Homeowners in the Middle
Subcontractor Sues Developer for Payment

By Rick Elkins

Tulare - Eighteen property owners in the Palm Ranch Development in Tulare were surprised and angered to find out not only were they being sued by one of the building subcontractors of their homes, but that a property tax lien had been placed against their homes as well.

Beutler Corporation, which installed air conditioning and heating units and the duct work in the homes, filed the suit April 21 against builder Reynen & Bardis and at least the 18 property owners in the subdivision for what the company claims is non-payment for the work it provided.

“The neighbors have been served that they're being sued and a lien was put on their property,” said Mike Powell, who lives in the subdivision but has yet to be named in the suit. However, Beutler named the developer, the individual property owners and then John Does 1 through 100 who may be identified later.

Corey Raygoza is one of the homeowners hit with the suit and lien. “I'm shocked. I feel like we've been mislead,” she said.

Attorney Chad Tapp, with the law firm of Porter-Scott that represents Beutler, said the fight is not with the individual property owners, but the procedure is to name them along with the builder in trying to get paid.

“I have no desire to pursue the homeowners,” said Tapp, explaining that unfortunately there are two victims to the nonpayment – the buyers of the homes and his client. “Beutler has no ax to grind with any homeowner.”

He said R&B is working with Beutler in trying to settle the matter and if there is a resolution, the homeowners will be dropped from the suit and the mechanics liens will be removed.

Michele McCormick, a spokesperson for R&B, said it is their goal to “resolve any issues of this nature.”

“As a company they are regrouping financially to deal with the economy,” she said.
R&B was one of the largest builders of homes in Central California until the home building downturn basically put a stop to the sales and construction of new homes. It has been reported that R&B has pulled out of Tulare County, basically abandoning its subdivisions in Tulare and Visalia.

McCormick said the Sacramento-area company is still solvent and is still building homes in some areas of the state, but she was uncertain if it had pulled out of the county.

Reynen and Bardis has been facing financial difficulties for several months. In Visalia and Tulare, there are half a dozen unfinished homes in its subdivisions and sales offices have been closed.

The builder has left at least 13 homes in an unfinished condition and both the city of Visalia and city of Tulare have notified the company that the unfinished homes need to be completed. Powell said nothing has been done for months at the unfinished homes in his neighborhood. Officials have threatened to demolish the homes if they are not secured, citing safety concerns with the open structures.

Reynen and Bardis has three subdivisions in Visalia and one in Tulare. In 2006, the builder took out permits for 150 new homes in the county, a number that fell to just four last year.

Powell is worried the lawsuits and liens might be the first of many creditors going after the beleaguered company. He said the suits ask for a range of a “couple thousand dollars up to about $9,500.” He said the neighbors are working together and seeking legal help. He said they will all at lease incur some legal costs.
Raygoza said herself and six other owners are being represented by First American Title which is defending them through the title insurance.

“It's a pretty scary situation,” he said.

Powell added most of the homes have been purchased in the past 12 months and ranged in price from $190,000 to more than $300,000.

The liens were filed with the Tulare County Assessor's Office. Julie Poochigian, chief deputy clerk recorder, said placing a lien on a piece of property is a pretty simple process that does not require any documentation other than the name of the property owner, address and amount. She said it is then up to the court to decide if the lien is upheld.

Tapp said the best solution is for his client to be paid. Beutler claims R&B owes $55,210.80, plus interest at 10% and attorney fees.

“The goal is to settle this without involving the property owners,” said the Beutler attorney. McCormick indicated that is the goal of R&B as well.

---

Mooney Blvd. Widening to Begin Mid-June

By Rick Elkins

Visalia - The public will get a chance Tuesday to hear and see what Caltrans has planned for the widening of Highway 63 (Mooney Boulevard) from Packwood Creek to Noble Avenue.

The project calls for widening Mooney from four lanes to six lanes. Also, dual left-turn lanes and exclusive right-turn lanes will be added at four major intersections – Caldwell, Tulare, Orchard and Beech Avenues. Twenty bus bays will be built at major intersections and at mid-block locations.

The open house Tuesday will begin at 4 p.m. and go to 7 p.m. in Room 1 in the Sequoia Building at COS.

“We will provide information on how we plan to construct it, to let people know and to listen to their concerns,” said Victor Shaw, project manager for the project.
The widening of Mooney Blvd. has been long anticipated. Visalia City Manager Steve Salomon said the project has been on the books for nearly two decades.
“It has been a long wait. The Mooney Boulevard corridor has continued to develop. Perhaps we can have even more intense uses on it (after road widening),” he said. “It is a very, very significant project.”

