Valley Headlines

PPIC adds Areias to board

PPIC. Five CA leaders join PPIC board of directors.
Synopsis: Merced County’s Rusty Areias has joined the board of the influential PPIC, with chair Tani Cantil-Sakauye calling him an “invaluable asset.” As a state legislator, he is credited for leading the efforts to bring a UC to Merced County and turn part of Fort Ord into CSU Monterey Bay. Other new board members: Caroline Choi, formerly of Duke Energy; Ana J. Matosantos, who served in the Newsom, Brown and Schwarzenegger administrations; Michael Mendez of UC Irvine; and David Traversi, who runs a marketing company.  

Taking orders from big pig

Farms.com. NPPC discusses farm bill, disease spread.
Synopsis: During a webinar earlier this month, National Pork Producers Council CEO Bryan Humphreys reiterated that destroying California’s Proposition 12 – and any other voter-approved initiative to regulate how pigs are raised – is priority No. 1 for his organization. Pig farmers often use confined spaces to house their pigs, and don’t want to provide more humane settings in their barns. “We need a legislative fix to California Prop 12,” said Humphreys. That fix, he said, will come through the Farm Bill. As NPPC President Lori Stevermer said, “We know it’s hard, but we elect members of Congress to do the hard work. If the farm bill goes to next year, it starts all over again.”
MAD Take: Foremost among House members doing the NPPC’s “hard work” and bidding is Hughson’s John Duarte, who has co-sponsored the EATS Act. Shuffled into the Farm Bill, the EATS Act would take away the rights of voters in every state to make rules concerning food standards.

Your daily dose of politics

GV Wire. Brandau’s State of the County remarks upset Dyer, Bredefeld.
Synopsis: In his remarks to introduce the main speaker, Supervisor Steve Brandau slammed those who are accusing him of misconduct, saying they are doing the same. Mayor Jerry Dyer called those remarks “inappropriate.” Garry Bredefeld said: “This is what a failed politician and campaign look like.”

Modesto Bee. Candidates for Modesto City Schools Area 4 seat share priorities, backgrounds.
Synopsis: Incumbent Abel Maestas and Emma Alonzo are on the ballot for the school board, but only Maestas responded to the Bee’s questionnaire. The teacher is married to a teacher and has the teachers’ endorsement. Alonzo owns a business.

Merced Sun Star. Merced council District 1 candidates Dupont, Smith answer key questions.
Synopsis: Walter Smith is a planning commissioner, Darin Dupont an attorney. Both agree on the importance of infrastructure, affordable homes and economic development. Both want to see UC more involved as it joins the city. Smith understands the role of planning in developing a city; Dupont wants more input from outside organizations.

Making it tougher on homeless

Modesto Bee. Riverbank council backs out of 39-unit project for homeless.
Synopsis: The Riverbank City Council voted 4-0 to build a park on the 1-acre site previously designated for building tiny homes. The city bought the property in 2022 to create more transitional housing. Housing advocate Deanna Garcia says turning the lot into a park will deprive children of homes. Councilmember Darlene Barber-Martinez, CEO of Central Valley Community Resources, recused herself from the vote. The vote leaves in limbo the city’s state mandate to build 3,591 housing units over 8 years, including 970 for “very low income” residents.  

SF Standard. Homeless arrests skyrocket as Tenderloin tent count collapses.
Synopsis: Police have quadrupled arrests of city campers in the past few weeks, hitting 215 since Aug. 1. Most were for sleeping on the sidewalks, the rest on outstanding warrants. Before the policy shift, police arrested only 15 in June and 20 in July. Since the shift, there have been 72 arrests in August and 86 more in September so far. On Saturday, only 26 tents remained in the Tenderloin.

Druggies will get no help

Merced Focus. No drug screen and treatment – no money.
Synopsis: Reporter Marijke Rowland writes about Measure R in San Joaquin County that would require a negative drug test, or proof of ongoing treatment, to receive county benefits. Many mental health experts are opposed, saying this constitutes punishment and demotivates people from seeking help. A similar measure was overwhelmingly approved in San Francisco last year, removing anyone who refuses treatment from getting benefits. Tom Patti, who lost to Josh Harder two years ago, is the author.

A poet buys a coffee house

Modesto Bee. Queen Bean Coffee House is off the market; who bought it.
Synopsis: The Queen Bean, an institution since 2005, has been bought by slam-poet and Ill Fest creator Sam Pierstorff and partner Ruhi Sheikh. It had been listed at $675,000 and has been in escrow for 6 months as Pierstorff and Sheikh sought financing. They plan to turn it into a “Social House” with a cultural arts center and entertainment.

Is goal clean water, or just our water?

E&E News. SF weighs bid to drop Supreme Court water case.
Synopsis: Reporter Miranda Wilson says the city is launching a “last-ditch effort to kill the city’s lawsuit” against the state before Supreme Court oral arguments begin. The city worries a ruling in SFPUC’s favor would dilute Clean Water Act rules across the nation. The lawsuit follows orders from the state for cities around SF Bay to clean up discharges from treatment plants, which they estimate will cost $10 billion. It bothers SF supervisors that the National Mining Assn., US Chamber of Commerce and National Pork Producers Council are all on the side of the SFPUC.
MAD Take: For decades, Bay Area-based groups have insisted the only way to clean up the Bay’s waters is for more fresh flows from the Sacramento and San Joaquin. Meanwhile, their cities continued to dump millions of gallons of untreated and partially treated human waste into the Bay. Those same groups – including the Sierra Club, NRDC – are calling the city selfish for suing to keep doing what they’ve been doing. But it isn’t selfish to demand more water used by Valley cities and humans to clean up your mess?

Not Sacramento’s first rodeo

Sacramento Bee. Sen. Alvarado-Gil’s harassment allegations rekindle corrupt side of Capitol.
Synopsis: Political consultant Matt Rexroad opines that this scandal involving Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil and her former chief of staff, Chad Condit, has “an all-too-familiar fragrance.” He recalls disgraced Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, Sen. Leland Yee and others. Noting that the case has yet to arrive in court, Rexroad says Sacramento is a great place to misbehave. Yet, “most resist heading down a dark path.”

School board member resigns

Merced Focus. Sudden changes in Merced City Schools’ top ranks.
Synopsis: Trustee Jessee Espinosa said Tuesday he has taken a job in San Francisco and is leaving the MCS board. Often a member of a 3-2 majority, Espinosa’s term ends in December. Audrea Tuhn and Tsia Xiong are vying for his seat. Espinosa said he had filed two complaints with the Merced County Civil Grand Jury, which issued a critical report about the district earlier this year.