Yesterday we ran a story that Dave Renison would be heading for his appointed seat on the Housing Authority board. He was appointed to the housing commission in April, but had to ask for a waiver from HUD because he has a Section 8 tenant.
He had some help. Board of Supervisors Chairman Carlos Villapudua and Rep. Jerry McNerney sent letters supporting Renison’s appeal for a waiver to become a housing commissioner.
Here’s Villapudua’s letter. Here’s McNerney’s letter.
Today we ran a story about Pathways Family Health Cooperatives Counseling opening up a new medical marijuana dispensary in unincorporated San Joaquin County.
Here’s a pdf document of the “notice to comply” from the county, citing the county code prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries. The ban, put in place earlier this year, was meant to be temporary while the county develops permanent rules.
Another community group has thrown its weight behind opposition to plans to outsource operation of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Library. The Campaign for Common Ground is better known for getting involved with land-use issues in Stockton. But it sent out an e-mail to its members, saying the group opposed privatization of the library. In addition to contact information of City Council members and San Joaquin County supervisors, the email contained:
“As you have no doubt heard, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors and the Stockton City Council are seriously considering turning over all aspects of management and operations of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library to a for-profit company. We have grave concerns about how privatizing the public library might affect the quality of service and staffing at the library. Many libraries around the country have tried privatization with poor outcomes. Particularly given the lean operation in our local library system, it is hard to imagine how a private company could profit without reducing the quality of staff, materials and programming.”
(Thanks to City Hall reporter Dan Thigpen for passing along the e-mail.)
Members of the Linden Friends of the Library came to the Board of Supervisors meeting today. They wore matching shirts. At least three of the shirts had a “Where the Wild Things Are” motif with the slogan “Wild about reading.”
What they are not wild about is the county considering outsourcing operations of the county portion of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Library, which includes the Linden branch. “We have concerns that we would lose touch with what a library means to our community,” said Lesley Billigmeier. “Keep it ours, not a profit-based company.”
Last week, the Linden Municipal Advisory Council voted to oppose outsourcing. I called chairman Larry Knapp, who said the vote was unanimous. “We think (the library) is a vital part of the community,” he said. And the Linden MAC wanted to be sure the supervisors knew it didn’t want the county to privatize the library, he said.
The secret review committee has finished looking over a proposal to outsource operations of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Library, according to county Purchasing and Support Services. It held its final meeting Tuesday, department Deputy Director Jon Drake said.
So next, the proposal goes to staffs in the city and county to prepare recommendations for their respective elected officials.
A majority of residential properties in San Joaquin County saw their assessed value go down this year, but not everywhere. The story and graphic shows the cumulative fall in values in cities and countywide. But inside, some places did see values rise. “It’s so neighborhood driven,” Assessor Ken Blakemore said in a quote leftover in my notes from yesterday.
But this morning, a reader said she was shocked to see the assessed value of her home in Park Woods in Stockton jump by about $54,000 to nearly $200,000. “I didn’t realize I lived in such a fancy house,” said Adah Shrope. She said she’s seen the home next door sell for $89,000 and one across the street sell for $110,000. She said she was going to appeal.
News alerts today included the Associated Press May list of the most economically stressed counties in the nation. The AP uses rates of unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy to rank the counties.
San Joaquin County came in at No. 11. California has 12 counties in the list of the 20 most-stressed list, and the San Joaquin Valley, as a whole is well represented.
A month ago, the AP’s list for April had San Joaquin County in at No. 10.
Ward County in North Dakota remained the least-stressed county, two months running.
Advanced life support: Cutting room floor
Before the city officials announced Tuesday night they would halt advanced life support services in compliance with a deadline announced by the county, I had written something down about how the issue came up during public comment during the Tuesday morning Board of Supervisors meet. But the newest news prevails, and our story from today was heavy on the newest information.
So I’ll paste in a couple of disjointed tidbits from the morning meeting:
John La Rue asked the supervisors why they would prevent trained paramedics on fire engines from working as paramedics upon arrival at an emergency scene, “endangering the lives of innocent taxpayer constituents.” La Rue has a decades-long career in communications, including founding Pac-West Telecomm in Stockton 1980. “How does it make sense?” asked La Rue, who is a volunteer communications consultant for Stockton.
He was one of three speakers to address the board Tuesday morning.
Board Chairman Carlos Villapudua read a statement saying that because of the litigation between the city and county, “the board would not be participating in any public discussion regarding (emergency medical services).”
Tim Runion said his parents live within a mile of a Stockton Fire station. He said they’ve needed paramedics three times, and three times Stockton Fire beat the ambulances to the scene. Runion is a battalion chief for Stockton Fire, but he said he was speaking on behalf of people like his parents in questioning a decision to limit the number of paramedics. “It’s not morally right, and it’s a bad decision,” he said. “And it’s not too late to change.”
Greg Biddle, vice president of Stockton Professional Firefighters Local 456 also called the deadline a threat to public safety.