Requests for Aide Surge

Tulare County - Demand for Tulare County's safety net programs – CalWorks, food stamps and Medi-Cal – is skyrocketing as the economy has worsened.

TulareWorks Director David Crawford says new applications for CalWorks – the old welfare program of temporary assistance – are up 50 percent while food stamp applications have increased 56 percent. Medi-Cal applications have increased by 80 percent over this time last year.

“We're experiencing a surge in new applications – up about 25 percent in the past few months,” says Crawford who is forced to try to handle the increase with fewer staff because of state budget cuts. County social service staff numbers around 681, compared to budgeted positions of 827, says Crawford.

“If I could talk to President Obama, I would ask him to throw California a rope. We really need some help,” says Crawford.

If new applications are way up, so is the caseload with a big surge in the number of families needing health care coverage through the Medi-Cal program. Enrollment in Tulare County has increased from just under 74,000 in January of 2008 to over 107,000 this January – a 45 percent increase. Food stamp recipients now number nearly 81,000 in the county – about one in five who live here.

In terms of families, Tulare County has about 30,000 on food stamps, compared to just 14,000 in January 2004 and 20,000 families during the 1997 freeze, says Crawford. Nationwide, the benefit averages about $100 per family.

The slower economy has now increased the unemployment rate over 14 percent in Tulare County, pushing families to ask for help to meet their income, food and medical needs.

Also boosting the number of food stamp recipients has been an organized campaign in the county through September of last year that encouraged more residents to apply for the national program because of the high level of poverty here and hope that better nutrition will help poor kids do well in school.

Statewide, the numbers show the same trend with applications for food stamps increasing to 140,000 a month as of last October, compared to an average of about 100,000 a month the same time in 2007.

While federal funds pay $9 million monthly for Tulare County food stamp program, the state's CalWorks program budget now at $7.6 million monthly includes 2.5 percent that must be paid by the county.

County officials have expressed concerns that the state budget crisis will mean a delay in reimbursement for the state portion of Medi-Cal and CalWorks funding, requiring that the local jurisdiction carry the entire load – at least temporarily – money the county may not have. That could happen as soon as next week.

COS Ready to Sell Its A+ Bonds

By Steve Pastis

College of the Sequoias was expected to issue Wednesday the first bonds for Measure I and Measure J.

Voters in Visalia and Tulare approved the measures in November. COS received an A+ rating from Standard & Poor's for both bonds.

The first $20 million of Measure J (Tulare) money will be issued as a 30-year bond. There will be two issuances of Measure I (Visalia) bonds this week, a 30-year $13.85 million bond and a $4.15 million eight-year bond.

“The eight-year bond pays for equipment,” said Dr. Bill Scroggins, president of COS. “We didn't want the voters to pay for something longer than it would last.”
Scroggins said bonds for the remaining $10 million of Measure I and $40 million of Measure J would be issued in about two years, adding that specific contracts or agreements to purchase must be in place before bonds can be issued.

Property owners will see an increase on their Dec. 10 tax bill. Scroggins said that the exact amount of the tax wouldn't be known until the bonds are sold, but over the next 30 years, the annual tax is still expected to average about $8.40 per $100,000 in the Visalia area and $25 per $100,000 in the Tulare area. Because the amount is based on repaying bonds that have been issued, it will be less in the first two years.

The first bonds for Measure J will pay for infrastructure work, and the first three buildings on the Tulare campus will be built with state money. The remaining Measure J money will pay for the new state-of-the-art farm complex.

For the Visalia campus, the reason for the two years between bond issuances is “a matter of logistics,” explained Scroggins. “We can't do the project all at once. There's not enough staff and we don't want to rip up too much of the campus at the same time.”

The two largest Visalia campus projects are in the second issuance – the reconstruction of the track and infield, and the renovation of the Kern Building that requires matching state money that hasn't been authorized yet, although it is on the state's approved list of projects.

Will there be state money for the project, considering California's budget problems?
“Probably,” Scroggins responded, adding that COS would not issue bonds for the remaining Measure I funds “until we have assurances the state is going to move forward with that plan, or we may get federal stimulus money that will allow us to move forward.”