Shaw said bids for the project came in way under estimates. He said Teichert Construction out of Sacramento was awarded the bid for $11 million, $3 million less than the estimate. That money will now be put to another project, or possibly allow another project to get started sooner than planned.

Shaw said work on Mooney will begin around the middle of June and an exact date should be announced at the May 27 meeting.

Shaw said the project will be done in phases and most of the work will be done at night. “Anything affecting traffic will be night work,” he said. The work will include removing all sidewalks and curbs along the route with widening taking place on both sides of the roadway.

The City of Visalia will do the intersection work in conjunction with the widening project. The city is doing Whitendale and Walnut intersections, and a portion of Mooney, said Andy Benelli, City of Visalia Public Works director. “People that go through those will appreciate that,” said Salomon.

In addition, the city is going to put in some additional landscaping along Mooney after the widening project is completed, said Salomon.

Utility work has already been done along Mooney. AT&T, Cal Water and others have been moving some of their infrastructure.

---

Farm Workers Could See 5-Year Work Visa

 

Tulare County - Putting the citizenship debate on hold, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) proposed an “emergency measure” last week to grant a five-year pilot program that offers undocumented workers in agriculture a five-year work visa as long as they continue to work on farms.

As we told you over a month ago (Valley Voice March 20), Feinstein is working on legislation that would provide temporary legal immigration status to workers who have worked in the fields and want to work in ag for another five years. The pilot program does not grant a legal path to citizenship and is capped at 1.35 million workers, sun setting in five years.

The measure, the Emergency Agriculture Relief Act, is aimed as a near-term answer to a farm labor shortage across the nation that Feinstein says threatens the viability of the U.S. agricultural industry. It has the support of all farm organizations and the United Farmworkers.

“This is not amnesty,” emphasized Feinstein, “it is an emergency agricultural worker bill that will give protective status to those workers who have worked in agriculture within the last 48 months. The worker will have to continue working in ag for at least 100 days for the next five years to qualify.”

“Agriculture needs a consistent work force. Without that, they can't plant, they can't prune, they can't pick and they can't pack.”

Senator Feinstein had been a longtime proponent of AgJOBS, which would have provided temporary legal resident status for agriculture workers and their families and provided workers with an eventual citizenship. AgJOBS was included in the comprehensive immigration bill, which failed last year.

Feinstein offers some stories:

Keith Eckel, of Clarks Summit, PA was one of the largest tomato growers in the Northeast. For seven weeks a year, 120 workers would pick, pack and ship 125 trailer loads of tomatoes. But earlier this month, after decades of growing tomatoes, he announced he was calling it quits. State, local and federal crackdowns on illegal immigration have broken his supply chain of laborers and he feared that the labor he needs to harvest his tomatoes won't be there with he needs it.

Steve Scaroni couldn't find enough workers to work at his lettuce processing plant in California. So he moved the plant to Guanajuato, Mexico to get the labor force that he needed. He now has 2,000 acres in Mexico and 500 employees. He exports to the United States about two million pounds of lettuce a week.

Attached to Iraq Spending Bill

She defended the bill being attached to the funding of the Iraq war supplement bill. “This is an emergency situation,” suggesting more farmers without workers are relocating to Mexico and that the U.S. will be faced with more imported food than domestically produced.

Manuel Cunha of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League, who helped craft the legislation, says, “Protecting the U.S. food supply is just as important as other homeland security or defense-related measures.”

“We need both a secure border and a stable workforce,” says Western United Dairymen President Ray Souza.

The bill survived its initial test passing 17 to 12, with votes from both sides of the aisle in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Now it goes to the full U.S. Senate for debate likely as this paper goes to press.

Despite support from some sectors, the bill's surprise attachment to a war funding measure rubbed opponents the wrong way. The lobbying group, FAIR – Federation for American Immigration Reform – said, “Tying amnesty for illegal aliens and still more cheap labor for powerful business interests to support for our troops in Iraq is an unconscionable abuse of the appropriate process.”

FAIR wants Congress to strip the measure from the appropriation bill before it passes. The bill is required to continue to pay U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But others are saying this more modest approach will likely get enough support since it targets only a small number of illegal workers that are here and offers no path to citizenship for farmworkers – both measures that were rejected by the Senate in the last round.

A second amendment adopted by the committee, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), would vastly increase the number of unskilled H-2B guest workers permitted to work in this country. The Mikulski amendment would reinstate the exemption for returning H-2B workers from numerical caps on the program.

