Page 3 - Sanger Herald 1-31-19 E-edition

Random thoughts The new normal at city hall ...
That - not in those exact words - is what senior planner David Breltic told the plan- ning commission and that - not in those exact words - is what development director Tom Navarro told the city council.
But unfortunately NO ONE at city hall - which seems to have a lack of transparency policy - apparently bothered to tell all the residents living near the approximately 63 acres proposed for rezoning. That is, no one told them until a blurry, unreadable map with an even more blurred and baffling descrip- tion of what was taking place was mailed to at least some of the residents living near the designated parcels.
The proposed rezoning that was so vigor-
In my OPINION
The private sector's loss of freedom
will wind up hurting everyone
SANGER HERALD 3A THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019 EDITORIAL & OPINION
By Dick Sheppard
What a massive mess of misunderstanding!
THERE ARE NO PLANS TO BUILD
AN AFFORDABLE APARTMENT COMPLEX ANYWHERE IN SANGER RIGHT NOW. NONE, NADA, ZERO, ZILCH.
Dick Sheppard
ously protested by a packed house of irate Sanger residents at the Jan. 23 city council meeting is NOT being done because someone is waiting with a shovel poised to turn ground for a foundation. It's being done because the state told Sanger it has to do it as part of the state's "housing element" law.
The state told the city as far back as 2016 to abide by the law. The city didn't get around to even attempting to comply until 2018 when the state issued a January 2019 or face the consequences deadline.
The consequences? A state imposed build- ing moratorium and/or a cutoff of grant funds flowing through the state to the city.
Is the state serious about enforcing its housing element law that requires each city to zone a certain amount of land within the city limits for affordable housing? Governor Gavin Newsom said, “Cities and counties are important partners in addressing this [afford- able] housing crisis, and many cities are making Herculean efforts to meet this crisis head-on. But some cities are refusing to do their part to address this crisis and willfully stand in violation of California law. Those cit- ies will be held to account.”
So Sanger has to do it or face the conse- quences. But it should have been done cor- rectly, with public participation and aware- ness of what's happening and why. The city council was right to send the proposal back to the planning department, missed deadline or not, with an admonition to do a better job of communication and community involvement.
The city council should heed its own advice. It's as much to blame as the planning department because it didn't make sure the process was done in a timely and appropriate manner.
Teflon Tim Chapa, the city manager, knew
way back in 2016 it had to be done and he should have known it would be controversial. Why did he wait until 2018 to get it started?
The better question is, why did the city council let him wait until 2018 to get it start- ed? It's another in a long series of misunder- standings that have come about because of a lack of timeliness and a lack of transparency.
That apparently is the new normal at city hall.
Comments, complaints and suggestions may be emailed to sangerherald@gmail.com or may be made by calling 875-2511
GUEST local commentary
Planners need to regain public trust
Just as when one is
in Las Vegas playing
Blackjack, there are times
in life when it is entirely
proper and well-advised
to “double-down” down on
one's position on certain
issues. Lastweek,Iwrote,
at some length, about today's
“journalists” lack of ethics in agenda-driven reporting vis-a-vie rush-to-judgment methods of reporting on preconceived notions of the eventtheyarecovering. Factcheckingand reliablesourcesbedamned! Weevenwent so far as to identify five stipulations of that code of fair practices for journalists.
Since that original column was penned, an internet “news site” named Buzz Feed broke a story about the President telling Michael Cohen, his attorney, to lie to the Mueller investigationaswellasCongress. Although the report named no sources or featured any quotes, it was quickly parroted by the “usual suspects”inthemainstreammedia. Robert Miller's investigatory group quickly affirmed the report was “untrue” but it didn't make any difference.
The word impeachment, by talking heads in the media, appeared approximately 200 times during the following 24 hours before coolerheadsbegantoprevail. Thatonly counted CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC and CBS. Adding to the travesty were The New York Times, Washington Post and various other members of the print press.
This past weekend, a small snippet of videoof smalltownKentuckyCatholic
high school boys in Washington for a pro-
life march resulted in calls for everything from their being punched in the face to
their being killed arose on the internet. Mainstream media pounced without question- inganyofthedetails. Itappears,nowthat everyone has had access to the facts, they were the ones being assaulted by the Black Hebrew Israelites and a drum-feating native American who reportedly was a Viet Nam warveteran. Thathassincebeendebunked. We understand the boys were waiting for a bus to pick them up after the rally when they wereconfronted. Releaseandreviewofthe entire video showed everything in context.
All appearances are that their greatest
sin was wearing Make America Great Again capswhilebeingwhite. Untilwe,inthejour- nalism business, get past this hate Trump
we will continue winding up with egg on our face. There can be little doubt that many will continue along this mind-numbed path!
