9-6-08

  9-6-08Merced Sun-StarValley's housing woes get congressional hearing in Stockton todayMcNerney, Cardoza, Frank among lawmakers schedueld to attend...Michael Doyle, Sun-Star Washington Bureauhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/439838.htmlWASHINGTON -- Political incumbency offers many advantages, including the chance to summon congressional hearings like the one coming to Stockton today.The House Committee on Financial Services hearing at Stockton Arena will enable lawmakers to hear firsthand about the San Joaquin Valley's home foreclosure crisis. It also will provide a spotlight for lawmakers seeking re-election, including at least one who faces a competitive race.The hearing comes at the behest of Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced. Their congressional districts have suffered more than most from the epidemic of home foreclosures, and they had pressed hard for the field hearing."There was a fair amount of lobbying that my boss and Congressman Cardoza did," said McNerney's spokesman, Andy Stone.The two lawmakers have held foreclosure workshops, but the noontime hearing convened by the committee chairman, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., will offer a higher profile...The two panels of witnesses will range from Merced Mayor Ellie Wooten to an assortment of mortgage brokers, home builders and federal housing officials."We must pursue every possible means to resolve this hardship on our community," Cardoza said in a statement. "This is a significant step forward in doing so."...The Stockton hearing is the first field hearing convened by the full House committee since an October hearing in Boston, near Franks' hometown.Stone stressed the hearing's legislative purposes and its relevance for the San Joaquin Valley communities that lead the nation in recent foreclosures. In California, 28,795 properties were foreclosed on in July...Test of progress: How Merced County treats its poorest points to its future...MIKE THARPhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/439624.htmlThis is how it smells when you're poor.Musk. Dust. Dried sweat. Wood smoke. Tobacco smoke. Bad breath. Body lotion. Spanish rice. Cooking oil..."The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."--Franklin D. Roosevelt, second inaugural addressMerced County is California's Appalachia, without the trail; Detroit's 8 Mile, with almond groves; L.A.'s Pico-Union, with dairies; central Long Beach, without the Cambodian graffiti. This is a place where people stage car washes to pay for funerals. Theft of copper wire is a growth industry. Even the dogs are skinny in South Dos Palos.Merced County presents a unique paradox of poverty. It's got the scary numbers of urban underclass neighborhoods -- yet its main industry is agriculture. Its fertile fields and orchards help feed the country and the world -- yet some of its own go to bed hungry. Its leading families have been here for generations -- yet it's one of the youngest counties, by age, in the nation. It hosts the first U.S. scientific and research university built in the 21st century -- yet it sends the second-fewest number of high school grads in the state on to college. Its main ethnic groups, Hispanics and Hmong, cherish family ties -- yet among Merced city families where a female is head of household, nearly half live in poverty.Why should you care?  Just as the loss of a single species can threaten an entire ecosystem, so too can poverty pollute an entire community. Merced's main problems -- crime, gangs, drugs, low test scores, busted families, the homeless -- flow from poverty. Poverty affects the behavior and influences the destiny of all 250,000 people living here... "The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all your time."-- William de KooningPoverty's causes loom much more clearly than its solutions:Lack of jobs: Merced's unemployment rate was 12.1 percent in July, fourth-highest in the state, leaving 12,800 people jobless. South Dos Palos reported a stunning one-third of its work force out of work, with Planada right behind...Lack of education: The county ranked 56th out of California's 58 counties in the number of high school students eligible to attend a state public university; it ranks 52nd in the number of elementary school students meeting state targets for the English language...Crime: Property crime has been rising steadily as the national recession ripples through Merced. And gangs -- mainly Latino and Southeast Asian -- have recruited an estimated 2,500 young Mercedians... Drugs: Meth is no longer the scourge it was a few years ago, but far too many lives are still indiscriminately torn apart by its ravages...Broken families: 13.4 percent of Merced city grandparents are raising their grandchildren, and around 22 percent of households are headed by one parent...Rep. Dennis Cardoza tracks another trajectory: "We're not taking care of health care in Merced County because we're policing Iraq. We're not taking care of the drug fight because we're policing Iraq. We're losing kids dying in the streets because we're policing Iraq.""You can't get rid of poverty by giving people money."