Published in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette, July 17, 2013
It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't smart, but at the July 9th council meeting, the City of Lindsay tried to sneak through its plan to plaster a Dollar General store on the corner of Hermosa and Elmwood, at the edge of the downtown, on the curve of the Roundabout. With no prior notice, the item appeared on the agenda posted July 5th, the Friday of a four-day holiday weekend while most people were celebrating our liberties and blowing off fireworks. Clearly they hoped no one was watching. Luckily someone gave me a heads-up.
This plan will demolish the old Shell station that became Ed's Auto, a much-loved business that served people of this community for forty years. When Ed (once known as "Fast Eddie") Schapansky retired, he turned his business over to his top mechanic, Miguel Chavez, who renamed it M & J Auto Repair. For six years Miguel has built his clientele around the City's "renewal" of that intersection which impaired access to his business. His business thrives anyway because he is a good mechanic and a fine person.
Miguel had no idea this was happening until he came through my line at the market Sunday afternoon with his beautiful son, both clearly refreshed from the holiday. I hated delivering the urgent bad news, but clearly Grace had guided him there at that moment, so I didn't hesitate. At my urging Miguel brought his entire family to the council meeting to testify to the impacts of this plan. Miguel spoke about the importance of that location to his business, the sole source of income for his entire family. "This is a family business," their son added "I help my dad, my mom does the books ..." Mrs. Chavez asked in clear Spanish why another of the many possible locations had not been chosen.
Another family business owner, Al Hussain of Quality Mart at the Valero station across the street, spoke on behalf of all the mini-mart owners in town. "There are 15 of us," he said. "If Dollar General sells beer and liquor, they will put us all out of business. Are not 15 businesses worth more than the 12 jobs this project will create?" The Dollar General in Porterville sells beer and liquor.
Other people spoke as well. Those who stand to gain financially (Leonor Serna, Job Denni) understandably spoke on behalf of the plan and the invisible vision behind it. But the questions I raised on behalf of the community the last time, when they wanted to demolish the Citrus Exchange building, still stand and have not been answered. They are the questions people raise whenever the topic comes up.
Do we need a Dollar General store? Some will say yes, some say no. The point is that the question has not been examined by the City staff, who tell the Council we don't have the right to ask it. But we do. Under CEQA, a community has the right to do an economic impact analysis. CEQA is a tool for protecting community environments from predatory development, but our city staff regularly circumvents that law to protect its own interests in developing projects without community input. On the first DG plan they filed a negative declaration to satisfy the CEQA regulations; this time they declared it exempt from CEQA to avoid having to publish a public notice in the newspapers. That's the dirty card trick that allows us to challenge the legality of the Council's approval.
Is that the right location? Community members are much more in agreement that it is not. Their reasons range from traffic congestion and dangers created by the Roundabout to potential impacts on downtown businesses which will leave more empty buildings there, as well as the lost opportunity to fill a currently empty building like the old Lindsay Foods site (so perfect, plenty of parking!) or the now-empty Sprouse-Reitz space in the SaveMart plaza. These are questions raised by some of the citizens in the standing-room-only crowd at the council meeting, some coming to the microphone for the first time. Unfortunately there has never been an answer.
Because of these comments the Council actually had to deliberate publicly on their reasons for voting. Councilman Mecum, voting no, said he couldn't sleep well knowing this plan would hurt existing businesses. Councilwoman Kimball, voting yes, said she couldn't sleep well knowing we'd be telling property owners who they could or couldn't sell to. Councilwoman Sanchez, voting no, said she didn't think it was a good project for the community. Councilman Salinas, voting yes, gave the property rights argument some new twists. Mayor Padilla voted yes for property rights over the community's interests: 3-2, motion passes.
It sounds like a defeat for my point of view, but it was not. In my mind the discussion was a beginning, not an ending. Perhaps this time their sneaky timing backfired, like a bad bottle rocket that blew up in their face. Perhaps this time, after revisiting our patriot dreams only days before, the remembered importance of our liberties moved us to the microphone, moved us to ask questions. And maybe that experience will lead to more questioning and the creation of a more open government in the not-so-distant future.
