impact fees because most governments have them. “The county was a little hesitant over the years to do it, because the board just wasn’t ready to approve them,” Rousseau said.

The county was trying to keep those fees down and “not put more burden on the development community,” he said.

But now the Board of Supervisors recognizes that growth anywhere in the county has an impact on the county system, making it necessary to have more prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation officers, jail space and other services.

Ready for Powwow?

“The reality is there has been some communication with the city,” Rousseau said. “Has there been as much as there should have been? Probably not.”

This week, Visalia Assistant Manager Mike Olmos says email from county staff suggests they are ready soon for a powwow on the issues.

All, or most, of the eight cities in the county have been holding regular meetings in the past few months, organized under the new umbrella of the Council of Cities. This week, a number of the cities responded to county plans for an impact fee noting up front a “lack of responsiveness” by the county to cities concerns.

A letter dated November 14 to Mr. Ishida points out that the development impact fee countywide would generate an estimated $8.4 million for the county yearly of which 91% would come from incorporated areas and just 8.6% from the unincorporated parts of the county. The letter points out that cities offer services to county residents when they come into town for education, entertainment and work or government business paid for by cities. The county’s Government Plaza in Visalia is built around city infrastructure, for example. The letter also points out that the county facilities update should be completed before adoptions of the new impact fee. And the debate goes on.

“We probably would do ourselves a favor by setting up some meeting with the cities,” says county planner George Finney. “I am a short-timer and I can say that,” says Finney who plans to retire in March after more than 40 years with the county. Finney says since Prop 13 passed, tax sharing has focused on annexation of land into cities from the county as the focus of property tax sharing agreements. Such an agreement is in place already but the county would like to update it.

County Shortchanged?

Members of the Council of Cities have responded to the idea that the county gets shortchanged when annexations occur by pointing out that the opposite appears to be true.

According to figures from the City of Woodlake, a 10-acre subdivision in town that was planted to olives before annexation brought in $300 to county coffers yearly but when built out, the county gets $14,608 yearly, even though the county has no road maintenance or sheriff’s patrolling costs on the same piece of land now in the jurisdiction of Woodlake.

The City of Visalia crunched some numbers on a proposed 480-acre annexation pending right now in the industrial park. Before the annexation, as farmland the county might get in the neighborhood of $14,000 annually. But after annexation, considering the increase in value, the county will likely get well in excess of $150,000 a year, says council member Greg Collins, who is the representative on the Council of Cities for Visalia. “Plus the county costs to serve that property go down” when it comes into the city, he says.

The issue of how to treat annexation lands is critical to both the county and the cities since it appears this is where the county believes it has some cards to play. “The county could say we need sales tax dollars and unless you go along with us, we could allow shopping centers and car sales in the county (outside city limits) unless we go along with them. That’s a pretty big hammer,” says City of Visalia Finance Director Eric Frost.

Ishida wonders why cities are annexing land when they claim they have enough land for the next 30 years. Ishida says the county can exercise some sway through the LAFCO process and several large annexations are pending, including a big one in Tulare.

Asked if revenue sharing will be an issue if the City of Tulare requests a 700-acre annexation for the proposed multi-million dollar motor sport complex, the county’s Rousseau said he could not “speak to specific projects.”

Big Hammer

As for Tulare City Manager Darrel Pyle, he said: “It is a concern to hear that…if you don’t share revenue, we’re not going to process your annexation.” He expects the city will get a draft of the proposed sharing policy this month.

Pyle said cities don’t have a problem with the county charging impact fees in the city.

“Whether you’re a city resident or county resident, the county is in the business of providing your county auditor-controller, assessor, district attorney…even the courts.

“Everybody needs to pay for those services if the philosophy is growth should pay for growth.”

One of the questions, though, is if the cities should have to pay for county parks and libraries if they already offer those services and county residents use them.

While he suspects the cities and county see eye-to-eye on many aspects of the impact fee issue, Pyle said he thinks “there is probably a lack of comfort in the methodology” the county is using.

“We don’t know much about the actual [impact fees] report itself and there are a lot of unknowns,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we would love to work on this issue collaboratively.”