-- P.J. O'Rourke,  "Parliament of Whores"Some local experts cite ethnic background as a contributor to poverty in Merced...In short, fair or unfair, you will become what you earn. Especially if you live in a county as young as Merced."Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."-- Norman Vincent PealeTo be sure, some argue that poverty, both here and across the country, isn't a plague visited on that many American houses. Last year, the Census bureau listed 37 million people in the U.S., as officially living in poverty. California's poverty rate was 12.4 percent, 23rd among states, and its median household income was $59,948, according to U.S. Census figures.But some analysts reject the dire implications of the numbers. Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation noted that 46 percent of all poor households own their own homes; 80 percent have air conditioning; two-thirds have more than two rooms per person; three-fourths own a car; and 97 percent have a color TV. "There are two main reasons that American children are poor," he concludes. "Their parents don't work much, and their fathers are absent from the home."..."A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money."-- W.C. FieldsThe poor are always with us, says the Bible, and it's been that way in Merced since two seismic economic events. First, Castle Air Force Base, with hundreds of well-paying jobs and a robust tax base, closed in 1995. Not long after, Farmers Insurance, probably the last major employer where a kid with a high school diploma could climb the white-collar ladder, also shuttered its doors...Complicating change -- or even hampering it -- is the county's peculiar social structure. Many Mercedians who post comments on the Sun-Star's Web site routinely call it "a good ol' boy" system. Ira Jones, a South Merced neighborhood activist who grew up on that side of the tracks, flatly calls it "a plantation mentality -- everybody's here to serve the people who run the plantation." (Jones, who is black, says the mentality applies to all races.) Martha McKenzie, special projects director for the Human Services Agency, refers to "an inverse caste system." Carol Whiteside, chair emeritus of the Great Valley Center, describes it as a "colonial structure." UC Merced's Weffer believes "there's definitely a class divide" in Merced.Whatever it's called, the county establishment is small, rich and mostly white. Founding families control much more than the enterprises they created with imagination and hard work generations ago. They control politics, to a large degree, and they influence public policy through the top tier of the more than 15,000 state and local employees (out of 68,800 total jobs).With power comes responsibility. The need for the political will needed to deal with poverty "is huge," says UC Merced's Weffer. "That's what will determine where we fight poverty in Merced." Whiteside, of the Great Valley Center, believes the political will is around, "but the vision is not shared by enough people." Harvard Law's Ogletree advocates eliminating the railroad tracks as a dividing line between South and North Merced. Until that happens, "the haves and the have-nots will have communities that are separate and unequal," he warns.One reason an elite exists is that the county's layer of middle-class residents is thin.Nonprofit boards, for example, often list many of the same names -- simply because those who can afford the time and money to volunteer come from a small slice of better-off folks. "It's difficult for private business people or private individuals to feel they have a responsibility for providing for everybody," observes county Supervisor Deidre Kelsey. "They take care of their own needs and then go off with the kids to a soccer game."For a generation or longer, many of the better jobs in Merced were to be found in a school district or with the county. People in those positions gradually began to run for public office, to volunteer at nonprofits, to otherwise help the less fortunate. Granted, they now may be regarded as "elite," but as Kelsey points out, "They're all we've got."...Kathleen Crookham, a native Mercedian, former educator and now a rancher and county supervisor, suggests that the county needs to approach the problem of poverty the same ways it did in attracting UC Merced. "If the political will (to combat poverty) isn't there, then the political will can be brought about by the grassroots," she says...The stakes couldn't be higher. Forecasts project the county's population at 276,200 in two years, at 417,200 by 2030. How will one of California's -- and the nation's -- poorest and youngest counties cope with that many more people? Can it? What if it doesn't? What will happen to Mercedians who enjoy a comparatively comfortable lifestyle?As of right now, the questions far outnumber and outgun answers and solutions. But the alternative for business, political and community leaders who don't begin to deal with the issue of poverty is unthinkable..."It would be nice if the poor were to get even half the money that is spent studying them."