---

By Dave Adalian

Tulare - Traffic snarls, polluted air, inescapable noise at hearing-damaging levels, loss of agricultural land, inflated estimates of potential earnings and unforeseen future failure of its business model were among a myriad concerns voiced by potential neighbors of a 711-acre, 90,000-seat proposed motor sports complex planned for southern Tulare during the first of two public hearings on the matter before the Tulare Planning Commission.

If approved, the complex could play host to as many as 451 events annually, possibly drawing some 1.6 million visitors and nearly a billion dollars in revenue to the area, according to a recently released draft environmental impact report. The public has until June 20 to submit written comments on the EIR, and a second meeting before the commission will be held June 2.

Those tantalizing numbers, however, may be mere wishful thinking say some who spoke against the complex during the meeting Monday.

“Please, make it so we can turn it into a mall, because that's what they did in Ontario,” said Tulare resident Sherwood Westra, a former neighbor of the Ontario Motor Speedway in that Southern California city. Constructed in 1970 as a replica of the Indianapolis 500 Speedway, the Ontario Motor Speedway failed and was demolished 11 years later. Now, after 27 years, half of the former speedway has been turned into a series of commercial developments.

Developer Bud Long, the man behind the Tulare proposal, has said NASCAR has expressed interest in holding a race at the site, though no agreement has been reached. Self-proclaimed NASCAR fan Eric Nunes, however, doubts that claim, as well as the claim more than 16,000 jobs will eventually be created should the project win approval.

“Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not coming to Tulare, people,” Nunes said during his testimony. “This will bring a lot of jobs for construction, but in five years what's going to happen?”

David Lance, a resident of Sunrise Estates, a subdivision near the proposed complex, told the commission he hoped it would require developers to deposit funds to pay for mitigation of the traffic problems created by tens of thousands of vehicles coming and going from the complex before construction begins, rather than allowing the costs to be covered later on. A similar arrangement between the city and developers at Sunrise Estates left Lance living without a paved main road for a decade, he said, and he wondered what would prevent an identical situation at the motor sports complex.

“What possible guarantee can a builder give for future revenue?” he asked planning commissioners.

Susan Starr, who lives on Laspina Street, voiced concerns about the negative economic effects of creating a large business center - plans call for 1.2 million square feet of building space - away from the city's downtown business district.
“Who benefits from this?” she asked. “Does the city get money? Does Bud Long get money?”

And, Starr sees a potential for failure.

“If you build it, they might not come,” she said.

Rancher Lance Mouw, whose dairy is located on Road 132 near the proposed construction site, echoed David Lance's worry over the way developers fees would be paid, and also expressed concern the EIR that listed a need to improve all intersections within three to five miles of the complex to accommodate increased traffic, while the developer's financial responsibility would be limited to only a percentage of the cost of such improvements.

“I think the city's going in too blind,” he said. “There's too much trust.”
Mouw also said bringing 1.6 million visitors to the area each year would have a marked negative impact on air quality.

“I think they're going to drive cars to get here,” he said. Pollution from vehicles makes up some 60 percent of impurities in Valley air according the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

“My main concern is our air quality,” said Pat Phillips, another potential neighbor. “We're already third in the nation for ozone [pollution]. Tulare County is fifth in the nation for particulate matter [pollution]. This will only make it worse.”

Of particular concern to Bud Mouw, father of Lance Mouw, was the potential stress to his dairy herd from sustained noise levels of up to 100 decibels during races. That level of sound equals the noise of a jet at takeoff as heard from 2,000 feet away and has the potential to cause hearing damage in humans. While noise pollution declines quickly over distance, some nearby residences would experience levels above 60 dB, the local legal limit.

While the impact report states that no data is available on the effect of noise on dairy cattle, Bud Mouw said he was easily able to find such information online, causing him to question the EIR's other findings.

“This dumb farmer can find it on Google,” he said, referring to himself.
Bill Thrasher, who can already hear the races held at the Tulare County Fairgrounds from his home, said the problem will be far worse if the motor sports complex is approved. He fears the noise will go on until late at night as it does now at the fairgrounds.

“It was 12:26 before they shut that shoot-out [drag racing competition],” he said. “I do enjoy a drag race. I go to Famosa [in rural Kern County]. There's nothing there, no cows, a couple of liquor stores. Blink and you miss it.”
Rachel Dysart, who can see the site of the proposed drag strip from her backyard, said the complex represents a looming disaster for her family.

“In my home, we will not be able to escape this noise,” she said. “The dust will fall on my children's toys.”

Dysart also pointed out local officials will be at the mercy of Caltrans regarding the schedule of the upgrades to State Route 99 required to mitigate traffic congestion should the complex be given a green light, a revelation that seemed to give planning commissioners pause.