Pyle said he did not know much about the proposed revenue sharing policy and only learned of it in conversation with Finney.

Rousseau stressed that revenue sharing would not be a point of negotiation on every annexation but only in cases “where we both agree that we’re going to be impacted significantly.”

Rousseau said the county needs the option of negotiating a revenue sharing agreement.

“We, as a county, recognize that the current funding stream isn’t adequate to meet all our needs,” he said. “We recognize that not only do we need impact fees, but we also need to broker deals with our cities where it makes sense.”

Visalian Mike Olmos continues to follow the line laid out by Visalia several years ago. Revenue sharing will be considered as part of the land use policy that makes sense steering most of the urban growth to cities. To what degree the county is willing to do that with a plan for a new town in Yokohl Valley and development surrounding some of the smaller towns in the county – remains a bone of contention.

What now? Look for meetings of the two sides in coming weeks.

Sequoia Brewing Company in Negotiations
for Visalia Location

By Steve Pastis

Visalia - Sequoia Brewing Company is currently negotiating to bring one of its trendy upscale microbrewery restaurants to Visalia. The company currently has two locations, both in Fresno.

Sequoia Brewing Company restaurants feature a full menu, Sunday breakfasts, weeknight dinner specials, a banquet room, a private boardroom, full service catering and live music on Friday and Saturday nights.

“We’re the only producing microbrewery restaurant in the Central Valley,” said owner Scott Kendall, explaining that Brewbakers, a popular destination in Downtown Visalia, doesn’t do outside sales.

“We have seven beers in the market right now,” he said, adding that the company’s labels include General Sherman IPA and Tamarack Amber Ale.

The company donates money from its outside sales to “one of the groups preserving the Sequoias,” he added. “The designation of where the money goes changes on a year-to-year basis.”

The negotiations for a possible Visalia location are still ongoing, but Kendall said, “We’re working on it.” Although he wouldn’t reveal where the possible location was, he did say that it was “not downtown.”

The company wants a location between 4,000 and 5,000 square feet. One of its Fresno locations is 4,000 square feet and the other is 5,000. The rent and location are also important, Kendall explained, adding that a shopping center would be a good place for one of his microbrewery restaurants.

“A hotel is even more key because we want the travelers,” he said.

Because the company is not looking to build, but instead move in to an existing building, a Sequoia Brewing Company restaurant could be open 60 days after an agreement is reached, according to Kendall.

“We’re in a situation where we don’t have to brew in Visalia but we want to,” he said. “We want to be there long-term. We’re not short-term operators.

Visalia offers an attractive location to the company because it is where many visitors to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks stop on their vacations. The company sees its Fresno locations as “a destination point when traveling to the national parks.”

Kendall was asked if the water near the national parks helps his company brew better beer.

“It does,” he replied. “Brewing with water in Fresno helps to make a great beer. There’s not a lot of taste to it and when you brew, you want a water that has virtually no taste to it.”

Sequoia Brewing Company was started as Butterfield Brewing Company in Fresno’s Tower District in the spring of 1989. It started under its current name in October 2003 with 11 different ales and lagers on tap.

The Voice is Now Weekly

Visalia - The you news you've got to have – now every week.

This is the first weekly issue of the Valley Voice, a publication that has grown from once a month, to twice a month and now weekly.

The Voice, founded by John Lindt, Carmelita Jarvis and Craig Lindaman, began in 1979 and has steadily grown. Two years ago the Voice expanded with the Tulare Voice, a section devoted to covering news in the county's second largest city.

“This is an exciting time for both the staff of the Voice and our readers,” said Lindt, who became sole owner of the Voice in 1982. In 2005, Lindt sold partnerships in the paper. Those partners are Brian Blain, Mel Heier, Loyld Pace, Russ Doe, Lindt and a group of 10 Tulare investors represented on the board by Bob Reynolds.

“The Voice, and now Tulare Voice, both have a strong reputation of getting news to people first, and news that people want to read. With the weekly edition, we will be able to better serve our readers and our advertisers,” said Lindt.

More growth is planned. In the near future the Voice will begin offering a classified ad section. Upgrades to the paper's web site are also in the works.