Wave the flag for real, good People. This is our town.
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Trudy Wischemann is a rural advocate who writes. You can send her your ideas for the City's reform % P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Writing "A Good Snowstorm"
Published in edited form July 3, 2013 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette
Complaints from neighbors come in many forms. Sometimes they start with a compliment or a joke, a way of prefacing the real subject of the conversation with an assurance that you, the neighboree, are in good standing despite what's about to come. It's how we live side-by-side in a small town and keep the peace, keep our feathers as unruffled as possible.
My neighbors have lots to complain about my blatantly deviant lifestyle, but for the most part they keep it to themselves. I have been accused of bringing property values down with my Okiesque approach to yard maintenance, but that transgression was finally forgiven as I tried to mend my neglectful ways. Recently, one neighbor joked that I am their prime source of entertainment, meaning to laugh at their own boring lives. For a few days I looked at myself more ludicrously than usual, but then I realized that monitoring the neighborhood is something I also do for entertainment as well as safety.
Last week, however, my receiver picked up a couple of transmissions about what I write for the paper creating a negative environment for people who once enjoyed reading my more lyrical pieces about life in this place. "I know you mean well," my neighbor Trish Gutierrez began, after joking about sweeping her grandchildren out of her kitchen and into the pool. "And I know somebody's got to keep an eye on this city, but.... I just miss reading about looking out your kitchen window and loving what's out there." Another long-time friend cornered me at church a few days later and said "If you just hadn't taken sides, you'd still be a resource for us. Now nobody's listening to you."
I confessed to each person that I miss the old days, too. I didn't tell them I've been suspecting that folks are getting tired of hearing about it ("it" meaning the City of Lindsay's transgressions against democracy, working people, the small town environment, the earth,) or that I get sick of writing about it. I didn't tell them that I'd stop if I knew what else to do, how else to work for my version of community betterment. I didn't tell them that sometimes, just when I think about giving up, writing the column saves me. Then, a few days before the Fourth, the temperature hit 110 degrees.
It's funny sometimes how bad weather saves us from our lives in overdrive. The gears grind as we shift down to a necessarily slower speed and tend to the essentials. As my own gears gnashed downward, I realized Trish was right. So I wrote "A Good Snowstorm" for both of us. Here it is.
A Good Snowstorm
-- for Trish
We finally know summer is here as we move toward a sweltering, if not sizzling, Fourth. At the market where I work, the heat is all we talk about as I scan the customers' ice cream and beer, quick-to-fix frozen foods, fruits and salad makings. Each one has a different story about how they're coping, and those stories add up to a community at work.
"I feel sorry for the people without AC," a customer said as I scanned her groceries. She mentioned some friends who'd invited family members to come stay with them because they only have swamp. We didn't have swamp in western Washington when I grew up and wouldn't have know what you were talking about, but I remember some old folks sitting uncomfortably under one in Ephrata while we children ran in and out of the house letting the screen door bang and squirting each other with hoses.
"I feel sorry for the people who work outside," said another woman. Those who do were buying Suero Oral and Gatorade on sale, preparing to start early and end earlier yet. "It's not too bad," one man said, dreading Monday. "We'll get through it."
"Get up to the river," another man said, "it's the only thing to do in this heat." I thought of poor Slick Rock, a spot on the Kaweah River above the reservoir that was drowned when they raised the dam. I thought of all the people who used to find relief and recreation there. Just the memory of people enjoying that place made me cooler. I put my feet in the river there one last time before they filled the lake to its new level. A friend told me later that because of this drought the lake is so low now that Slick Rock is exposed once again. A lifelong resident of this county, he said now's the time to get up there before the river goes dry.
I myself have been working with fans to distribute a small flow of cool air from an ancient wall unit I pray every day will not die. I turn it off around 5:30 a.m., fling open every window in the house. listening to the birds wake, and wait for that draft of cool mountain air sucked down as the sun hits the valley floor. It gives me and the cats a few hours of quiet before the roar of the fans becomes music to our ears once again.