-- Bill VaughnMerced Theatre receives record donation; eyes $6 million goalRetired doctor, Art Kamangar, contributes to foundation, says he loves Merced...CORINNE REILLYhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/439626.htmlThe effort to restore Merced's most recognizable landmark, the Merced Theatre, got its biggest donation to date this week: $1 million.The money comes from a local retired surgeon, 70-year-old Art Kamangar. The city of Merced, which owns the theater and has been working for years to restore it, held a press conference Friday to announce the donation. "Today is truly a red-letter day," said county supervisor Katheen Crookham, who heads the Merced Theatre Foundation. "There just aren't enough words to thank Dr. Kamangar enough."City officials estimate it will cost another $6 million to finish the theater's restoration. With Kamangar's donation in hand, it has now raised $4.17 million...Kamangar is on the theatre foundation's board of directors and the UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees. He has previously donated to UC Merced...Letter: Opposes new town...ROBBY AVILLA, Stevinsonhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/180/story/439634.htmlEditor: This is a letter that I just sent to all of the Merced County Board of Supervisors in regards to their recent approval of taking land out of our county's agricultural preserve in order for developers to build a new town that will house the largest housing development in Merced County history.It saddens me greatly that four out of the five of you continue to ignore the facts about "new town" development with your approval of a change in zoning for the land of the Villages of Laguna San Luis Development.1. Merced County is not going to bring in enough revenue from these developments to offset the costs of serving them.2. Merced County does not need anymore housing. Written within the general plan it clearly states that there are to be no stand-alone housing developments unless there is a need. You are going against intelligent thought and professional analysis in your continual approval of such projects.3. These types of projects are not communities, they are bedrooms. They do not generate enough economic development within themselves to provide a viable community that can hire and employ its own people and they place added stress on our infrastructure, air quality and water resources.4. To approve of any new developments before a comprehensive water study is completed shows negligence on your parts.I am proud of my supervisor, Deidre Kelsey, for standing alone against this type of development. I am disappointed in the rest of you. By these approvals, during these times, you are losing credibility as competent leaders in the history of this county, and you are also making a mockery of Merced County to the rest of the country.CommentsThe developer pushing this must have really wined and dined these supervisors. It is sad that people elect leaders, then they fail to lead. The definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Merced Co board of supervisors - insane. :: 09/06/08 7:14am - Marwood Fresno BeeSprawl bill has perfect timingState incentives would tie in to Blueprint planning for growth in the Valley...Russell Clemingshttp://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/847714.htmlEfforts to control sprawl in the San Joaquin Valley could get a boost from a bill now awaiting Gov. Schwarzenegger's signature. Senate Bill 375 would set up incentives for regions throughout the state to draw up broad new visions for future development patterns. That's something that local leaders have been trying to do for the past two years in the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint process. Neither the Blueprint nor the Senate bill would be binding on the local government agencies that make most land-use decisions.But if it becomes law, the bill would steer billions in state-controlled transportation funds toward projects that support those broad visions -- and away from those that don't...Valley leaders are preparing to reconvene their Blueprint steering committee later this month as the process enters its final stage, in which visions from the eight Valley counties are supposed to be melded into a unified plan. Fresno County's plan, approved in May, calls for doubling the number of homes on each acre of future development and concentrating "nodes" of heavy development along highways and transit routes, with open space in between. The Senate bill isn't as specific as that. But it calls for the state Air Resource Board to set targets for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, and for regional transportation planning agencies to come up with strategies for meeting those targets. Denser development and shorter commutes are likely to play a big part in that. The timing couldn't be better, local leaders say...Early next year the unified vision will undergo review by citizens and policymakers in each county. The final product is supposed to guide the region's development through the middle of this century. Stockton RecordBuilders attempt to derail city dealGroup seeks injunction to stop General Plan pact...David Sidershttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080906/A_NEWS/809060328STOCKTON - A builders group said Friday it will ask a judge to