Advertising deadlines for the weekly Voice is Thursday for ad space reservation and Friday for the ad copy.

While the paper is distributed free at hundreds of locations in both Tulare and Kings counties, you can subscribe. To subscribe call 635-3200 or see the form on page 9 of this issue.

Sequoia Ornaments on White House Christmas Tree

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks - Ornaments from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks hang on the official White House Christmas Tree this year. The tree is the centerpiece of elaborate decorations that celebrate a “Holiday in the National Parks” theme.

“It is an amazing honor for the National Park Service to be selected as the theme for the White House holiday decorations by the President and Mrs. Bush,” said

National Park Service Director Mary A. Bomar. “Mrs. Bush is the best champion for our national parks, and the beautiful decorations in each state room showcase the natural and historical treasures found in parks throughout the country.”

The tree, located in the Blue Room, is adorned with handmade ornaments representing the country’s 391 National Park Service sites. “Each ornament on the magnificent 18-foot fraser fir was designed by an artist selected by the park,” said Bomar. “The ornaments tell the stories of our parks, just as our parks tell the stories of our nation.”

Both Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park had ornaments designed for them. Local Three Rivers artist Jana Botkin used oil paints to create a beautiful ornament depicting the giant sequoias that the park was set aside to protect. Botkin attended the reception at the White House hosted by First Lady Laura Bush on November 28.

The ornament for Kings Canyon National Park was designed by Mathew Rangel, a young artist with great talent from Dinuba. A student of fine arts, he is earning his Masters Degree from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

The holiday displays incorporate the wide variety of natural, cultural and recreational features preserved by the National Park Service. Models of icons such as the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Statue of Liberty share space with paintings of scenic vistas from the Grand Canyon, Zion and Rocky Mountain National Parks. Holiday garlands – intertwined with park objects including seashells, pine cones and gold aspen leaves – add to each room’s festive feel.

A highlight of the decorations is a scaled-down, but architecturally accurate, gingerbread reproduction of the south view of the White House, a unit of the National Park Service. The edible masterpiece includes Bush family pets Barney, Miss Beazley and Willie frolicking on the lawn with moose, elk, raccoons and other animals found in national parks.

“National Parks commemorate the people, places, and events that define the American experience,” said Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. “I am so appreciative of President Bush’s efforts to recognize the important role of national parks in American society. Our country will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016 and the President has been instrumental in establishing the National Park Centennial Initiative to prepare the parks for the next century.”

Rail Line Purchase among Options Cited in
Abandonment Fight

By Miles Shuper

Tulare County - County officials, businesses and cities others are going full steam ahead to block the planned abandonment of two rail line segments, including a 30-mile length line between Strathmore and the southern Tulare County line, even considering a way to purchase the lines.

Officials are considering hiring a lobbyist firm to help fight San Joaquin Valley Railroad’s abandonment plan which they stress will have an impact of economic development.

A meeting last week among city and county officials and some businesses which have or may an economic stake in rail service, touched on possible options to block SJVR’s attempt to abandon the line, salvage scrape iron and possibly sell off rights of way.

Supervisor Chairman Allen Ishida, who is spearheading the abandonment fight, expects to go to Washington DC to gain support for retaining the lines. Ishida said an east coast lobby firm specializing in rail line issues is being contacted for possible help in the Tulare County cause. The Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) and the county Economic Development Commission will be major players in the fight. At least two firms which have access to the lines say their business plans could be impacted if the lines cease to exist. One of them, Svenhard’s Swedish Bakery, which operates a distribution center in Exeter, has plans to shift or move its baking operation to Exeter. It says having rail service certainly would be a plus for its move which would create local jobs. The company currently employs about 150 workers in Oakland.

Gene Dorrough, in charge of special projects at the Exeter site, the former Candlewick Yarn plant, attended the meeting last week and said Svenhard’s will strongly oppose SJVC’s abandonment plan. The Svenhard’s Exeter plant, which currently employees about six workers, has a train dock and spur line in place. It would be a valued asset when it starts its baking operation. Dorrough said having a useless rail dock likely would not stop Svenhard’s Exeter plans, but the company will lobby hard to stop discontinuation of the rail line.