Concerns about the impact of the complex on animals was not limited to livestock. Tom Jones, who lives near Elk Bayou Tulare County Regional Park and not far from the area to be developed, fears the noise and traffic the complex could drive wildlife, including endangered species, away from the area.

“In the last couple of weeks, my wife and I observed a kit fox and a lot of hawks [within the 100-foot buffer zone between the complex and the banks of Elk Bayou],” he said.

Robert Clark, who plays golf at the Tulare Golf Course, said the possible benefits of the complex are outweighed by its negative impacts.

“The EIR itself says it all: Noise will be significant and unavoidable. Traffic will be significant and unavoidable. Air pollution will be significant and unavoidable. Blight will be significant and unavoidable. Agricultural conflicts will be significant and unavoidable,” he told commissioners. “It's all avoidable. We don't have to do this.”
Mike Lampe, a Visalia attorney representing opponents of the complex's construction, said in the face of such a laundry list of potential harms, the only reason to approve the development would be its economic benefits.

“It's the only rational basis for telling these people they have to live with the noise,” he said. However, Lampe questioned revenue projections supplied by the developers, such as the $42 million in annual income from go-cart and bicycle motor cross events.

“Has anyone thought about his numbers?” Lampe asked.

While no one spoke in favor of building the racing complex, commission chairman Richard Miller said he felt it might have been because of feelings of intimidation.
“There probably are people in this audience who support this project,” he said.
City Attorney Steve Kabot then reminded the packed audience that written commentary on the EIR could be submitted as late as the close of business on June 20. Those comments should be mailed to the City of Tulare Planning and Building Department, 411 E. Kern Ave, or emailed to motorsportsEIR@ci.tulare.ca.us.
Miller also reassured audience members their concerns would be addressed in the final EIR.

“Whatever you have to say, we'll listen,” he said. “You will be responded to.”
Those who have yet to express their concerns will get a second chance to do so in person when the commission continues its hearing on June 2.

“We don't usually do this, but since it has such wide ranging impact... we'd like everyone to have the opportunity to comment,” said Planning and Building Department Director Mark Kielty.

The second EIR, containing responses to citizens' concerns, should be completed in late summer or early fall when it will be presented to the public before being voted upon by the Planning Commission and sent to the city council, Kielty said.
Text of the draft EIR can be viewed at the Planning and Building Department offices at Tulare City Hall, at the Tulare County Library, 113 N. F St., Tulare, or online at www.brandman.com/TMSC-EIR/index.html.

---

Visalia Chamber Eyeing
Options to Pay Mortgage

By Steve Pastis

Visalia - The Visalia Chamber of Commerce has been looking for ways to pay the mortgage on its $1.3 million building at Santa Fe and Oak Avenue in Visalia. The chamber has also been talking to local businesspeople who are interested in buying the building.

“We've been approached,” said Nancy Lockwood, chair of the chamber's board of directors. “We've had several people say they might be interested.”
Prospective buyers have come forward based on what they have read in the local press.

“It's been all over the media that the mortgage is a problem,” she said. “People read it in the newspaper and people talk.”

Lockwood said that at this point, however, the chamber is nowhere near making any decision to sell the facility. It is still only involved in “very preliminary information gathering.”

“People may want to buy the building, but it's not anything we will move very quickly on,” she said.

“We know we need to address the building debt,” she said, adding that the chamber is considering other options, such as a capital campaign. She said that all options will need to be “penciled out,” because there are advantages for the chamber to maintain the facility.

“It's a good business investment to own our own building,” Lockwood said, describing the building as “new beautiful office space.” She noted that selling the building would cost the chamber rent from the Visalia Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Visalia Economic Development Corporation and the Small Business Development Center.

Members of the chamber staff said they were unaware that selling the building was being discussed. One staff member said that the building was “definitely important to the image of the chamber,” adding that it is “a great meeting facility” and “it shows a strong business community.”

The incoming board chair, Connie Kautz is in charge of leading the discussion about how to best deal with the mortgage issue, according to Lockwood. Her term begins on July 1.

CEO Selection Status

Donn Ritter, a human resources professional, is chairing the selection committee to find a CEO for the chamber, the position that has been open since Mike Cully's resignation last month to take a similar position in East San Diego County.
“We've had a lot of volunteers for the committee,” said Lockwood, who was surprised by how many people want to be part of the process. She added that it is up to Ritter to select the committee and call the first meeting.