The federal stimulus bill currently being considered includes $8 billion for higher education. “Our Washington lobbyist says there will be $300-$400 million for California community colleges,” Scroggins said. “If that money does come through, that money will be used for projects on the state-approved list.”

The college's A+ rating is the same rating it received two years ago for its Measure C bonds to fund the construction of its Hanford campus.

“The bond rating tells the potential investor how Standard & Poor's feels about the financial standing of the institution backing the bonds,” said Scroggins. “Basically, what they are looking for is how much debt we have in relation to our income and assets. They look for trending numbers that drive our budget. They also look for any labor problems or lawsuits that could create instability in our district.

“Generally, the higher the rating, the more competition there will be in bidding for interest rates,” he added. “We're doing our due diligence to lower the price to the taxpayer.”

Scroggins estimated that the interest rate would be about 6 to 6.5 percent. The rate was 4.5 percent two years ago for the Measure C bond in Hanford. The higher the interest rate the more the property owner will have to pay.

“The rate has to be higher now for people to invest in bonds,” he explained. “There are fewer dollars chasing the bonds.”

There are two ways individuals can purchase Measure I or Measure J bonds. “If they have a full-service brokerage account, they can call their broker and request them, or individuals can call Nick Denicke at Piper Jaffray at (415) 984-4669,” Scroggins said.

Visalia Loses Saturn
Slumping Car Sales Hurting All Dealers

Visalia - The timing for Frank Serpa, owner of Serpa Motors, could not have been better. Looking at retirement this year, General Motors' offer this month to buy out his stock of Saturn vehicles was an easy choice.

Serpa is closing his Saturn dealership on Ben Maddox after five years. He said GM is phasing out its Saturn line and is offering dealers a buyout now. If dealers don't take it, said Serpa, they could be left with a line of cars in the near future that would be difficult to sell.

However, the car store on Ben Maddox will not be vacant. Serpa is moving his Kia line of cars from Mooney Boulevard to that site, a move that should be completed within a week.

Serpa's announcement last week was one of three of area car dealerships shutting down, a sign of the tough economic times that has hit the auto industry especially hard.

Bret's Ford in Dinuba is closing its doors and later in the week it was learned that Fresno Mitsubishi was closing. That is owned by David Lampe, who also owns Lampe Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep in Tulare, but that dealership is staying open.
Estimates are that thousands of new car dealerships will close across the United States this year because of the slow car sales, although traffic appeared strong at several of the dealerships along Ben Maddox on Saturday.

Frank Surroz, who opened two new dealerships off of Plaza Drive west of town last year, said, “It's absolutely a struggle. It is a struggle for any business people. It's time to hunker down.”

Serpa agreed, saying sales at his Saturn dealership had fallen from 20 to 30 new cars a month to less than 10.

“Car business is way off. What I hear is most dealers are having a terrible time,” said Serpa.

Don Groppetti, owner of several dealerships in Visalia, including Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Buick-Pontiac-GMC, Ford and Hyundai, agreed business is off.

“Unique,” is how he describe the current market, adding that sales are down for all lines of cars, not just the American vehicles. “Everybody's struggling.”

He did say the used car business is a little better than the new car business and that traffic at dealerships has been good. “People are not comfortable (buying) until the economy settles down,” he added.

However, all three Visalia dealers feel they can “weather the storm” and survive for better days, even though Serpa said this is the worst he has seen in his 35 years in the business.

“There are moments of light, and then it tends to get dark again. I think during the second half of the year it will slightly improve,” said Groppetti.
Switch to Kia

Serpa stressed that he is not closing the dealership on Ben Maddox, only switching it over to Kia. The Saturn employees will now work selling and servicing Kia.
He also said he may explore selling Suzuki vehicles at his Mooney site. As for Saturn owners, Serpa said GM will honor warranties at GM dealers. Any service contracts sold by Serpa will be honored at his sites, he said.
Saturn comes with a 100,000 mile warranty.

“My customers are my main concern,” said Serpa, who will also continue to operate his stores in Hanford.

However, at some point this year, Serpa will retire. He is working on finalizing his senior management team to work with his son-in-law who is overseeing his Hanford operations.

