POLITICAL BRIEFS
California lawmakers look past the fiscal crisis -- Legislators begin thinking about ways to solidify the state's fragile water supply, improve foster care and achieve progress on clean energy, as well as addressing prison costs, education and jobs. LA Times article
Vote could cut First 5 funds – Among the special election propositions that Californians will consider as part of the 2009-10 budget plan is a measure that puts at odds the needs and interests of two groups responsible for providing much of the preschool education offered in San Joaquin County. Stockton Record article
Florez to launch lieutenant governor campaign today – State Sen. Dean Florez, a Shafter Democrat, plans to launch his campaign for the office of lieutenant governor on Friday with an event telecast live on the Internet. He’s the second Central Valley lawmaker to announce for the office. State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Modesto, kicked off his campaign on Wednesday. Cen tral Valley Business Times article
Merced County delegates pack 3 days with meetings in D.C. – The Merced County Association of Governments said 15 delegates from its One Voice program attended 28 meetings in three days in Washington, D.C., to learn about new federal funding programs this week. Merced Sun-Star article
Gilmore sets up his own kind of Bakersfield office – The Assembly Speaker's office wouldn't approve a Bakersfield office for him so Assemblyman Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford, will set up a tent office at California and Union avenues every Friday beginning April 17. Bakersfield Californian article
Bill to help unemployed get federal subsidy for health insurance clears Assembly – Tens of thousands of laid-off California workers could obtain federal aid for health insurance under legislation approved Thursday by the Assembly. Sacramento Bee article
McNerney files stimulus requests – If Rep. Jerry McNerney gets his way, Lodi will get about $40 million in federal stimulus funds. Lodi News-Sentinel article
Schwarzenegger aides are co-captains of state’s stimulus team – If there's a three-word mantra that Cynthia Bryant and Ana Matasantos live by these days, it might be this: "No swimming pools." Bryant, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's deputy chief of staff, and Matasantos, his chief deputy finance director, are leading California's "stimulus team." Sacramento Bee article
Jim Boren: Poizner calls Jerry Brown an old man -- State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is telling everyone that Attorney General Jerry Brown is celebrating his 40th year since he was first elected to political office. It's Poizner's not-too-subtle way of saying that Brown is too old to be governor. Boren on Fresno Bee Opinion Talk
Sacramento Bee: The case of the suspended mayor -- If you're wondering how Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson got suspended from receiving federal funds, you're not alone. Johnson's situation seems unique. Sacramento Bee editorial
NEWS BRIEFS
Snow not at record levels, but west side farmers get zilch -- Snow surveys this week confirm California's drought is three years old, but it is not among the state's five worst dry spells on record. At 85% of average on April 1, the snowpack is bigger today than in any season during the 1987-1992 drought -- when west San Joaquin Valley farmers each year got at least some irrigation water. Fresno Bee article
Drastic water cuts expected for Bay Area – California water officials reported Thursday that the end-of-winter snowpack remained at low levels for the third year in a row, and water agencies in the Bay Area and around the state are asking residents to conserve at levels not seen since the last big drought in the early 1990s. San Francisco Chronicle article
Modesto Bee: Density compromise is good … if used – The Blueprint Plan is only as useful as the actions that follow. The regional council adopted a realistic goal. We hope that council members, supervisors and the public will recognize the value in incorporating it into their decisions. Modesto Bee editorial
Silicon Valley could be in for years-long battle over high-speed rail – Silicon Valley residents were particularly excited about the plan. More than 60 percent of voters in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties approved the measure, compared with 52 percent statewide. Yet that support has been shaken as residents and officials in some cities have begun to take a closer look at the details. San Jose Mercury News article
City of Merced considers layoffs, buyout plan – Merced city government is looking to shed up to 52 employees in the coming months to balance a $10.2 million budget shortfall. Tentative lists of vulnerable positions, including 13 police officers and seven firefighters, were given to employee unions last week. Merced Sun-Star article
Modesto managers reject city proposal – The Modesto Confidential and Management Association has rejected the city's proposal to require its members to take 32 hours of unpaid furlough time by June 30. That means Modesto officials will have to look elsewhere to make up the $302,700 they had hoped to save by requiring furloughs in the MCMA. Modesto Bee article
26 pink slips in Empire School District – Empire Union School District trustees voted 4-0 Monday night to send pink slips to 26 classified employees. The layoffs start with the 2009-10 school year and include a custodian, teachers aides and secretaries. Modesto Bee article
Stimulus no cure-all for schools – In California, a key question has been whether the funds could be used to hire back some employees recently given pink slips as school districts slashed budgets in the midst of $8.6 billion in cuts to state education spending. It turns out the answer is yes - but the state Department of Education is not encouraging districts to rehire laid-off workers with the funds, which must be spent by Sept. 30, 2011. Stockton Record article
Food stamps fill gap as San Joaquin hunger soars – As the ranks of the jobless have grown, so has the number of people seeking public assistance or lining up outside local food pantries, members of the Hunger Task Force for San Joaquin County said in a meeting with The Record's editorial board Thursday. Stockton Record article
Lodi utility aims to spur growth with discounts – Lodi will start offering discounted electricity rates for three years to new industrial, green technology, tourism and wine businesses. In a unanimous vote, the Lodi City Council said the discounts will hopefully encourage new businesses to come to Lodi or provide an incentive for industrial businesses to expand. Lodi News-Sentinel article