block the City Council from settling Stockton's dispute with environmentalists and state Attorney General Jerry Brown over the city's General Plan, a bid to bust a deal that would require the city to reduce the impact of development on the environment.Building Industry Association of the Delta Chief Executive Officer John Beckman said his organization ought to have been involved in negotiating the settlement, which was recommended by City Manager Gordon Palmer and City Attorney Ren Nosky after months of negotiation with Brown and the Sierra Club.The club sued Stockton - and Brown threatened to join the environmentalists in court - after the council's December adoption of the General Plan. The club claimed the plan blessed sprawl, a claim city officials denied.The BIA's appeal for an injunction prohibiting the settlement is expected to be heard in court Monday, one day before the council is scheduled to consider the deal...The council first considered the settlement Aug. 26, tabling the matter to allow for additional review. Builders and developers said the settlement was onerous, impractical and would dissuade businesses from locating in Stockton.City staff, Brown and the Sierra Club agreed this week to minor revisions to the proposed settlement, principally to allow for greater flexibility in the application of green building standards.The revisions failed to satisfy developers and builders...San Francisco ChronicleDeja Vu...Cameron Scott...The Thin Green Linehttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=49&entry_id=29932I wasn't in California during the drought of the 1980s, but my Californian classmates at the East Coast college I attended had noticeably been formed by it—it might not be an overstatement to say they were scarred by it. Unfortunately, at least one aspect of that scary drought is back upon us. With some of the state's major reservoirs half full and a dry winter on tap, the state is reopening a program under which community water boards bought water from farmers in the San Joaquin delta. In the early 1990s, The Department of Water Resources sought out farmers willing to skip growing crops, grow less thirsty crops or pump groundwater instead of drawing on river water. According to the LA Times report, "Most sellers were farmers within districts that hold generous, century-old water rights on the Sacramento, Yuba and Feather rivers." The buyers were the usual suspects: Los Angeles and our own fair city. (The state would enforces that the neediest areas get water first.)The only problem is, this year's conditions make it a sellers' market. With commodity prices high due to high oil prices and biofuel targets, farmers will have to charge more for the conserved water. A dead end like this one is what you get with failed policies, or no policies. Fortunately, even State Agricultural Secretary AG Kawamura agrees.Inside Bay AreaUC Berkeley begins felling trees for athletic facilityHopes for saving oaks start tumbling to the ground...Kristin Bender, Oakland Tribune  http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_10393624BERKELEY — Crews began cutting down trees next to UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium late Friday, 21 months after activists climbed into the trees to protest the university's plan to raze them and build a $140 million sports training center. Work crews with chain saws and bulldozers arrived at the university grove Friday, and by sunset, at least six trees had been chopped down as dozens of tree activists, students and tourists craned their heads, tilted their cameras toward the sky and either shook their heads in sadness or pumped their fists in the air with delight. "We're ecstatic the project is under way,'' UC Berkeley Athletic Director Sandy Barbour said. Clad in black ski masks, the four remaining tree protesters, who were driven into a single redwood in June, remained in the tree Friday. At times, they sparred with the UC-hired arborists, tossing a bottle at one (he was hit between the eyes, but went to work) and shaking branches at others. Arborists trimmed most of the branches from the occupied redwood, leaving a few tarps and wooden platforms and the tree sitters alone before moving on to other trees on the south side of the grove. Chopping down all the trees is expected to take two to three days, a university official said. About 40 redwoods, oaks and other trees are in the grove.And the university has a plan for the four holdouts... Unless the California Oak Foundation and the Panoramic Hill Association obtain a stay from the state Supreme Court, there is nothing stopping construction of the sports training center for 400 student athletes... Contra Costa TimesJudge clears way for Vallejo bankruptcy battle...Jessica A. York, MediaNews staffhttp://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_10393669VALLEJO — A federal judge ruled Friday that Vallejo is eligible for municipal bankruptcy protection, setting the stage for a major battle over possible dissolution of city employee union contracts.The decision came less than a week after the close of a monthlong court clash between the city and union attorneys. City insolvency challengers, including three major unions, had