Serpa said GM is downsizing and it appears it will only offer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles, and maybe only one model of the Pontiac brand. GM has hinted it would eliminate its Saturn and Hummer vehicles. Last week, it was announced that Toyota had surpassed GM as the No. 1 auto company in the world, selling about 600,000 more vehicles in 2008 than GM sold.

Groppetti said there are great deals out there and many manufacturers are offering low interest rates, many zero percent.

Chryslers Partners with Fiat

Surroz stressed that Chrysler is not going anywhere, despite some rumors the company may not survive.

“I'm 100 percent certain we'll come out this. We have excellent products,” he said.
Last week, Chrysler announced an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat that will give Chrysler dealers the option of offering Fiats along with Chrysler and Dodge products. Not included is the Ferrari line. The deal will also help stabilize Chrysler financially and increase its global reach.

Curt Anderson, Surroz general manager, said they could see Fiat products or Dodge vehicles produced by Fiat, by the end of the year.

Dinuba Auto Closing

The decision to close Bret's Ford dealership was a tough one to make, say city officials and fellow car dealers.

Although there are a few personnel at the dealership to handle vehicle sales, the business is basically closed for service and repairs. Bret Northington is reportedly seeking a buyer for the dealership.

Ed Dena, who owns the adjacent GMC, Chevrolet, Buick and Pontiac dealership, said he has no plans to buy Bret's and expressed sadness at seeing his friend have to close the doors.

Dena, who was sales manager for Bret's prior to buying the General Motors dealership, said Northington didn't want to close down and is working hard to find a buyer. Dena said auto dealers “are all in the same boat,” most of them “sitting at the desk to see what is coming next.”

Citing Northington's reluctance to close the operation, Dena asked rhetorically, “How long do you keep giving it back?” in reference to profitable times and the sale of the General Motors lines.

Dena, who says his own dealership “will continue to hang in there” until things change, says he has had to lay off about 20 of his 80 employees over several months. He would not be surprised to see more dealerships fold.

Bret's closure leaves Dinuba with two new car dealerships, Ed Dena and Jim Manning Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep.

Loss of sales taxes in the wake of Bret's closing is estimated to cost the City of Dinuba about $110,000, based on recent city financial reports.

Dan Meinert, assistant city manager, said the city normally collects about $400,000 from auto sales and services.

SJV College to Relocate/Expand Office

Visalia-based San Joaquin Valley College will relocate and expand its corporate office in town, subleasing space in the Cigna building on Akers.

The private junior college plans to increase space nearly threefold from its 11,000-square-foot office at Caldwell and Akers. Realtor Brian Hyde, who co-represents Centex Corp which leases 50,000 square feet from Cigna, says the college will take nearly 30,000 square feet – the top floor of the subleased space. “The lease was signed just last week,” says Hyde.

While the recession has hurt many businesses, both public and private schools have been enjoying an upswing in applications, even as the unemployment rate increases.
Founded in 1977, the college has experienced steady growth and is about to open its ninth campus, this one in Victorville in the high desert area of the Mojave Desert. Joseph Holt of SJVC said the college has 4,000 students enrolled overall.

Other campuses, in addition to Visalia, are in Sacramento, Modesto, Hanford, Bakersfield, Rancho Cucamonga and two in Fresno. SJVC offers 20 associate arts degrees in business, medical and technical fields.

Holt said the move was made to provide for growth of corporate staff as well as the college's on-line campus operations. About 80 employees are now located in the Akers facility with room for future expansion. He said SJVC plans to sublease its former corporate headquarters at Caldwell and Akers.

Last year, Centex decided to downsize its office in Visalia, and Hyde has had 50,000 square feet – two stories – of office space on the north end of the 150,000-square-foot Cigna building for lease for the past six months.

Hyde says of that 50,000 square feet, Centex will remain in a new office on the ground floor while the remainder of the ground floor is for lease.

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What's New

Visalia developers Miller-Matejcek will close its Visalia office Feb. 1. Partner “Matty” Matejcek will be hanging his hat at Pearson Realty, while Bill Miller continues to manage his properties that include Downtown Visalia's Center St. Plaza and Storland Mini Storages.