---

Second Front Page

What's New

The engineering firm Omni Means will relocate its Visalia office to the current Buckman Mitchell location at 309 Main Street in September. So says Gary Mill, associate with the Roseville-based company. Omni Means concentrates on transportation projects from begin to end, says Mills. “We will need 3,400 square feet to accommodate 15 people,” says Mills, who says they are about to sign a letter of interest to take the leased space. The company was out of room where they are on west 198 and plans to add more people when they locate Downtown.

Assemblyman Bill Maze's bill to allow the City of Porterville and the Tule River Tribe to set up a Joint Power Agreement was passed by the Assembly and now goes before the Senate for approval. The bill will allow for the two entities to work together to develop land near the Porterville Airport where the tribe has announced it wants to build a resort/casino.

Visalia City Council is being asked to approve a plan to purchase about 4.5 acres from SCE – what's left of the former pole yard – to make room for expansion of the city corporation yard next door. City estimates the land that fronts on Ben Maddox will cost between $800,000 and $1.2 million when it becomes available some months from now. The plan is part of the city council improvement fund that will be approved by council in early June.

Other big capital expenses for the City of Visalia in the coming budget year are $3.5 million to begin the construction of the Santa Fe bridge over 198 this winter, $903,000 to widen Houston Ave. beginning in September, widening Walnut at Mooney $2.5 million with work done in 2009, and $2.7 million to widen Ben Maddox over 198 with construction in 2009/10.

Selma will lose a major employer when the U.S. Post Office closes its remote encoding center in November that employs over 400 full and part time workers. New technology allows the post office to read most handwritten materials, eliminating the need for these centers around the nation that receive handwritten letters that used to have to be readdressed or resorted by hand. Selma is one of 55 such centers that is closing. The post office said it would relocate 135 employees to other post office jobs within a 50-mile radius.

West Hills College will begin its first stand-alone RN training program with 24 students in August – only the third new RN program in the state since the 1960s, says West Hills spokesperson Francis Squire. The college is also considering start up of an LVN to RN program next year. The college received over 85 qualified applicants and needed to pare the number down using a lottery.

A new Lowe's will soon be under way at the southeast corner of Lacey Boulevard and Centennial Drive in Hanford. The new Lowe's store is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Unemployment in March was down in Tulare/Kings on ag jobs. Kings County added 1,000 jobs – all on local farms helping to reduce the county unemployment rate to 10.2%, still higher than it was a year ago at 8.9%. Tulare County jobless rate was 10.3%, better than last month but higher than the 9.5% rate in March 2007. Farm jobs skyrocketed in Tulare County with the coming of spring, adding 8,800 jobs to the farm sector that has 35,660 jobs in the county. That is actually 900 fewer than last year. On the non-farm job front, we have 500 more employed than this time last year at 113,500. The city civilian labor force is now just shy of 200,000.

Mineral King Road up from Three Rivers into the alpine valley opens at noon on Friday for the spring and summer months.

The Lemoore City Council passed the controversial General Plan Amendment as proposed by that city's planning body. The general plan drew concerns because it called for residential development within the flight path of one of the runways at Lemoore Naval Air Station. A study being done by the Navy could still hamper that development if it finds that placing homes in the flight path could have adverse effects.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Tule River Reservation Fire Department and Kern County Fire Department (KCFD) declared Friday the beginning of the 2008 Wildland Fire Season.

Visalia City Council began Monday the 3-5 year process to update the city's general plan. Cost to redo the document that directs growth in the city over the next 20 years is estimated to be at least $1 million.

More trouble in restaurant land – Buffet Holdings operator of Hometown Buffet and Tahoe Joe's filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and now says they will put the Tahoe Joe's chain up for sale, the company announced in recent days.

---

Plaza Business Park Given OK

Visalia - Stephen Peck, vice president with Mangano Company, can now start talking about the interest companies are showing in the Plaza Business Park.

Monday night, the Visalia City Council approved the massive project by a 3-2 vote with Mayor Jesus Gamboa and Councilman Greg Collins opposing the project.

The park, north of Highway 198 along Plaza Drive, will change the landscape of the western edge of the city. The project covers 29 acres and includes 250,000 square feet of office space, the Fresno Pacific University Campus, a hotel and related services all in a campus setting. Another 70 acres are included in the area for further development.
The proposal had been debated for more than six months and the developer has already spent $500,000 on studies and drawings. Peck said construction could begin on phase 1 late this year. Work has already begun on the university.

County EDC Eyes Space in Visalia

Visalia - Tulare County Economic Development Corporation is looking for office space in Visalia after the Tulare Agri-Center told the EDC it needs the space in the Heritage Complex for its own offices. The EDC moved to the Tulare site several years ago.

The EDC is negotiating with the city of Visalia for office space at Plaza and Airport Drive. Those negotiations were the topic of a closed session item at Monday night's council meeting.