Tulare County Economic Development Executive Director Paul Saldana says the local group’s effort is first of all to “vigorously oppose” the company’s plan to abandon the line and secondly, examine changes that might keep the rail viable.

Thirdly, the group may look at a partnership of some sort to acquire the line. He says other cities in the U.S. have partnered to buy up short lines.

“This was a major issue when I came here in 2001,” says Saldana, suggesting that the railroad action to impose a $950 surcharge on rail traffic on the line “has had a negative effect” even as they complain the line is not being used enough.

The line had some falloff when Sierra Forest Products in Terra Bella drastically reduced their log shipments as Sierra logging has declined.

Saldana says there are two lines the group is worried about – one that serves Lindsay Foods in Lindsay. He also referred to Svenhard’s plans to bring jobs to the area.

“Some people are wondering if we lose these two lines will the line from Exeter to Dinuba be next,” noted Saldana.

Ishida is adamant in the importance keeping the line intact. He said the cost of keeping a line up to standard is about $300,000 per mile while the cost of rail construction is $600,000 per mile.

He points out that the high price of scrap iron likely is a factor in the rail company’s plan to take out the line as well as its contention that the line is little used and it’s too expensive to maintain. Ishida and others have conceded that the company financial considerations and that the county and its business and industrial interests need to expand rail use whenever feasible.

Among other ideas voiced at last week’s meeting, there was mention of a potential dinning train use for the line if it were to be maintained, but no specifics were outlined.

Several cities as well as Tulare County already have send letters to the Surface Transportation Board which oversees rail line regulations.

What's New

Looks like the Sierra Club has taken an interest in the Tulare Motorsports Complex plan with an eye toward putting up some speed bumps to the big project. Sierra Club’s beef is said to be the fact the annexation of 700-plus acres would be a loss of farmland. But isn’t that the same organization that says local farmers are planting too much alfalfa, cotton and mega dairies and urging land retirement to save water? Just what this field crop land next to Highway 99 is used for. Seems like you can’t win.

More than 60,000 people visited the Preferred Outlets at Tulare between midnight Thanksgiving and 6 a.m. Friday, one of the earliest Black Friday shopping openings in the nation. Black Friday is typically the day after Thanksgiving and the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “I knew it was going to be busy. It did exceed our expectations,” said Patti Rocha, general manager of the outlet center. She reported the biggest-ever event at the center had shoppers parking all the way to Cartmill, along Hillman and Retherford Drive. “The tenants want to do it again. We’ve had many positive comments from customers,” she added. “All the stores did extremely well.” The start of the Phase 4 expansion should begin after the first of the year, Rocha said. The expansion, just to the north of the Phase 3 expansion, will nearly double the size of the outlet center, adding 30 to 40 more stores to the existing 54 stores. Rocha said expansion cannot begin until they reach a certain percentage of space leased and she said they are very near that mark. She hopes to be announcing names of some of the new stores after the expansion begins.

DBO Development is closing its Packwood Creek construction office on South Mooney, given the slow down in retail projects right now and during the winter months. So says construction manager for DBO, Gary Eberhart, who notes that negotiations are going on for several pads the company still has on both sides of Mooney. “It’s likely we won’t begin construction of any project until next June or July.” Eberhart says they are negotiating with a significant retail tenant that could locate west of the new Costco behind Lowes.

City of Visalia Parks and Recreation staffer Don Stone is recovering at home this week after surgeons in Santa Barbara (Cottage Hospital) removed part of his lung due to cancer. Three days later, he was discharged and next week, Don says he will be returning to work! “It’s pretty amazing the job they did on me,” says Don, saying his doctors are optimistic about his recovery.

Busy place: Harris Ranch Hwy 5/198 restaurant did a pretty good business. “Right now we are doing 600,000 entrees a year,” says spokesman Brad Caudill. Not bad for a place in the middle of nowhere.

