Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Hurrah for (most of) the City Council
Tracy's City Council takes a lot of flak, not least of which from me. So let me congratulate the council for doing something right Tuesday night when it passed an affordable housing initiative.
Well, at least the majority of council members did something right. Faced with the opportunity to give developers incentive to build more high-density, low- and moderate-income housing, Mayor Brent Ives, Councilwoman Evelyn Tolbert and Councilwoman Irene Sundberg all gave the green light.
Councilwoman Suzanne Tucker essentially said not in my backyard, wondering aloud if more low- and moderate-income homes would degrade the "character and higher standards we've worked for years to put in place."
Notice to those who can't afford suburban McMansions: someone doesn't want you here.
Luckily, four of five public representatives decided to address Tracy's need for affordable housing — a need that has been overlooked for some years. Hopefully, builders will take Tracy up on its incentive plan to provide more housing for young professionals and blue-collar workers.
Following through with this first step can only lead to the city becoming more diverse and vibrant — something that seems to go hand and hand with character.
Well, at least the majority of council members did something right. Faced with the opportunity to give developers incentive to build more high-density, low- and moderate-income housing, Mayor Brent Ives, Councilwoman Evelyn Tolbert and Councilwoman Irene Sundberg all gave the green light.
Councilwoman Suzanne Tucker essentially said not in my backyard, wondering aloud if more low- and moderate-income homes would degrade the "character and higher standards we've worked for years to put in place."
Notice to those who can't afford suburban McMansions: someone doesn't want you here.
Luckily, four of five public representatives decided to address Tracy's need for affordable housing — a need that has been overlooked for some years. Hopefully, builders will take Tracy up on its incentive plan to provide more housing for young professionals and blue-collar workers.
Following through with this first step can only lead to the city becoming more diverse and vibrant — something that seems to go hand and hand with character.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Those pesky critters
Newsflash from Nevada: if levees have holes in them, they're likely to break.
This was the scene Saturday in a small Nevada town where a levee broke under strain from heavy rain — and from burrowing critters who likely made the levee look like Swiss chesse from the inside.
The lesson shouldn't be lost on San Joaquin residents. We've got plenty of levees, and no shortage of ground squirrels, with each passing moment making our tenuous flood defenses weaker. Maybe it's time for an emergency hunting season.
Please don't lose the ethical point
As I mentioned in a follow-up comment to my Jan. 4 column, a vote made by Mayor Brent Ives in 2002 is still under investigation by the Fair Political Pracitces Commission, according to reliable source and complaintant Mark Connolly. This fact was misrepresented by myself in the original print column -- my apologies for that. I have since updated the Web version of the column.
In a strange twist, I found late Friday that one of the Tracy Press Web site's serial commentors had taken my factual update and posted it on every story on the site. But focusing on that revelation misses the point, to a certain extent.
Regardless, whether that investigation has been settled or is ongoing is besides the point (as is whether the vote by Ives was a big deal or not -- my guess is it's not). The bottom line is that Tracy can only benefit from a comprehensive ethics code. I simply hope that point is not lost.
In a strange twist, I found late Friday that one of the Tracy Press Web site's serial commentors had taken my factual update and posted it on every story on the site. But focusing on that revelation misses the point, to a certain extent.
Regardless, whether that investigation has been settled or is ongoing is besides the point (as is whether the vote by Ives was a big deal or not -- my guess is it's not). The bottom line is that Tracy can only benefit from a comprehensive ethics code. I simply hope that point is not lost.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Rainy day indulgence
Note to readers: This is an inspired work of fiction (though I guess you’ll be the judge of its level of inspiration) that came to me on this rainy Friday. For the usual "Friday random thoughts," scroll to the bottom of this entry.
“It’s wet today.” That’s about all the explanation you’d get from the men lining the bar at The Shamrock, taking solace in a bloody Mary or Irish coffee. And you’d be lucky to get it. These are Stoics. They are not quick to smile or laugh, and when they do it is a long, drawn out laugh deep in the throat. They are not much for talking. This is why they are at The Shamrock in the first place — there’s not much call for conversation at a bar at 11 a.m. on a Friday when you’re staring down your third dose of vodka and tomato juice. So they shoot sideways glances and say, “It’s wet today.”
Mother Nature would be displeased to hear their description. She woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and she decided to let someone know about it.
It’s raining so hard that you can see the wind. It comes in sheets and billows — wet, cold, flowing linen hung out to dry on a blustery day. The rain is wedded to it, like young lovers oblivious to the buffets and bruises of the world, until their union is smashed to pieces on your windshield, brushed aside by cruel, callous wipers.
You can see the wind on the road, making ripples on the water pooled in the pavement’s rills and potholes. These are potholes the city said it would fix, when the time was right, one council member said during a meeting on an especially sunny November day. Unfortunately for Rachel Mertz, who was trying to avoid the flooded streets turning half the city into lakefront property, the time wasn’t right soon enough. Her 1987 Buick was swallowed nearly whole just after noon when the weight of her front-right tire expanded a pothole on Jackson Alley into a full-blown sinkhole, taking half of a neighbor’s garage with it.
Rachel was OK. She climbed out and examined the damage. Staring at the crumbling garage and crumpled Buick, she decided to just wait for the tow truck and homeowner — good things come to those who wait, even those who have caused front-page news. She thought about how to explain the event to the reporters, with their cameras and voice recorders hanging on every tick and word. She knew better than to drive down a barely paved alley in this city’s downtown, let alone in a driving rainstorm that had turned the hamlet by the Interstate into a small town again, pockmarked with puddles, temporarily shut off from the outside world.