"Come jump in our pool," a neighbor invited, which I will take her up on the instant my heat discomfort overrides my desire to not be seen in my swimsuit. I remember my mother desiring the same thing, feel continuity over the generations, and keep my ice cube trays filled.
As I listened to my customers, I realized that a good hot spell does for summer what a good snowstorm does for winter. It breaks our normal daily patterns and preoccupations, forcing us to pay attention to the most necessary parts of our lives: eating, sleeping, staying hydrated and as close to 98.6 as possible It provides opportunities for inventiveness and cooperation, giving importance to our social life we don't often see as we are reminded that the natural elements can overwhelm us. And somehow the heat triggers memories of other people and other times, keeping us tuned to the cycles of life. A good hot spell, like a good snowstorm, is a blessing in disguise.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trudy Wischemann is a writer who used to work outside but now hides out under the air conditioner. You can send her your ice cube tray stories % P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.
Complaints from neighbors come in many forms. Sometimes they start with a compliment or a joke, a way of prefacing the real subject of the conversation with an assurance that you, the neighboree, are in good standing despite what's about to come. It's how we live side-by-side in a small town and keep the peace, keep our feathers as unruffled as possible.
My neighbors have lots to complain about my blatantly deviant lifestyle, but for the most part they keep it to themselves. I have been accused of bringing property values down with my Okiesque approach to yard maintenance, but that transgression was finally forgiven as I tried to mend my neglectful ways. Recently, one neighbor joked that I am their prime source of entertainment, meaning to laugh at their own boring lives. For a few days I looked at myself more ludicrously than usual, but then I realized that monitoring the neighborhood is something I also do for entertainment as well as safety.
Last week, however, my receiver picked up a couple of transmissions about what I write for the paper creating a negative environment for people who once enjoyed reading my more lyrical pieces about life in this place. "I know you mean well," my neighbor Trish Gutierrez began, after joking about sweeping her grandchildren out of her kitchen and into the pool. "And I know somebody's got to keep an eye on this city, but.... I just miss reading about looking out your kitchen window and loving what's out there." Another long-time friend cornered me at church a few days later and said "If you just hadn't taken sides, you'd still be a resource for us. Now nobody's listening to you."
I confessed to each person that I miss the old days, too. I didn't tell them I've been suspecting that folks are getting tired of hearing about it ("it" meaning the City of Lindsay's transgressions against democracy, working people, the small town environment, the earth,) or that I get sick of writing about it. I didn't tell them that I'd stop if I knew what else to do, how else to work for my version of community betterment. I didn't tell them that sometimes, just when I think about giving up, writing the column saves me. Then, a few days before the Fourth, the temperature hit 110 degrees.
It's funny sometimes how bad weather saves us from our lives in overdrive. The gears grind as we shift down to a necessarily slower speed and tend to the essentials. As my own gears gnashed downward, I realized Trish was right. So I wrote "A Good Snowstorm" for both of us. Here it is.
A Good Snowstorm
-- for Trish
We finally know summer is here as we move toward a sweltering, if not sizzling, Fourth. At the market where I work, the heat is all we talk about as I scan the customers' ice cream and beer, quick-to-fix frozen foods, fruits and salad makings. Each one has a different story about how they're coping, and those stories add up to a community at work.
"I feel sorry for the people without AC," a customer said as I scanned her groceries. She mentioned some friends who'd invited family members to come stay with them because they only have swamp. We didn't have swamp in western Washington when I grew up and wouldn't have know what you were talking about, but I remember some old folks sitting uncomfortably under one in Ephrata while we children ran in and out of the house letting the screen door bang and squirting each other with hoses.
"I feel sorry for the people who work outside," said another woman. Those who do were buying Suero Oral and Gatorade on sale, preparing to start early and end earlier yet. "It's not too bad," one man said, dreading Monday. "We'll get through it."