More voters statewide have signed up to receive their voting ballots by mail since a new law in California took effect in 2002. Today, one-quarter of the state’s voters have signed up for the program and the number is expected to keep growing. The number who actually voted by absentee ballot is even higher, says a Field Poll – doubling from 23% in 2000 to 47% in the state’s last primary. Republicans outnumber Democrats 41 to 40% among those who have signed up for the permanent mail ballot. In the latest Visalia city election, 7,607 ballots were cast absentee to only 4,469 who cast their ballots at their precincts.

City staff report says rounds and income are up at Valley Oaks Golf Course, reversing some declines seen in earlier years. Net for operations in 2006-07 was the highest this decade at $534,289. Rounds this last year were 73,153 compared to 65,295 in 2005/06. The report noted the closure of Sierra View golf course in town (18,000 annual rounds) that may have given Plaza Golf a boost. On the horizon, a new competitor in Dinuba.

City of Visalia is being sued by relatives of two girls who died in the 2006 plane crash at the Visalia airport, claiming the city’s slow reaction to the crash contributed to their deaths. There were four hours before the fire department responded to the tragedy after the department dismissed an earlier eyewitness account to the crash January 13 around 6:20 p.m. City Attorney Leonard Herr responded that the coroner’s report said no one could have survived the crash in any case.

Staff of the High Speed Rail Authority is recommending the Pacheco Pass as the best way to get to the Bay Area from the Central Valley vs. access through the Altamont Pass. The Authority board will vote on its recommendations December 14. The voters are scheduled to have their say about the big project in November 2008.

With an eye toward water conservation, Cal Water has agreed to increase the installation of water meters in the city of Visalia from 1,300 homes a year to 2,600. That would take about five years to put all city homes on meters. City council member Greg Collins calls the move “a good faith effort” by the private water company but would like to add a pricing mechanism to water meters to ensure people conserve. Some sort of base amount at a lower cost and those who use more – at a higher rate, he figures. Of course, that’s Cal Water’s decision, he notes.

Porterville Target store will be bulldozed in February to make room for a new larger Target to open by October. The store, located in a shopping center on Henderson, owned by developer David Paynter, will expand from its current size of 87,000 square feet to 133,000 square feet plus a 20,000 square foot garden store. The plan is the culmination of the demolition of the old Monte Mart grocery store in the center. But that will leave a 30,000 square foot storefront to be filled by Paynter sometime next year plus an additional out pad. The storefront will likely bring a new national retailer to town. Target has been the most aggressive department store in the area recently with the opening of a new Super Target in Tulare and plans for a second Target in North Visalia.

Among those who would like to see the historic Mearle’s Drive-In on Mooney Blvd. in Visalia open again is its first owner, Mearle Heitzmann, who recently visited the Valley Voice office. “I think that people have fond memories of Mearle’s,” he said. “I don’t think it will be too hard to bring them back. I tried to make it something of a home away from home, a place that people felt at home and wanted to come.” Heitzmann said that it would take money to fix Mearle’s up, as well as a serious time commitment. “I don’t think I spent less than 14 hours a day there,” he said. “With a restaurant, you more or less have to be there.”

Who has more locations than Starbucks or McDonald’s in Visalia or worldwide for that matter? Western Union which now earns almost $1 billion a year helping low income immigrants send money across the glove – in our case, typically back to Mexico. Western Union has its official office in a small building on Tulare Ave. in Visalia, but the company has branch offices in retailers, grocers and small offices all over Tulare County, part of a network that the company has built to send $300 billion in financial transfers for a fee that ranges from 4% to 20% according to a recent New York Times story. The company boasts 320,000 locations worldwide moving far away from their famed telegraph service of the mid-century. Small merchants (convenience stores) and large (Kmart) sign up to become Western Union agents for a $2.50 cut from the company on the money transfers. It is big business in Tulare County where agriculture employs a large workforce who regularly send proceeds they have earned for work here back to their home country using the service. For Tulare County, the number is likely in the millions. Since its immigrant population often doesn’t have routine relationship with a bank – this is the service of choice.

Western Growers has funded a study that suggests the state’s farmers will take 82,000 acres out of cultivation in 2008 even if we get an average amount of rain this season. Drought all over the West could move some crops east, suggest some ag economists.