The Agri-Center may fix up its original administration building on the Farm Show grounds to be used in the future for office or rental space.

Chowchilla District out of Friant

Chowchilla - Chowchilla Water District notified Friant Water Users Authority last week that it has pulled out of the organization effective immediately. That reduces the multi-district CVP contractors to 21 local water districts, says general manager Ron Jacobsma.

The withdrawal is not expected to change the settlement over the San Joaquin River issue that Chowchilla agreed to as a signatory, says Jacobsma. He said they are working on a plan to add the cities of Fresno, Orange Cove and Lindsay as FUWA members.

Fall COS Enrollment Jumps 38%

Visalia - Dr. Bill Scroggins, president of College of the Sequoias reported that head count enrollment totals through May 13 “look excellent.” Summer enrollment is at 2,781 students, up 679 students from last summer – a 32% increase. “For fall, we have 5,556 students, up 1,526 students or a 38% increase over last fall,” he reported.

Scroggins credits COS outreach efforts, particularly Reg-To-Go, and the leadership of Don Mast, dean of Student Services, for the increases. Another factor in these numbers is that when the job market is weak, more people focus on learning new job skills and getting necessary degrees, according to Scroggins.

---

By Rick Elkins

Tulare County - With every day closer to the June 3 primary, interest in the 34th Assembly Republican nomination race grows. It is by far the most closely watched race in the county.

In a district where Republicans easily outnumber Democrats, many believe the winner of the Republican primary will likely be the winner come the Nov. 4 general election.

Seeking the party's nod are a quartet of candidates. They are Board of Supervisors Chairman Connie Conway of Tulare; Becky Maze, wife of termed-out office incumbent Bill Maze of Visalia; Bob Smith, a retired San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy and former Maze staffer of Barstow; and Jon Zellhoefer, an unsuccessful candidate against Maze two years ago from Inyo County.

The winner will face Democrat Desmond Farrelly, who is unopposed for his party's nomination.

All four candidates express strong Republican values – from no taxes and reduced spending, to strong local control and conservative values.

Connie Conway

Conway is the current chairman of the board, the second time she has held that position in her seven years as supervisor. In addition, she was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, an organization he created two years ago to promote economic development and the quality of life in the Central Valley. She is also on the board of directors of the National Association of Counties and has served on numerous civic and local committees.

She followed her late father's footsteps in county government. John Conway served many years on the board. A longtime resident of Tulare, Conway has served the community in numerous ways.

She is a graduate of San Joaquin Memorial High School and Fresno State University. She taught high school P.E. at Tulare Western High School. She has two grown sons.

Rebecca “Becky” Maze

Maze did not throw her hat into the ring until Prop. 93 was defeated by the voters in February. That measure would have extended the time her husband, Bill, could have served in the Assembly. However, it was no secret that she would seek to follow her husband into the Assembly if Prop. 93 failed.

Born and raised in Visalia, Maze graduated from Mt. Whitney High School and College of the Sequoias, earning a BS degree in home economics from Cal Poly. She and Bill have been married for 41 years and have raised five children.

She has been the office manager and bookkeeper for Maze Ranch and Maze Construction for over 15 years. In 1992, she began doing the fundraising for her husband's political races and subsequently, she established her own consulting firm of RBM Services assisting political candidates with campaign management, fund raising, media relations, marketing, and advertising.

Bob Smith

Smith is making his first run at a state political office after a 28-year career in public safety, including the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office. In 2000, he retired from the San Bernardino County Special Investigation Unit.

He has worked as a representative for the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and for Assemblyman Maze. In 1999, he was elected to serve on the Silver Valley School District's Board and he serves on numerous civic organizations.

Jon Zellhoefer

Zellhoefer, who was one of a multitude of candidates for governor when Gray Davis was recalled in 2003, lost to Bill Maze in the June 2006 primary.

A resident of a tiny town in Inyo County, he and Smith are the dark horses in the race simply because the majority of the district's voters live in Tulare County.

He list lists his occupation as manufacturing engineer/businessman, but he also has a law degree. He earned his master of business administration at Cal State Fullerton and his engineering degree at UCLA. He lived in the San Jose area until two years ago when he moved back to Tecopa, where his family owns property.

Questions

Each of the candidates was asked the same three questions, with each also able to discuss a topic of their choosing.
Question 1: Several in the Legislature are calling for a whole new list of taxes and increases in other taxes, such as a tax on music downloads and even sales tax on services. Do you favor increasing taxes or adding to the list of what is taxable?