We got about three inches of precipitation in the mountains of Tulare County from this most recent set of storms but both locally and statewide we are behind. Dry spell through the end of the month is predicted. Statewide, the system needs 20 to 30 more inches or 20 to 30 feet of snow to reach average runoff, says the state climatologist in a January 26 newsletter. Five key CVP reservoirs are at 35% of capacity in mid-January, similar to the drought years of 1977 and 1992, says the newsletter. La Nina conditions suggest a dry spring in northern California. The state is experiencing the third dry year in a row.

West Hills College, in the middle of its spring enrollment, is seeing a surge in new admissions as schools all over the state are experiencing as well. Before it's over, it's likely to reach 7,000 students, says Marketing Coordinator Frances Squire. That could be a 16% increase in enrollment. That is similar to what COS is eyeing as well. The Hanford COS campus has seen a big jump as well – over 1,000 students now, compared to 727 in spring 2008 as classes are filling up.

Assemblywoman Connie Conway (R-Tulare) has been appointed to five Assembly committees. Conway will serve as the Vice Chair to Higher Education, in addition to serving on the Agriculture, Business and Professions, Transportation, and Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security committees.

Tulare County Health Department reported that there are two suspected cases of Salmonella tied to the contamination to a plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). Over 400 cases of Salmonella Typhimurium have been identified nationwide. Dr. Karen Haught, county health officer, is urging all persons to dispose of recalled products, and advises persons who think they may have become ill from eating peanut butter to consult their health care providers.

Tough economic times led Home Depot to close its EXPO Design business, four stores and lay off 7,000 employees. None of the closures are in the Central Valley.

Nicole Parra, former Democratic assembly member from Hanford, has been appointed director of the Governor's Regional Development Initiatives for the Central Valley under the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. From 2002 to 2008, she represented the 30th District in the California State Assembly. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $128,124.

New home construction starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 550,000, 15.5 percent below the revised November estimate of 651,000 and 45 percent below the revised December 2007 rate of 1,000,000. Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 398,000 – 13.5 percent below the November figure of 460,000. An estimated 904,300 housing units were started in 2008 – 33.3 percent below the 2007 figure of 1,355,000.

The Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness Act, also introduced in the House by Representatives Jim Costa (D-CA-20) and Devin Nunes (R-CA-21), designates approximately 85,000 acres of land within the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park in Tulare County as wilderness, announced Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The bill expands the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness, which includes unique landscapes such as the largest Giant Sequoia grove in the park and one of the most extensive networks of caverns in the western United States. The centerpiece of the bill is the 39,740-acre John Krebs Wilderness Area, named in honor of the former Congressman who wrote the 1978 law transferring the Mineral King Valley to the National Park Service to protect it from development.

Zap Zapped. Zap Cars, which were sold at the corner of Center and Ben Maddox, are not being sold there any longer. It appears Mike Brackett, owner of G&M Used Cars lost his lease, but a note on the window of the office states people can still purchase the small, Chinese-built electric vehicle by calling 738-0933. When gas was at $4 or more a gallon, a lot of interest was shown in the three-wheeled vehicle, but as the price of gas dropped, so did interest.

The state Air Resources Board is cracking down on do-it-yourselfers who repair and recharge air-conditioning systems of cars. The new regulation includes a deposit and recycling program patterned after pilot program by industry in Southern California. It will cost an estimated $11 for each ton of greenhouse gases prevented from entering the atmosphere. The original 2007 proposal to ban the do-it-yourself cans outright carried an estimated cost of $159 per ton.

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Sierra Club, City of Tulare
Face Off in Court

The Sierra Club and the city of Tulare faced off in Tulare County Superior Court Judge Patrick O'Hara's courtroom Tuesday over the city's environmental impact report for its new general plan.

Sierra Club complains the city's mitigation efforts, particularly on the potential conversion of ag land, are inadequate, pointing to the lack of specificity, says attorney for the environmental group, Babak Naficy. “They offer no specific plans or standards,” argued the attorney.

The city's response is the document is a “general plan” and that specifics at this stage are “often not possible.” Sierra Club also argued that the city did not adequately explain how greenhouse gases would be mitigated under the plan adopted last April.