The City of Farmersville has decided to use a $200,000 grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation to build a fountain between the baseball fields in Veterans Memorial Park, according to city council member Paul Boyer. “It will be similar to fountains in Lindsay in Visalia,” he said. “The fountain will be for kids. Our town has no swimming pool so the fountain is one way for kids to cool down. Older people may want to do that also.” Construction is expected to start in early 2008. “It would be great if we could finish it before summer, but there are no guarantees,” Boyer said.

Ceremony to Remember Pearl Harbor

Visalia - The Visalia Veterans Day Committee will host its Second Annual Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony on Friday, December 7 at the “Greatest Generation” World War II Mural, 26572 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia.

Starting at 7 a.m., those in attendance will be asked to honor their loved ones who served during this time in history with the tying of a symbolic red, white and blue ribbon with their loved one's name, branch of service and hometown to the guard rail that surrounds this mural. Each ribbon will remain attached to this guard rail until January 1 when it will become a permanent part of the committee's historical records.

At 7:45 a.m., while a 10” by 19” American flag is being raised, those gathered will enjoy the national anthem, sung by local Christian artist Sonya Diane Jones. Then at exactly 7:55 a.m., which is the exact time the surprise attack began in 1941, there will be the firing of a cannon by Dick Hover, DDS, and a moment of silence.

Groppetti Plans Visalia Used Car Franchise

Visalia - Visalia's largest new car dealer will be getting into sales and financing for used cars in the next few months, confirms owner Don Groppetti.

“We'll be opening a new franchise – JD Byrider – at the former Honda dealership at the corner of Burke and Mineral King probably in February but at least some time in the first quarter.”

The company, based in Indianapolis, is the largest used car dealership in the U.S. The franchise will be the first in California. JD Byrider has 234 stores nationwide.

“We've always concentrated on sales of new cars,” says Groppetti, “and this new dealership will mean we won't have to wholesale our used car supply.” He says the dealership will offer both sales and service for the vehicles they sell, as well as financing for people who may not be able to get affordable financing.

“Our financing will be reported to credit bureaus helping people looking to rebuild their credit or improve their credit score.” The company has its own financing arm – CNAC – that buys 100% of the loans generated by JD Byrider.

Groppetti says the new company will employ 10 to 15 to start up. Bringing in the new dealership will fill the Burke/Mineral King dealership that includes Buick/GMC and GA Motorsports (motorcycles), and now JD Byrider will fill the block. Honda recently relocated to South Ben Maddox where Groppetti has clustered two new car dealerships along with two more on North Ben Maddox.

“We've been working with JD Byrider for about a year,” says Groppetti, expanding into a big market in Tulare County with its large lower income worker population that is already serviced by smaller players in the car sales category called “buy here, pay here.”

West Nile Virus Control Funding Issues Explained

By Miles Shuper

Tulare County - If Tulare County is to continue its relative success against the threat of West Nile Virus, it should not rely on financial help from the state, Tulare County Supervisors were told this week.

Michael Alburn, general manager of the Delta Vector Control District, outlined the emergency mosquito control work in eastern Tulare County. The goal, he said, was to interrupt the breeding cycle of the Culex (house) mosquito, the primary transmitter of encephalitis virus to humans.

Alburn said the multi-faceted efforts achieved the goal of reducing the risk in eastern Tulare County. There were no human transmissions during the program. He said DVCD employees voluntarily gave up 10 consecutive Saturdays working six days a week during an already intensive West Nile season to assist Tulare County, as well as county communities, including Ducor, which are not covered by the abatement district contracts.

Although the county received emergency funding from the state to fight the virus threat, Alburn said it is very unlikely additional state funds will be forthcoming and the county needs to find ways to extend coverage to those areas not currently covered. One way would be to expand the size of current districts. That could be done through a LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) process. The abatement service districts are funded through tax assessments. An annexation process to expand the districts sizes is one option, he said.

The proximity of Porterville and the other southern and eastern communities in Tulare County to Kern County, which had one of the highest number of West Nile cases in recent years, is a major concern, Alburn said. He cited results of trapping, testing and reporting programs which resulted in keeping the impact at relatively low levels.

In other action, Supervisors:

· Authorized the submittal of a Community Development Block Grant for $300,000. The public services will receive $227,500 and the general administration is set to receive $22,500.