When one is growing older, it's really dif- ficult to isolate any benefits associated with theagingprocess. Settingasidethedisap- pearance of physical prowess and the abil- ity to perform tasks which once seemed so simple, we generally continued to be blessed by God with the experience and wisdom accumulatedoveralifetime. Older,gener- ally wiser people, tend to still be able to make rational considerations based on that experi- ence.
With many today, the enemy du jour seems
By Fred Hall
to be Pacific Gas and Electric Company with their highest-in-the-country power rates. They are in the process of going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy amidst the emotional wrath
of a consumer base and state government blaming them for the wildfires last year. It's really easy to hate a big company like this, especially after pulling stunts like paying big bonuses to executives and allowing those checks to clear before they took the same action a few years ago.
While one's emotions can be extremely powerful, it's often wise to stop and examine the facts, trying to locate real culprits. No one can argue with the facts that, at first blush, it's difficult to understand why they charge so much for their product which is essential to all of us. My personal (at home) bill for power ranges anywhere from $300 to $700 per month!
All of this anger is compounded by the power company's use of a “base-rate” system which seems to vary from house to house and no one can explain. Couple that with their incestuous relationship with California Public Utilities commission which has been little more than a rubber stamp on rate increases.
As usual, the first place anyone should look to as a basis for something that is inex- plicably ridiculous would be the gang which we elect to represent us in Sacramento. When our lawmakers pass legislation requir- ing that certain percentage of our electric power comes from renewable sources such as wind, solar and steam, little or no thought is ever given to the cost of those sources which are astronomical compared to tradi- tional sources such as coal. Special interest groups and environmentalists have “snowed” our elected representatives to the point they have 100 percent buy-in with the global warming theory.
We've reached the point in California where it's either Donald Trump or global warming that is at the heart of all our prob- lems—according to those who claim to be much wiser than we. Setting our system of public schooling aside, we hope everyone is smarter than that.
Pacific Gas and Electric would not make my list of well-run, admirable companies
but they are indicative of what happens when, increasingly, government is becoming a “partner” in all of our businesses. Their rules and regulations—especially from peo- ple who have never signed a paycheck or run a business—has become stifling to free enter- prise in this state which once so glowingly represented what was good about America.
A pronounced loss of freedom by the private sector is inherently harmful to an entire populace. It even drives up the cost of the basic utilities which are the engine of a robust economy.
But, as always, that's only one man's opin- ion.
In addition to the Sanger Herald, Publisher Fred Hall oversees two other Mid Valley Publishing newspapers - Reedley Exponent, and Dinuba Sentinel. He can be contacted by phone at (559) 638-2244 or by email at fred@ midvalleypublishing.com.
By Vincent Wall
The people of Sanger did not feel as though they were afforded an opportunity to participate in the process of rezoning 63 acres of land. That was the major issue that rose to the surface dur- ing the Jan. 23 city council meeting.
rather have chosen in the rezoning process. 4) The week after the conclusion of the
workshops have a first planning commission meeting with public comment.
5) The week after that have another plan- ning commission meeting with public com- ment. The planning commission could then determine whether to close public comment and render its decision, or close public com- ment, deliberate and render its decision a week later.
In total there would be at least four work- shops and two planning commission meet- ings.
I believe the plan would fulfill the legal requirements of notice, and provide an adequate time for the people of Sanger to understand the issues presented by the rezon- ing process and provide the people of Sanger an adequate opportunity to engage in a pro- cess that will affect the entire city.
In addition, I believe it would go a long way toward rebuilding trust between city hall and everyone else by showing people the city is not attempting to hide the process but rather is going above and beyond the legal requirements and making an effort to reach out to the community and bring everyone into a process that has to take place because the state says so.
Vincent Wall is a member of the planning commission, a patent examiner with the Unites States Patent and Trademark Office and an attorney with the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania. He describes himself as
a concerned citizen who would like to see Sanger prosper and grow for future genera- tions, including his own three sons. He can be contacted by email at vincentwallesq@gmail. com.
FredHall
It appeared the people of Sanger, at least those who filled the city council chamber, felt they had been ignored.
In order to address those citizens' con- cerns and to better communicate with all Sanger residents I propose the following to rebuild the trust of our community.
1) Send out notices to everyone living with- in 500 feet of each of the 23 parcels currently identified for possible rezoning. If more par- cels are added then send more notices.
2) As part of the notices, provide four loca- tions around the city and dates, where the planning commission and the city planning department can hold a workshop in each dis- trict to inform the people about this complex process. This notice would also include dates for the planning commission to receive public comment in points 4-5 below.
3) In addition, the notice should include the amount of land that needs to be rezoned, the reason why rezoning will take place, the final map of all the parcels and a listing of the size, acreage, of each of the parcels for each site under consideration. This would allow the people of Sanger to more fully participate in the process and make informed recommen- dations to the planning commission on their choice for parcels to be included and/or to provide feedback on the parcels they would
Vincent Wall
Birds of a feather ...
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