Page 1 - Sanger Herald 8-23-18 E-edition

Lone Star goes back to class
Looking for a home
Water polo makes a big splash
page 8A
Lifestyles 3B
Sports 1B
Weekly Newspaper
Sanger (Fresno County) CA 93657 50¢ (tax included)
Homeless in
Sanger Park
Does providing free meals contribute to the homeless problem? Julie Mendoza, CEO of HOPE Sanger doesn't think so.
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
The photo above was taken in Sanger Park on Aug. 16. It has been digitally modified and the face has been blurred.
Backpack giveaways at 15 schools by Foundation for Sanger Schools
Dick Sheppard/Sanger Herald
More than 500 backpacks filled with school supplies were given away at 15 Sanger schools. The Foundation for Sanger Schools spent more than $5,000 on the backpacks. That money was part of a donation to the Foundation from the Granville Home of Hope program. Foun- dation board members Marcy Masumoto and Donna Vincenti joined superintendent Adela Jones at the giveaway on Aug. 16, above, at Jefferson Elementary School.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
Homeless people are creating problems in Sanger Park.
"We have definitely been challenged by what is happening there. There is definitely lots of drug use, drug abuse. We’ve caught people engaged in the act of prostitution in the bath- room. We’ve committed our time, energy and effort trying to control those problems," said police chief Silver Rodriguez at the Aug. 16 city council meeting.
"There’s a couple of things that contribute to it – Hope Sanger is making a great effort to try to serve the homeless and they’re only about a block away from Sanger Park. So that becomes a good place for them to settle in, and they hang out there and loiter there all day long. And during the lunch hour they go over and are fed and then they come right back to the park," said Rodriguez.
Council granted the extension over the objection of mayor pro tem Ontiveros
lems being created by a recent influx of home- less people.
"I don’t know about a substation. Our offi- cers are still responsible to get out and respond to all calls for service in the community – we do have a 'beat' officer whose beat is the park and a pretty large residential area around it. I believe a substation would serve as a deterrent, but I believe our patrols are also doing that. But some [homeless] just don’t care and that’s where they are going to hang out – if we could we would close the park to all of them," said Rodriguez.
Councilmembers and Rodriguez agreed that Sanger Park had overcome a bad repu- tation and become a good place for children to play and for families to picnic. "But just in the last 6-8 months or so because of the home- less settling in there we’re being challenged again about whether or not it’s going to be a good place for families to go or not," said Ro- driguez.
Julie Mendoza had a different take on the
See HOMELESS, page 7A City manager gets three year contract extension
He was responding to questions from coun- cilmembers about whether putting a police substation in the park would help curtail prob-
• Aug. 23 - Planning commission meeting, 6 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th St.
• Aug. 24 - Apaches play Hanford, 7:30 p.m. at Hanford. • Aug. 28 - School board meeting, 7 p.m. at school district
office 1905 7th St.
• Aug. 31 - Apaches play Clovis East, 7:30 p.m. at Tom Flores Stadium.
• Sept. 1 - VFW Community Breakfast, 8-10:30 a.m. at American Legion Hall, 1502 O St.
• Sept. 4 - Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee meeting , 6 p.m. at city hall, 1700 7th St.
By Dick Sheppard
Sanger Herald
City Manager Tim Chapa received a vote of confidence in the form of a three year contract extension from the majority of the city council.
Mayor pro tem Eli On- tiveros was opposed to the extension. Mayor Frank Gon- zalez and councilmembers Humberto Garza, Melissa Hurtado and Daniel Martinez voted in favor of it at the Aug. 16 city council meeting.
The contract included a couple of other perks in the
form of amended termina- tion without cause and auto- mobile allowance provisions.
The council also agreed to hold a special meeting on Aug. 22 to officially vote to cancel the mayoral election and simply reappoint Frank Gonzalez to the office. No one challenged Gonzalez for the position and reappoint- ing instead of going through the election process would save the city approximately $1,900, said city clerk Becky Padron. Brandi Orth, county clerk/registrar of voters, explained the city's move,
"If there is an uncontested race, and no other race that is voted on citywide, or no citywide measure – then the city council can appoint by
resolution the person to that uncontested race."
The reporter can be con- tacted by email at sangerher- ald@gmail.com.
SANGER HERALD: A MID VALLEY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER • (559) 875-2511 • www.thesangerherald.com
Kevin Carter will be seated as a new planning commissioner
Herald staff report
Kevin Carter will be sworn in as a new commissioner at this evening's 6 p.m. planning commission meeting in city hall, 1700 7th St.
Then the commission will review commission policies and public noticing requirements.
THURSDAY
AUGUST 23, 2018
VOL 129 NO. 34
2 sections, 14 pages
CLASSIFIED 3B LEGALS 4,5B BUSINESS DIRECTORY 6B LIFE STYLES 3B OBITUARIES 2A OPINION 3A SPORTS 1B POLICE LOG 2A WEATHER 8A