Zellhoefer: “It reflects the frustration going on in Sacramento right now. Otherwise it would require Democrats to admit they've been wrong. All they can do is raise taxes. These are taxes on the average little guy. I'm going to vote no on any tax increase. These taxes and fees hit the lower wage earner.”

Smith: “I have made myself well known on no tax increases. I have signed the no tax increase pledged. No new taxes period. You can't disguise them as fees. Not going to do anything to increase the cost to taxpayers, such as bonds and I don't favor non-funded mandates.”

Maze: “No. I absolutely say no to tax increases. As I have said many times, Sacramento does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. Spending has to be cut back.”

Conway: “No, no. I wish we could look at the way we do the tax system now. I believe the taxpayers pay enough taxes. We certainly don't need any more.”

Question 2: How should, or should, the state pass legislation to reduce urban sprawl in the Central Valley, even if that is at the expense of growth or economic development of Valley cities?

Zellhoefer: “The advantages are clearly in going up. Most of the world does not live in single-floor houses. A more sensible approach would be to offer incentives for developers to go up, not out. I would incentify, rather than penalize. But, we do have to go vertical. We can't keep spreading out.”

Smith: “No, I believe it is a local government issue. I think local government needs to come up with plans that include buffer zones around agriculture areas and have specific areas designed for commercial. Usually, commercial is a good buffer zone between residential and ag. We need responsible community planning by the communities.”

Maze: “I don't think so. I think planning issues should be local jurisdictions. The state does not need to get involved in that. The local folks best know how they want their area to grow.”

Conway: “I don't know that the state Legislature is the authority on how you work with the Central Valley on land use values. Look where they come from. Have they done a good job in the LA area? It should be a local decision. Should someone from SF or LA be involved in any way – no they should not be involved in any way.”

Question 3: Which of the eminent domain measures on the June ballot do you support – Prop. 98 or Prop. 99?

Zellhoefer: “I did vote for 98. It's just a terrible thing to have to have a ballot initiative to limit the government's ability to take property. I think eminent domain is wrong. Government should have to buy on the fair market. I don't think government should be involved in property management.”

Smith: “Of the two, there may be some litigation either way. The one that has the most validity and safeguards to the public is 98. That's the bill backed by Howard Jarvis. (Prop.) 99 is backed by league of California Cities. I am endorsed by Jarvis Tax Association. I believe Prop 99 is a better grasp of eminent domain.”

Maze: “Prop. 98 is the one we are supporting at this time. It guarantees that property can only be taken for public use. Prop. 99 does not give that strong a guarantee. I support 98 because both the Farm Bureau and Jarvis Tax Association groups support it. I think they best look out for the best interest of people as far as land issues are concerned.”

Conway: “Obviously, we have two of them (measures) so this is an important issue. People don't think the Legislature has acted in a positive matter. Most support Prop. 98. I'm currently on record that I support 98, but I would ask the voters to do the best they can to get the most information they can to make their decision.”

Question 4: What other issue to you think is important to the 34th Assembly District and what would you propose to do about it?

Zellhoefer: “It's politics as usual. Term limits or not, we seem to be electing people who are coming up through the political ranks and they have their allegiances to the system. I'd like to see voters put people in the Assembly who are representatives of the community and being their first time in politics. They can bring common experience of people to the Assembly and leave the Senate to the professionals. I am an 'of the people' candidate. I would not plan on moving up to the Senate.”

Smith: “Illegal aliens and sealing that border. That is the one issue that is affecting our schools, our hospitals, our welfare programs. I could go on and on. It is filling our prisons and costing taxpayers $10 billion per year in the state and its costing taxpayers $750 million housing inmates in our prisons that should be deported. I'm not interested in felonizing the illegal aliens. I realize they're a good workforce. In meantime, we need to have them identified and have them under some type of a work program. And the criminals need to be deported.”

Maze: “One of things that differentiates me from my opponents is the foster care issue. I really believe strongly that the system needs reform. In the foster care system, there are 85,000 kids in the program, and estimates are about 75 percent will end up in prison. That's a tragedy for our kids. Foster care children are the state's responsibility. We need to do things better at the front end for these kids so they don't end up as a casualty on the other end – the prison system.”

Conway: “One of the reasons I'm in this race is to try to focus somewhat on local government and the abuse put on taxpayers by the state by unfunded mandates. There are 17 state government agencies that send down these mandates. I don't know if state government is the right agency to be overseeing these local programs. I am very focused on interaction of state government and local mandates.”

---

Tulare County - Diesel fuel prices in much of California are nearing the $5 a gallon level only months after they reached the $4 plateau. In the March 6 Valley Voice, Tulare station owner Dennis Stanley said diesel around town was selling at the $3.99 level as oil reached $103per barrel level on the futures market.