argued that the city did not meet the legal requirements for bankruptcy protection. U.S. Chief Judge Michael McManus soundly rejected that contention in a 52-page ruling.With bankruptcy protec-tion, the city may adjust its debts without immediate reprisal from its creditors..."Considering the city's falling revenues, its prior years of operating deficits and the program cuts and deferrals those deficits have necessitated, continuing to shoulder the contractual obligations under the existing collective bargaining agreements ... with the unions makes projecting a realistic balanced 2008-09 general fund budget exceedingly difficult and unlikely," McManus wrote in his ruling.Three of the city's four employee unions, including its police, fire and nonmanagement workers, challenged the city's insolvency. They claimed that the city could accept a short-term union deal of pay raise cutbacks and other concessions, and loan itself money from its other city funds in order to avoid bankruptcy this year. McManus stated that nearly all of the cash and investments identified by the unions' attorneys are restricted by law or grant language and are unavailable.McManus said he was not swayed by testimony from the unions' key and only witness, Harvey M. Rose Associates principal partner Roger Mialocq. Mialocq "damaged his credibility" when admitting he agreed to assess the city's budget because he felt that the "city's bankruptcy petition would harm his other clients," McManus wrote.McManus also commended testimony from Assistant City Manager Craig Whittom and Assistant Finance Director Susan Mayer as being "much more helpful and credible" than Mialocq's.City officials said at the time they were only interested in long-term solutions that would eradicate the pending deficit and begin to rebuild the city's reserves.On Monday, attorneys will meet in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District in Sacramento to set a schedule on the city's request to reject its existing employee contracts outside of bankruptcy.Monterey HeraldHighway funds running on emptyRising gas costs blamed for less money in account...JOAN LOWYhttp://www.montereyherald.com/business/ci_10397751?nclick_check=1WASHINGTON — The federal highway trust fund will run out of money this month, requiring delays in payments to states for transportation construction projects, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Friday. The trust fund — a federal account used to help pay for highway and bridge projects — will run about $8.3 billion short by the end of September, Peters said during a conference call with reporters. The shortfall will mean short delays — and in some cases a temporary reduction — in payments to states for infrastructure projects the federal government has agreed to help finance. Peters blamed the funding shortage on the high price of gasoline, which has prompted Americans to drive less. This means less fuel has been purchased, and less gasoline taxes collected for the trust fund. Americans drove 50 billion fewer miles between November and June 2008 than during the same period a year earlier. Compounding the problem, Peters said, is federal lawmakers' habit of loading up highway spending bills with pet projects, or earmarks, for their home states. The current highway spending bill has more than $24 billion in earmarks, she said."Americans cannot afford to have Congress play 'kick the can' with highway funding for another year, another month, or frankly, another week," Peters said, urging immediate passage of legislation that has $8 billion to shore up highway funds. Less than two months ago, the White House said President Bush would be urged to veto the same bill if it reached his desk. Taking money from the general fund to prop up the highway system was "both a gimmick and a dangerous precedent that shifts costs from users to taxpayers at large," according to the White House... Los Angeles TimesHighway fund bailout now backed by Bush administrationFilled by a per-gallon gas tax, the fund's tank is nearly dry, the Transportation chief says. The president once threatened a veto on a rescue plan; now he urges quick congressional action...Richard Simonhttp://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-highway6-2008sep06,0,2613616,print.storyWASHINGTON — With the nation's highway fund running out of money faster than expected, the Bush administration on Friday pulled a political U-turn and urged Congress to approve an $8-billion rescue plan that the White House had previously opposed.The fund has been drained as high gasoline prices have led motorists to cut back on their driving and buy more fuel-efficient cars, reducing the gasoline tax revenue that supports highways. To address the shortfall, the House this summer overwhelmingly voted to transfer money from the government's general fund to bail out the highway account. The White House threatened to veto that measure as a "dangerous precedent" that would shift the costs for road projects from highway users to taxpayers at large.But in a turnabout, Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters called on lawmakers Friday to complete legislation to transfer the money and prevent the federal highway