· Approved the submittal of applications to the State of California Resources Agency, Department of Water Resources and Local Government Groundwater Assistance Program for $250,000.

· Approved an update from the recently resurrected Tulare County Water Commission by-laws and duties.

· Approved letters of support for grant applications from nine irrigation districts and the City of Lindsay.

· Directed staff to advertise for bids for the planned motor pool relocation. The estimated cost is $775,000. The county is moving the motor pool from the civic center (courthouse site) to the county yard at Avenue 256 and Lovers Lane. The county has more than 800 vehicles. Plans for the new motor pool include a car washing operation. Supervisors said such a facility and operation could save substantial down time by county workers taking vehicles to local car washes which have agreements with the county.

Retired Visalia City Employees Face Health
Insurance Cost Increases

By Steve Pastis

Visalia - When the employees of the City of Visalia negotiated their most recent contracts, the result was that both their pay and the cost of their health insurance increased. To employees, this was a good trade-off. Retired city employees who received the increases in health insurance costs without comparable raises in income, however, aren’t as happy.

The result is that these retired city employees have formed an informal organization to discuss their growing health insurance bills, and what to do about them. The group has eight to ten regulars, but meetings have attracted as many as 100 people.

“The city has a process to provide healthcare insurance to retirees,” said Dianne Guzman, one of the leaders of the city retirees. “Approximately five years ago, they embarked upon a $20 per month per year increase, which is $100 after five years. Now with the new contract, the current workforce has agreed to an increase of up to $50 a month per year for three years. The employees also got a significant pay raise at the time.”

According to these numbers, retirees could pay $350 more in monthly health insurance costs in 2010 than they did in 2002.

Guzman noted that the retired city employees aren’t getting an increase each year to pay their insurance premiums, although she did say that retirees do receive smaller cost of living increases. Also, the city does not participate in Social Security so the people who work for the city – unless they also worked someplace else – don’t have Social Security retirement, she said.

“We have people who have retirement income substantially less than employees in the city today and they are asked to pay the increases that the employees are asked to pay,” she said. “The retirees are not in the same kind of financial position to pay increases.”

Before the last two contracts, the practice has been to keep retirees’ health insurance premiums at the same cost as when they retired, according to Guzman.

The issue was on the Visalia City Council agenda in October. The result was that the council directed City Finance Director Eric Frost to meet with the city’s retirees in an effort to review the health insurance plan.

“The challenge there is that the city is not paying less,” Frost said. “It’s how much additional money they should pay the retirees.”

Currently, a retiree pays a little over $200 a month for health insurance, according to Frost. “They’re paying $200 a month for something that’s worth roughly $1,000 a month,” he said. “The city provides a substantial benefit now for retirees.”

In 1982, the City of Visalia became self-insured and let the employees into the program. The issue of how to deal with rising health insurance costs is something that has been “off and on for the last four years,” according to Frost.

“The council is trying to come up with a policy,” he said. “The agreement is that employees will share the cost with the city. The employees have agreed to pay for half of the health plan increase up to a maximum per year of $50 per month.”

Frost has been meeting informally with retirees to discuss this issue.

“I’ve been trying to find the middle ground to make this work,” he said. “The council has to make the final determination.”

Frost defines the issue as “What is the promise and how should it be handled?”

“The issue we want to talk about is where do we go from here?” Guzman said. “There are a number of people in the group who can’t afford to eat and have healthcare insurance. The moral commitment they made to these people is different than when they retired.”

Downtown Amphitheatre Proposed

Visalia - A long-range plan to enhance the cultural amenities in the city’s new East Downtown Civic Center received city council approval Monday night.

The council accepted a letter of interest from the Visalia Rotary Foundation regarding the concept of a joint public-private partnership to establish a “Rotary Amphitheatre” as part of the new East Downtown Civic Center Master Plan.

“Rotary has a strong feeling for this,” said Allan Fisher, president of the Rotary Club of Visalia and chairman of the amphitheatre committee.

The Visalia Rotary Foundation is made up of all four local Rotary clubs; Visalia, Sunset, County Center and Breakfast. All four will participate in raising money for the project.