This week, oil reached the $129 per barrel level and diesel fuel was selling for an average of $4.88 in the Visalia metro region – the highest in the state – said the AAA weekly fuel report. Several Central Valley stations posted a $4.99 price for diesel in recent days.

The rapid rise in cost reflects a fuel that sold for $1 a gallon as recently as 2004. Just in the past year, the cost has risen from about $3 a gallon this time a year ago to the near $5 level today – a rise of well over 50% in 12 months.

In the most recent week, diesel price nationwide jumped over 18 cents, said the U.S. Energy Information Center May 14.

$1,200 Fill Up

“A trucker I know tells me it costs $1,200 to fill the big rig up and it takes a $20 bill just to go to town,” says Manuel Cunha of the farm trade group Nisei Farmer League. “It's causing havoc, including the fact his credit card doesn't go that high.”

Ironically, diesel fuel prices were historically cheaper than gas prices and the fuel is attractive because vehicles get better mileage too. But as the world, including Europe, starts to use more diesel, demand has risen globally. Later this year, more American cars running on diesel are expected to be available, adding to the demand. Booming countries like China and India thirst for more diesel to haul goods. The recent earthquake is likely to spike demand of imported diesel even more, say sources.

These high prices are hitting the U.S. farm sector hard as well, not just to fuel farmers' tractors, but to haul farm goods to market. This past week, California Dairies – the state's largest dairy cooperative – asked the state to allow it to tack on an extra fee to haul milk to market in the state – a fee it will have to recover from producers who are opposing the petition.

The high costs are hitting truck fleet owners, whose big rigs gulp down diesel at 4 mpg in some cases, spurring the truck owner to seek out cost cuts wherever they can find them. Some are considering newer trucks that get a few mpg more, but can cut thousands in operating costs.

Add to that the current debate in the state over whether to require the California truck fleet to change over to newer model vehicles to cut pollution at a cost of hundreds of millions to the local economy. (See story this issue.)

In a twist, more truck owners are asking their drivers to save on their fuel costs by slowing down. Other fleet owners, like UPS, are converting their trucks to green fleets on hybrid electric vehicles as well as compressed natural gas with the announcement last week the company will soon have 2,218 low carbon vehicles delivering the goods.

Farmers, who use diesel to fuel their trucks and other harvesting equipment, may find a way to save on higher fuel costs – reducing disking of their fields – so-called conservation tillage – that can help the Valley air as well.

You Pay the Cost

Even if you're not a farmer or trucker, you pay the costs. School districts are struggling with their budgets to pay higher diesel prices, more than they had budgeted for. Food cost hikes have more to do with increasing cost of transportation, compared to the increased cost of commodities like corn. When the price of corn doubled, the value of corn in a box of corn flakes went up from about 2 cents to 4 cents. Of course, the price of that box of cereal has gone way up, but what's inside the box is just 15% of the total with big jumps in energy and transportation costs, all based on oil.

Oil refineries have the choice of refining a little more diesel or more gasoline, depending on the price it fetches. With the jump up in diesel prices, the refineries are currently eager to make more. Of course, that will decrease the supply of gasoline out there. Industry sources say the shortage of both fuels comes from lack of refinery capacity – particularly in California.

---

By Miles Shuper

Visalia - Suncrest Bank opened its Visalia branch this week at Center and Floral Streets.

Mike Wilson, president and chief executive officer, said the small business-oriented community bank specializing in commercial and real estate-related loans opened with 14 employees.

The bank, at 400 W. Center St., is the former site of Visalia landmark Hadley Funeral Home.

A second branch at 65 W. Olive Ave. in Porterville is scheduled to open in August, Wilson said.

“Although we will offer all the traditional consumer products the big banks offer, that will not be our primary focus. We will have a very advanced internet banking suite of products offered by Digital Insight, owned by Intuit Corporation,” Wilson said.

Suncrest filed with the California Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in late June 2007.

Robert Moore is executive vice president and chief financial officer, Mike Wiley is executive vice president and chief credit officer. Loren Brooks is vice president and branch manager.

Stock offerings raised more than $19 million, enabling the bank to make secured loans in excess of $4.4 million and unsecured loans exceeding $2.5 million, Wilson said.

Potential expansion to other branches won't be considered until Suncrest achieves profitability, which isn't anticipated until sometime in the second year, Wilson said, “and then only if the market is right,” he added.

Wilson said plans also call for establishing a U.S. Small Business Guaranteed Loan Department at the end of the second year and, when market conditions improve, adding a construction loan department.

---