trust fund from going into the red, jeopardizing transportation projects nationwide."At current spending rates, we will start the new fiscal year on Oct. 1 with a zero balance in the trust fund, and will continue to spend more than we take in," Peters said. The problem, she said, has become so urgent that lawmakers need to send a bill to the president by the end of next week. The highway fund gets most of its money from the 18.4-cent-per-gallon federal gasoline tax. But the tax is tied to every gallon sold, not every dollar spent, so revenue goes up only if consumption increases...The bailout has bipartisan support in the Senate but could be complicated by a move to combine it with other measures, such as energy legislation or a second economic stimulus package that the Democratic majority is considering. On Friday, Peters explained the shift on highway funding by saying that the administration essentially had no choice but to support the transfer.She complained that "taking money from other pressing national priorities to plug a hole caused by poor fiscal discipline sets a dangerous and disturbing precedent." She cited 6,371 earmarks costing an estimated $24 billion that members of Congress had included in the last big highway bill... Peters asked that Congress send the president a bill free of any other items -- including earmarks -- that could draw a White House veto. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee, said in a statement, "If we don't pass a solution fast, we'll be forced to cancel critical highway construction and repair projects.""Failure to resolve this issue will have a significant impact on California and the nation as a whole," Caltrans Directors Will Kempton said in a statement, "and unless resolved, could result in delaying, reducing, or canceling transportation projects."Trucking firms line up for ports' clean-air programsA major consideration for plans to reduce pollution at the Los Angeles and Long Beach facilities was whether enough haulers would apply...Ronald D. Whitehttp://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-ports6-2008sep06,0,1956055,print.storyFollowing weeks of worry about whether they could meet their own deadlines, Los Angeles and Long Beach port officials said Friday that they were closing in on having enough trucking companies lined up to get their clean-air programs off the ground in October.The landmark anti-pollution efforts seek initially to rid the nation's two busiest container ports of the worst polluting trucks, which are at least 20 years old. Both ports' plans, which take different approaches to how the truck fleets will be organized, still face many hurdles, including a federal lawsuit...The Port of Los Angeles plan requires that trucks be operated by company concessions that hire the drivers, many of whom are now independent owner-operators, as employees. Long Beach's plan works with existing companies and drivers, and officials there also were confident they could meet the October deadline...The plans are opposed by the American Trucking Assn., even while some of its members are applying to be part of the port programs, as well as by national retailers who rely on those same trucks to deliver their goods.The 37,000-member trucking association has filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles seeking an injunction against the two port plans, arguing in part that they amount to local entities broadly overstepping their authority and trying to regulate interstate commerce and international trade. Opponents also contend that thousands of low-income drivers will lose their jobs...UC Berkeley starts cutting controversial grove4 tree-sitters are isolated as the school starts cutting trees on a site where an athletic facility is planned...Richard C. Paddockhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trees6-2008sep06,0,1850103,print.storyBERKELEY -- — The University of California moved quickly Friday to begin cutting trees in a grove on campus where tree-sitters have staged a protest for the last 21 months in a bid to block construction of an athletic facility.Four tree-sitters perched in a 90-foot redwood found themselves increasingly isolated as workers began cutting the trees around them. University officials said they expect all of the grove's trees to be chopped down by Monday except the one the four men are occupying...The university finally won approval to begin construction late Thursday when a state appeals court declined to issue a stay blocking the project. The campus wasted no time in getting to work; crews began cutting limbs at 8:30 a.m...The university says that 43 of about 70 large trees on the site must come down to make way for an athletic center for its 400 student-athletes. The athletes now occupy cramped and dingy quarters in nearby Memorial Stadium, which itself needs to be upgraded because it sits on the dangerous Hayward earthquake fault.The protesters maintain that the grove of coast live oaks and other trees should be preserved because it is one of the few natural areas remaining on the crowded campus. Mogulof pointed out that the grove was planted when the stadium was built and characterized it as "a 1923 landscaping project."...