Kern prison expansion would take couple of years, generate hundreds of jobs – Adding 900 beds to each of two Delano-area state prisons would take about two years and rely on the sale of state bonds, officials said Thursday. They also would generate an estimated 850 jobs and around $86 million in annual payroll to Kern County. Bakersfield Californian article
37 percent of Californians without health insurance at some point, study finds – More than one out of three California residents went without health insurance for at least some point in the last two years, according to a health advocacy group’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. LA Times article; Sacramento Bee article
Search is on for teacher jobs – An estimated 500 California State University, Fresno, education students attended a teacher recruitment fair Thursday looking for teaching jobs offered by 42 school districts that set up booths. Fresno Bee article
A plea for life-saving devices at Lodi Unified -- Lodi Unified trustees are expected to decide Tuesday whether to pull automatic electronic defibrillators out of the district's four high schools, a motion that has brought a pressure-packed plea from a cardiac arrest survivors' group to keep the emergency response devices right where they are. Stockton Record article
Fresno teacher union boss accuses ex-boss -- The president of the Fresno Teachers Association on Thursday said Larry Moore, a Fresno Unified School District trustee, improperly tried to orchestrate a meeting with representatives of the union in an attempt to interfere with a recall effort. Fresno Bee article
Tickets selling, but Gallo Center cutting back to boost bottom line – The center intends to slash about $500,000 from its nearly $9 million budget and scale back the number of performances it plans to present next season, according to an annual budget summary it's providing to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors. Modesto Bee article
Fresno files liens against Granite Park – The City of Fresno on March 18 filed two liens totaling more than $75,000 against the company developing the for-profit half of the Granite Park retail-entertainment project, alleging non-payment of utility bills. Fresno Bee news blog
Construction creates more rooms in Turlock – City officials say a boom in hotels opening this year means they can keep CSU Stanislaus visitors, wedding parties and sports teams from going to Modesto to spend the night. Modesto Bee article
Recession hits male workers more – Men are getting laid off at a higher rate than women. One reason may be that male-dominated sectors such as construction, manufacturing and financial services have been hardest hit. LA Times article
Travel industry woos those with plenty of leisure time: Furloughed and laid-off workers -- Pink slip travelers? Furlough tourists? Jobless vacationers? Call them what you may, they are a surprising new target for travel bargains aimed at the unemployed, the furloughed and jittery workers fearful of being laid off. LA Times article
Michael Fitzgerald: If you insist on buying bottled water, you’re getting soaked – The Stockton Record columnist writes that the widespread consumption of bottled water is one of those human behaviors that vindicates everything P.T. Barnum said about suckers. Fitzgerald column in Stockton Record
EDITORIAL ROUNDUP
Fresno Bee – The ripple effect of Gottschalks closing won’t be known for some time; State should re-evaluate its property holdings, particularly San Quentin.
Merced Sun-Star – The California Air Resources Board has wisely agreed to delay enforcement of rules that require gas stations to install new pollution-control nozzles on their pumps.
Modesto Bee – The Blueprint Plan is only as useful as the actions that follow. The regional council adopted a realistic goal. We hope that council members, supervisors and the public will recognize the value in incorporating it into their decisions.
Sacramento Bee – Lead on Child Protective Services? It’s not the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors’ way; If you're wondering how Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson got suspended from receiving federal funds, you're not alone. Johnson's situation seems unique.
Stockton Record – California’s prisons are a mess, and we need to do something beyond complaining; After 22 years, Stockton shoppers will miss Gottschalks.
Visalia Times-Delta – There are many reasons to cheer Tulare people and businesses.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Maddy Forum: “The Valley’s Small Cities: Stories from the Front Lines” – This week’s Maddy Forum features Firebaugh City Manager Jose Antonio Ramirez and San Joaquin Mayor Amarpreet Dhaliwal, who address challenges faced by those on the front lines of politics and policy in the Valley. The shows airs on 90.7 KFSR radio Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. and also will be available on the KFSR Web site and iTunes after its initial airing.
The City of Fresno will hold an air quality policy review and update for its 2025 General Plan at Fresno City Hall Council Chambers on Tuesday, April 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. Information: Darrell Unruh, 621-8050 or Darrell.unruh@fresno.gov.
The California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley’s Transportation Work Group will meet at the Madera County Government Center on Monday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to noon.
The City of Fresno will hold an air quality policy review and update for its 2025 General Plan at Fresno City Hall Council Chambers on Wednesday, April 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. Information: Darrell Unruh, 621-8050 or Darrell.unruh@fresno.gov.
The California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley’s Air Quality Work Group will meet at the Fresno COG offices on Thursday, April 30, from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact: Jennifer Johnson at jejohnson@csufresno.edu.
The Great Valley Center’s 12th annual conference, “20/20 Foresight: A View of the Great Valley in a Decade,” will be held in Sacramento on May 6-7. More information: http://www.greatva lley.org/conference/index.aspx
The Kenneth L. Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno was established to honor the legacy of one of California’s most principled and effective legislative leaders of the last half of the 20th Century by engaging, preparing and inspiring a new generation of governmental leaders for the 21st Century. Its mission is to inspire citizen participation, elevate government performance, provide non-partisan analysis and assist in providing solutions for public policy issues important to the region, state and nation.
This document is to be used for informational purposes only. Unless specifically noted, the Maddy Institute at California State University, Fresno does not officially endorse or support views that may be expressed in the document. If you want to print a story, please do so now before the link expires.