The suit was filed by the Bakersfield office of the Sierra Club and separately filed by Tulare resident Don Manro. In two tentative rulings, Judge O'Hara ruled in favor of the city, but key issues will await his final decision.

Santa Fe Overcrossing
Groundbreaking Feb. 20

Ground will be broken for the Santa Fe overcrossing at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 20.
The city is constructing the vehicle bridge that will be five lanes to provide greater access to the downtown area and to better connect north and south Visalia.

Also, Visalia citizens are being given an opportunity to provide their input on the choice of color, brick pattern and oak tree logo for the new overcrossing. Through Friday, Feb. 6, a display board will be set up on a rotating schedule at the Visalia Convention Center, City Hall and the Visalia Transit Center, showing the three options in colors and oak tree logo and two options for the brick pattern on the bridge. Selection sheets will be provided.

The board can be viewed and selection sheets submitted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday at City Hall, 707 W. Acequia Ave., and Feb. 2-6 in the lobby of the Visalia Transit Center, 425 E. Oak Ave. All ballots must be signed in order to be eligible for consideration.

The selections will be announced at the groundbreaking. For information, contact Fred Lampe at 713-4270 or Nancy Loliva at 713-4535.

Acequia Two-Way Conversion
Planned for Feb. 7-8

If all goes well and the weather cooperates, the conversion of Acequia Avenue from one-way to two-way traffic will occur on the weekend of Feb. 7-8.

Work on the conversion has been delayed because the city needs approval of Caltrans to place the new traffic lights at Court and Locust – State Route 63. All of the other signal lights have been completed and the last step will be to stripe the roadway for the two-way traffic.

The one glitch to the plan is if it rains, which would force the city to postpone the striping work.

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Heat & Contaminants Stress Sequoia Resources

Sequoia National Park has been back in the news in recent weeks and it's not because it's a pretty place.

Instead, studies in our backyard wilderness are pointing to environmental stress factors that are showing up in the trees, wildlife and lakes of the Sierra backcountry, threatening to make long-term changes. And not good ones.

Tree Deaths Increase

Work published in 2007 by Three Rivers-based NPS scientists Phillip van Mantgem and Nathan Stephenson tracking forest plots in the Sierra over a 22-year period showed temperature-driven stress has been increasing forest mortality in old growth conifer trees at a 3 percent a year clip. Now, the same two scientists have made national news extrapolating the trend seen in our backyard to the entire western U.S. The tree deaths are seen in all varieties of conifers at all elevations and forest types that appear to be affected the same way. Here's what they found.
Likely due to regional warming trends, tree deaths have more than doubled over the past two decades in old growth forests of the West. The study was published through the U.S. Geological Survey in the journal Science on January 23.
“Average temperatures in the West rose by more than one degree Fahrenheit over the past few decades,” says van Mantgem. “While that may not sound like much, it has been enough to reduce winter snowpack, cause earlier snowmelt and lengthen summer drought.”

He says the lengthening of summer drought could be a major stress for the trees, leading to outbreaks of disease and insect attacks like the persistent bark beetles. Impact could lead to sudden death of forests and set up a pattern of smaller trees.

Another factor contributing to tree deaths is overpopulation of the forests, says Kent Duysen, general manager of Sierra Forest Products in Terra Bella. He points out with less water, thinner forests will have a better chance to survive and that is not the case in the Sierra today. The answer, he said, is to reduce the tree load by 20 to 30 percent to allow for healthier trees.

“If you don't do anything, the same thing that happened in Big Bear could happen here,” he predicted, explaining that 400,000 acres of forest was lost due to drought and beetle outbreak.

Contaminants Found

Last October, Sequoia was in the news again with the NPS release of a multiyear study of contaminants found in western national parks through surveying of lakes, conifer needles, fish, sediment and other metrics. The study found of the eight national parks surveyed, the highest burden by far of contaminants led by pesticides was found in Sequoia and Kings Canyon.

The project, the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project, found contaminants from both the Valley and long range sources were concentrating particularly at higher elevations of the parks. So, fish living in the seemingly pristine lakes of the high Sierra were found with a heavy burden of pesticides and metals, including current-use pesticides from the Valley likely brought up by wind patterns.