"Get up to the river," another man said, "it's the only thing to do in this heat." I thought of poor Slick Rock, a spot on the Kaweah River above the reservoir that was drowned when they raised the dam. I thought of all the people who used to find relief and recreation there. Just the memory of people enjoying that place made me cooler. I put my feet in the river there one last time before they filled the lake to its new level. A friend told me later that because of this drought the lake is so low now that Slick Rock is exposed once again. A lifelong resident of this county, he said now's the time to get up there before the river goes dry.
I myself have been working with fans to distribute a small flow of cool air from an ancient wall unit I pray every day will not die. I turn it off around 5:30 a.m., fling open every window in the house. listening to the birds wake, and wait for that draft of cool mountain air sucked down as the sun hits the valley floor. It gives me and the cats a few hours of quiet before the roar of the fans becomes music to our ears once again.
"Come jump in our pool," a neighbor invited, which I will take her up on the instant my heat discomfort overrides my desire to not be seen in my swimsuit. I remember my mother desiring the same thing, feel continuity over the generations, and keep my ice cube trays filled.
As I listened to my customers, I realized that a good hot spell does for summer what a good snowstorm does for winter. It breaks our normal daily patterns and preoccupations, forcing us to pay attention to the most necessary parts of our lives: eating, sleeping, staying hydrated and as close to 98.6 as possible It provides opportunities for inventiveness and cooperation, giving importance to our social life we don't often see as we are reminded that the natural elements can overwhelm us. And somehow the heat triggers memories of other people and other times, keeping us tuned to the cycles of life. A good hot spell, like a good snowstorm, is a blessing in disguise.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trudy Wischemann is a writer who used to work outside but now hides out under the air conditioner. You can send her your ice cube tray stories % P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Rough Roads Ahead
Published in edited form Wednesday, June 26, 2013 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette
The agenda that should have been considered by the Lindsay City Council last night will be considered this Friday instead. The agenda will include the approval of the budget for the coming fiscal year, a matter that concerns every taxpayer within the city limits.
Given the public importance of this meeting, it is unfortunate that it was not held at its regular time, and worse, scheduled for an evening few people would give up to attend. All the council members have known for at least two months that the budget vote would come on June 25th. But at the June 11th meeting it was suddenly discovered that the three senior members had schedule conflicts and would be absent: Mayor Ramona Padilla, Mayor Pro-Tem Danny Salinas, and Pam Kimball who, according to city clerk Carmen Wilson, would be up in the mountains on holiday and didn't want to come all the way down for this. So the meeting was rescheduled "for lack of a quorum" from 6 p.m. Tuesday the 25th to 6:00 p.m. Friday the 28th.
Forgive me, but this just feels like more shenanigans. If any one of the three were missing, that would give the two junior members the possibility of defeating the budget in a 2-2 tie vote, or using that power to negotiate for more residential streets to be repaired under the Capital Improvement Program. If two members were absent, there would still be a quorum and thus no legal reason to reschedule. It required the absence of all three, and that's what they got, leaving no room for negotiating the removal of pork barrel projects or staff positions that this money-strapped community could do without.
The most condemning project is what's called the Mirage Avenue Overlay. For the one block between Samoa and Hermosa, the price tag is $225,000. When compared to other street repaving projects during the pre-budget study session on May 14th, several council members noticed a large discrepancy. For instance, the Alameda St. Overlay from Orange to Bond, fixing four blocks of a street in far worse condition, is only $150,000. When asked for clarification, the city planner explained that the Mirage project isn't just an overlay, but also new curbs, gutters, and sidewalk treatment extending the downtown improvements one more block northward.
Several councilmembers, including Pam Kimball, seemed to think that wasn't a very good use of money and that it might better be spent elsewhere, such as overlaying Mirage from Hermosa to Tulare for $235,000. It probably was the most consensus expressed during the entire study session. When Finance Director Tamara Laken said she would take the Council's direction back to the drawing board, I thought we would see that project disappear, or at least moved to future years.