“It’s wet today.” That’s about all the explanation you’d get from the men lining the bar at The Shamrock, taking solace in a bloody Mary or Irish coffee. And you’d be lucky to get it. These are Stoics. They are not quick to smile or laugh, and when they do it is a long, drawn out laugh deep in the throat. They are not much for talking. This is why they are at The Shamrock in the first place — there’s not much call for conversation at a bar at 11 a.m. on a Friday when you’re staring down your third dose of vodka and tomato juice. So they shoot sideways glances and say, “It’s wet today.”
Mother Nature would be displeased to hear their description. She woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, and she decided to let someone know about it.
It’s raining so hard that you can see the wind. It comes in sheets and billows — wet, cold, flowing linen hung out to dry on a blustery day. The rain is wedded to it, like young lovers oblivious to the buffets and bruises of the world, until their union is smashed to pieces on your windshield, brushed aside by cruel, callous wipers.
You can see the wind on the road, making ripples on the water pooled in the pavement’s rills and potholes. These are potholes the city said it would fix, when the time was right, one council member said during a meeting on an especially sunny November day. Unfortunately for Rachel Mertz, who was trying to avoid the flooded streets turning half the city into lakefront property, the time wasn’t right soon enough. Her 1987 Buick was swallowed nearly whole just after noon when the weight of her front-right tire expanded a pothole on Jackson Alley into a full-blown sinkhole, taking half of a neighbor’s garage with it.
Rachel was OK. She climbed out and examined the damage. Staring at the crumbling garage and crumpled Buick, she decided to just wait for the tow truck and homeowner — good things come to those who wait, even those who have caused front-page news. She thought about how to explain the event to the reporters, with their cameras and voice recorders hanging on every tick and word. She knew better than to drive down a barely paved alley in this city’s downtown, let alone in a driving rainstorm that had turned the hamlet by the Interstate into a small town again, pockmarked with puddles, temporarily shut off from the outside world.
Friday random thoughts...
• Column errata: In the print edition of my Jan. 4 column, I misstated that then-Councilman Brent Ives cast a vote in 2004 regarding a company he once consulted. The vote actually occurred in 2002. The correct date is included in the Web edition of the column. My apologies.
• Another quandary to consider when dreaming up a city ethics code: Councilwoman Evelyn Tolbert has raised nearly $45,000 without disclosing the name of any contributor because all her donations are less than the legal reporting threshold.
• And one more: Councilman Steve Abercrombie had to figure out a way to continue his D.A.R.E. education as a "volunteer" to prevent a conflict of interest.
• Because people seem to like the idea of changing the broken political system: Barack Obama and the Iowa caucuses.
• Because you can apparently sleepwalk through a campaign and still get people to vote for you: Fred Thompson and the Iowa caucuses.
• Because, now that you consider it, you really don't care what a bunch of podunk-nowhere Iowans think: Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, and the Iowa caucuses.
• Make it stop. Please, make it stop: If you care at all about the San Francisco 49ers, read this. It might not end the hurting, but at least someone empathizes.
• Calvin and Hobbes quote of the week: "Are you making any resolutions for the new year?" "Resolutions? ME?? Just what are you implying? That I need to change?? Well, buddy, as far as I'm concerned, I'm perfect the way I am! For your information, I'm staying like this, and everyone else can just get used to it! If people don't like me the way I am, well, though beans! It's a free country! I don't need anyone's permission to be the way I want! This is how I am — take it or leave it! By golly, life's too darn short to waste time trying to please every meddlesome moron who's got an idea how I ought to be! I don't need advice! Everyone can just stay out of my face!"
• Another quandary to consider when dreaming up a city ethics code: Councilwoman Evelyn Tolbert has raised nearly $45,000 without disclosing the name of any contributor because all her donations are less than the legal reporting threshold.
• And one more: Councilman Steve Abercrombie had to figure out a way to continue his D.A.R.E. education as a "volunteer" to prevent a conflict of interest.
• Because people seem to like the idea of changing the broken political system: Barack Obama and the Iowa caucuses.
• Because you can apparently sleepwalk through a campaign and still get people to vote for you: Fred Thompson and the Iowa caucuses.
• Because, now that you consider it, you really don't care what a bunch of podunk-nowhere Iowans think: Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, and the Iowa caucuses.
• Make it stop. Please, make it stop: If you care at all about the San Francisco 49ers, read this. It might not end the hurting, but at least someone empathizes.
• Calvin and Hobbes quote of the week: "Are you making any resolutions for the new year?" "Resolutions? ME?? Just what are you implying? That I need to change?? Well, buddy, as far as I'm concerned, I'm perfect the way I am! For your information, I'm staying like this, and everyone else can just get used to it! If people don't like me the way I am, well, though beans! It's a free country! I don't need anyone's permission to be the way I want! This is how I am — take it or leave it! By golly, life's too darn short to waste time trying to please every meddlesome moron who's got an idea how I ought to be! I don't need advice! Everyone can just stay out of my face!"
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Primary faults
It's difficult to believe that the Iowa caucuses are already upon us. It's even more surprising (OK, so maybe it's disheartening, but not surprising) that what happens in the churches and basements and living rooms in Iowa will so greatly affect how California votes in one short month.
No more than three candidates in each party will be alive for the nomination by the time Californians get to vote in the primaries. More than likely, each party will be down to a two-horse race. This, of course, is months before the national conventions, where nominees are still technically decided.
It's an American tradition indeed. But that doesn't make it a good one.
No more than three candidates in each party will be alive for the nomination by the time Californians get to vote in the primaries. More than likely, each party will be down to a two-horse race. This, of course, is months before the national conventions, where nominees are still technically decided.
It's an American tradition indeed. But that doesn't make it a good one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