Pesticide contamination of these resources from current use pesticides – those unlike DDT that have been banned for years – were found at the highest concentration in two- year-old conifer needles. Current-use pesticides found in Sequoia included Chlorpyrofos(Lorsban) and Endosulfans.

But it's the older pesticides like DDT and Dieldrin that continue to be found in fish in Sequoia lakes – endocrine disrupters that can change the sex of the fish. Other contaminants, like mercury, could be riding the wind from the Far East dumping their toxic load at the high elevations of the state. Mercury can accumulate in fish, hurting the animals that eat the fish. Research was carried on from 2002 through 2007.

Fertilizing the Sierra

Sequoia Air Resources specialist Annie Esperanza says a third study is underway that is tracking the “fertilizing of the Sierra” from airborne nitrogen. The study is measuring the potential long-term impacts on the aquatic systems from airborne inputs from the sky, including both nitrogen and phosphorus.

Some watersheds near the crest of the Sierra have reached N-saturation. At some level, nitrogen can induce beneficial growth, but at higher levels it becomes a toxic threat. Nitrogen in the lakes of the Sierra could pose a danger, but the effect remains unknown. Again, a source of nitrogen may be Valley farms below.

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Old Vitamin Plant Now Home to Trucking Company

By Claudia Elliott

Young's Commercial Transfer trucks are a familiar sight throughout California and Arizona — and along Olive Avenue in Porterville, where the company has been located for more than 60 years.

Perhaps the largest agriculture transport firm in the state, Young's is in the process of moving to new headquarters at the former National Vitamin plant near the Porterville Airport.

The 16-acre site has more than 100,000 square feet of space in three buildings along Scranton Avenue west of Highway 65. It has convenient access to Highways 190 and 65.

CEO Scott Daniel said the move should be complete in about 45 days when office space renovations are finished. Redesign of the complex has been under the direction of Porterville architect Dennis Townsend. The general contractor is Gary Day of Dayco, also of Porterville.

With about 135 trucks, Young's specializes in hauling citrus and tomatoes and employs between 100 and 300 people depending upon the season, in addition to keeping another group of as many as 150 owner-operators busy.
The Scranton Avenue facility has shop space for truck and trailer maintenance as well as parking — something that has been getting tight at the current location, Daniel said.

Springville resident Larry Young was two years old when his father, who had owned the business since 1935, moved it to its current location at Olive and Lotas on Porterville's west side. A predecessor firm, Commercial Transfer, dates from the horse-and-buggy days in Porterville and Lindsay.

“It was country then,” he recalls of the West Olive area. “There were orchards and a chicken farm in the area and we were quite a ways out.”

As Porterville has grown, with both commercial and residential development, it has become harder and harder for Young's to operate at the location.

“The business was on the outskirts of town and now it's in the heart of the city,” Daniel said.
Young's Commercial Transfer remains a family business. Daniel is married to Stacey, one of Larry and Jody Young's three daughters. Their daughter Cynthia and her husband, James Gong, also work for the company.

Young took over the business when he was just 22 years old after his father died in a tragic accident. He's 65 now and officially “retired,” but he's been following progress on the renovation of the new complex.

“After more than 40 years, you think it might be time to do something else,” he said with a smile.

Work to prepare the Scranton Avenue facility for the company's use has been underway for a number of months. Thieves had stolen copper wire, making it necessary to replace electrical systems and the air-conditioning units were full of vitamin dust. Even now, the interior of the central building — which is still being remodeled — smells like vitamins.

The complex was built originally for Hiller Aviation, a helicopter manufacturing company. National Vitamin Company acquired the property after Hiller closed in the 1970s, operating until 2006 when the manufacturing company closed its Porterville facility and moved to Arizona, citing the high cost of doing business in California as a reason.

A number of companies have looked at the complex which has remained vacant since that time, according to Linda Wammack, development associate with the city of Porterville. Although surrounded by orange groves, the property is within the city limits and is near the city's sports complex and off road vehicle park in the airport area.