But there it is, a totally inessential project tying for second place (in terms of costliness) with overlaying Valencia Street from Mirage to Harvard, four blocks of badly cratered pavement. Some of our most heavily traveled neglected streets are not even on the repair list for the next five years, such as Hermosa from Mirage to Harvard, or Harvard from NDS to the south city limit. But there's a roundabout planned for Hermosa at Westwood for the following year, with a price tag of $375,000.
The roughest road ahead will be for the Council to reign in the staff's dreamy projects and trade them for some responsible maintenance. Since the installation of the two junior members in January, the Council has shifted from simply rubberstamping staff projects to actually questioning them. But to move from questioning to redirecting them is going to take some real public support.
We residents of Lindsay have become so accustomed to futile complaining that it's hard to imagine participating effectively. But if we want smoother streets and fewer frivolities, we have to let Mayor Padilla and other council members know.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trudy Wischemann is a believer in Jeffersonian Democracy who writes. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
The agenda that should have been considered by the Lindsay City Council last night will be considered this Friday instead. The agenda will include the approval of the budget for the coming fiscal year, a matter that concerns every taxpayer within the city limits.
Given the public importance of this meeting, it is unfortunate that it was not held at its regular time, and worse, scheduled for an evening few people would give up to attend. All the council members have known for at least two months that the budget vote would come on June 25th. But at the June 11th meeting it was suddenly discovered that the three senior members had schedule conflicts and would be absent: Mayor Ramona Padilla, Mayor Pro-Tem Danny Salinas, and Pam Kimball who, according to city clerk Carmen Wilson, would be up in the mountains on holiday and didn't want to come all the way down for this. So the meeting was rescheduled "for lack of a quorum" from 6 p.m. Tuesday the 25th to 6:00 p.m. Friday the 28th.
Forgive me, but this just feels like more shenanigans. If any one of the three were missing, that would give the two junior members the possibility of defeating the budget in a 2-2 tie vote, or using that power to negotiate for more residential streets to be repaired under the Capital Improvement Program. If two members were absent, there would still be a quorum and thus no legal reason to reschedule. It required the absence of all three, and that's what they got, leaving no room for negotiating the removal of pork barrel projects or staff positions that this money-strapped community could do without.
The most condemning project is what's called the Mirage Avenue Overlay. For the one block between Samoa and Hermosa, the price tag is $225,000. When compared to other street repaving projects during the pre-budget study session on May 14th, several council members noticed a large discrepancy. For instance, the Alameda St. Overlay from Orange to Bond, fixing four blocks of a street in far worse condition, is only $150,000. When asked for clarification, the city planner explained that the Mirage project isn't just an overlay, but also new curbs, gutters, and sidewalk treatment extending the downtown improvements one more block northward.
Several councilmembers, including Pam Kimball, seemed to think that wasn't a very good use of money and that it might better be spent elsewhere, such as overlaying Mirage from Hermosa to Tulare for $235,000. It probably was the most consensus expressed during the entire study session. When Finance Director Tamara Laken said she would take the Council's direction back to the drawing board, I thought we would see that project disappear, or at least moved to future years.
But there it is, a totally inessential project tying for second place (in terms of costliness) with overlaying Valencia Street from Mirage to Harvard, four blocks of badly cratered pavement. Some of our most heavily traveled neglected streets are not even on the repair list for the next five years, such as Hermosa from Mirage to Harvard, or Harvard from NDS to the south city limit. But there's a roundabout planned for Hermosa at Westwood for the following year, with a price tag of $375,000.
The roughest road ahead will be for the Council to reign in the staff's dreamy projects and trade them for some responsible maintenance. Since the installation of the two junior members in January, the Council has shifted from simply rubberstamping staff projects to actually questioning them. But to move from questioning to redirecting them is going to take some real public support.
We residents of Lindsay have become so accustomed to futile complaining that it's hard to imagine participating effectively. But if we want smoother streets and fewer frivolities, we have to let Mayor Padilla and other council members know.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trudy Wischemann is a believer in Jeffersonian Democracy who writes. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
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