“With city buy-in we can start to raise funds,” said Fisher. “Visalia Rotary has already put funds aside.”

Rotary and city officials have been working on the concept for about a year, said Vince Elizondo, director of Parks and Recreation. Fisher said The Rotary Foundation is ready to commit $250,000 to $350,000 towards the project, raised over the next 3-5 years.

Much work still needs to be done. The scope of an amphitheatre can range from a facility that can accommodate several hundred people to a facility that can hold 10,000 people. The costs for developing an amphitheatre can range from $100,000 to $10 million dollars, depending on the sound system. Right now officials are looking at mid-sized amphitheatre that can hold several thousand people with a modestly designed stage area, said the staff report.

While there are no plans drawn, the city’s preliminary master plan for the civic center does include an outdoor theater. The development of the East Downtown Civic Center is still a few years off.

Elizondo also said there are hundreds of Rotary outdoor amphitheatres around the nation, so the concept is nothing new.

“The City will continue to work with the Rotarians to develop a long-term sponsorship plan and agreement that could make the concept of an outdoor amphitheatre become a reality - and create a community legacy for the Visalia Rotary Foundation,” states the city staff report.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Elizondo, but he and Fisher are both enthused about the project.

“This is a first step. In think there’s general agreement this is a good thing,” added Fisher.

Adjustments Sought as County Ponders Business Licenses

By Miles Shuper

Tulare County - Tulare County has delayed, for at least two weeks, adopting an ordinance requiring business licenses for some businesses in unincorporated areas of the county until some modifications are made.

County Supervisors agreed that food vendors and others should be allowed to seek waivers on some restrictions, especially on hours of operation.

Supervisors set Dec. 11 for potential adoption of business licenses which could be required as soon as January 10. Persons required to obtain a business license for the first time will have 90 days to do so from the effective date of the ordinance .Rules apply to current and new businesses. Penalties for the infractions are proposed for $100 for first conviction, $200 for second conviction, with third or subsequent convictions within a one-year period to be punished by a fine not to exceed $500.

Since September of 2006, the county staff, under direction from the board, has been wrestling with drafting licensing laws for mobile food vendors, specifically taco trucks, hawkers and other itinerant businesses seen in rural areas on a daily basis.

Earlier this year, the board reviewed proposals but instructed county staff to draft rules including junk dealers, peddlers and retailers of aerosol paint, large marking pens, paint sticks and etching tools. Supervisors have found themselves caught between adopting rules which could be too restrictive and cripple business, and citizen complaints about the large numbers of itinerant vendors.

Roadside vendors often compete with other businesses, especially nearby restaurants, which results in traffic hazards and customers leaving trash along highways and roads. Restaurants and café owners face considerable overhead costs which the mobile vendors do not. Eating establishments, including mobile vendors, currently are required only to have health department permits, but no business license.

Supervisor Steve Worthley was particularly concerned over the proposed limits on hours of operation, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and only one hour per day at any one location, within a one-half mile radius. Worthley said the county is “not trying to drive people out of business,” rather regulate business in the unincorporated county areas. He cited the value of the so-called taco truck operations in rural areas where there are no other eating establishments, leaving workers and others with no place to eat. Supervisor Connie Conway cited the Tipton area cheese plant which often operates around the clock.

Worthley urged county staff to include provisions allowing vendors and others to seek relief of certain restrictions on a case-by-case basis. Fellow supervisors agreed.

Worthley said he was unaware of any eating locations facing restrictions of hours. Although staff has not finished establishing a business fee schedule, officials have indicated the license fees likely will be keyed to cover county costs. Lynn Gregory, senior staff analyst, said hours of operation restrictions were linked to the issue of enforcement and staff time.

The proposed rules also will require trash disposal for customers to be provided by the vendor and all trash must be removed within 30 minutes after closing. Tables, chairs, tents and other equipment cannot be left at the site.

To enforce and manage the new business licenses procedure, officials are proposing one additional financial technician in the tax collectors office and a code compliance officer in the Resource Management Agency. The estimated costs for those two positions range from about $65,000 to around $82,000, according to staff reports.

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