“We are excited to see the building going back into use by an active business,” Wammack said. “And we're especially excited that Larry — as his business continues to grow — has been able to find space within our community.”
Once the move is complete, Young plans to develop the property at Olive and Lotas, although specific uses have not been determined.

The new site offers the company some elbow room for growth and Daniel said they are optimistic about future prospects for Young's Commercial Transfer despite the economy.

“We see continued growth,” he said. “Everybody has to eat, so even in a recession there will be tomatoes and oranges to move.”

Although recently lower fuel prices have eased the pain, he conceded that 2008 was a tough year.

“It's been tough for truckers,” he said. “First fuel prices were high, then the economy slowed down.”

Additionally, he noted, California's political climate makes it tough for trucking.

“The California Air Resources Board is trying to lead the nation and wants to require nothing less than seven or eight-year-old trucks on the road,” he said. “There are stringent requirements and the industry is constantly changing.”

Balancing tomatoes and citrus has helped Young's Commercial Transfer prosper, Daniel said.

The company is busy in the summer, hauling cannery tomatoes for J.G. Boswell and Hunt's—in the neighborhood of 80,000 loads of tomatoes are delivered from the fields to processing plants where they become diced tomatoes, tomato paste or catsup.

When the tomato season ends, the trucks are refitted to haul citrus bins and carry all of Sunkist's lemons and oranges in California and Arizona from fields to packing houses and juice plants.

“With all of the pressures facing the industry, we feel real fortunate to be operating in this market sector,” Daniel said.
And with space to grow at its new location, Young's Commercial Transport will continue to call Porterville home.

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Graffiti Debate Turns into Rate Hike Debate

Tulare County - An update on the city's effort to eradicate and control graffiti turned into a discussion on raising rates for garbage collection to pay for additional help to clean up that graffiti.

Council Member Don Landers actually made a motion to speed up the process of raising garbage rates to pay for an additional part-time employee to clean up graffiti, but his motion never received a second during the Jan. 20 city council meeting.

“I think we need to take more aggressive action,” stated Landers, suggesting the city police step up efforts to catch vandals in the act. “I'd like to see more stakeout arrests, catch them in the act.”

Landers was reacting to the report by Jim Bean, city Parks and Urban Forestry manager who oversees the anti-graffiti effort, that the incidence of graffiti increased more than 40 percent in the past year.

However, the suggestion to speed up the process to increase city garbage rates for an additional employee met with resistance from other council members – some who were concerned about raising rates at all, and others who want the process to increase rates to take the normal course.

City Public Works Director Andy Benelli said the solid waste division is working on a rate increase that would include funds for an additional graffiti abatement worker but that the rate hike proposal wouldn't be ready to be put before the council until March.

Already, a 2 percent rate increase for residential users is planned. He indicated the city is looking at raising commercial rates – rates he said are among the lowest in the state.

Mayor Jesus Gamboa was most reluctant to approve any rate hike, noting the economy. “I think we need to approach this cautiously,” he said.

Other council members said they did not want to alter the process already underway to propose a rate hike.
Sam Sciacca, a developer and constant caller to the city's graffiti hotline, praised the city for its efforts. He also said methods such as coating walls that makes it easy to wash off graffiti and planting shrubs in front of walls to deter taggers are working. He said he supports giving the graffiti cleanup team additional help.

However, after noting that Friday night is definitely the worst night for taggers to hit, he said for the first time, he is seeing graffiti on homes left vacant by foreclosure.

Kristin Archer, another citizen concerned about graffiti, noted how it lowers property values, lessons the image of the city and has a huge negative impact on business recruitment. “Graffiti results in lost revenues. It makes the town look dirty,” she said.

While Vice Mayor Bob Link agreed the city needs to add to its graffiti abatement team sooner rather than later, he did not go along with speeding up the rate increase. “We've got to figure out a way to eliminate this graffiti faster than we are,” he said.

Bean noted in his presentation that city personnel spent 3,000 hours on graffiti removal from June of 2007 until July of 2008, cleaning up nearly 600,000 square feet of graffiti. He said, however, that was up from 417,000 square feet of graffiti in 2006-07.

Also, the city made 37 arrests in 2008.

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