A Dear John letter

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 15, 2010 | 0 Comments

A photo of a toilet on display in City Hall is making the e-mail rounds.

 A sign hangs on the toilet: “Toilet for display only. Do not use.”

“This week is ‘Fix a Leak Week,’” explains city spokeswoman Connie Cochran. “The Municipal Utilities District folks are having it as part of a display to show a water-saving toilet.”

 Fix a Leak Week includes a drawing for a water-saving toilet, Cochran added.

The reason the e-mail is going around is the sign. “Stockton has got to be the only place that would need the sign on a display toilet in a public lobby,” one correspondent writes. “City Hall, no less. Shall we let Forbes know?”

Evidently the writer has not seen “Couples Retreat.” In that movie, a comedy, a little boy twice uses the display toilet in a home improvement store. Funny movie, by the way.

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Historic dome and tower

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 15, 2010 | 0 Comments

Reader Floyd Perry Jr. writes:

“I wanted to share a couple of photos that I have in my collection of Historic Stockton Photos, that I inherited from my grandparents, who were camera bugs. … (Photos of) the old San Joaquin County Courthouse & San Joaquin County Jail. Not only are they in Color (most photos of these buildings are in Black & White), but these two are CLOSEUPS of the Courthouse Dome & Jail Tower, that were taken from the rooftop of the old Medico-Dental Building. The pictures were taken in 1961, just prior to both demolitions.”

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Thanks, Floyd. the courthouse dome photo shows how poorly maintained the courthouse was towards the end. A pity, as a bit of scrubbing would have revealed one of the most majestic Romanesque courthouses in the state. The jail tower looks sinister, a suitable lockup for The Man in the Iron Mask.

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Wilhoit: vindication!

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 5, 2010 | 0 Comments

I reported Chamber CEO Douglass Wilhoit, the primary foe of state plans to locate new prison facilities here, had sent his resume to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Hypocrisy? Or, as Wilhoit explained, merely his way of establishing his bona fides as a knowledgeable commuity representiative by sharing his background in law enforcement and penology?

The latter, this letter from the CDCR proves.

Federal prison receiver J. Clark Kelso also called Wilhoit and apologized for the misunderstanding. A bit of gentlemanly fair play for which Kelso and the state deserve credit.

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Stockton deserves free broadband

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 5, 2010 | 0 Comments

That’s the idea of a tech writer with PC World.

His rationale: broadband improves the business climate. But Google is deploying broadband in cities with strong economies. That’s coals to Newcastle. If Forbes “Miserable City” ranking means anything, it means cities such as Stockton deserve additional resources.

Read him here.

I agree with his logic. The appalling series of bottom rankings means policy makers shold direct more state and federal dollars here. What more do they need to know? Who deserves it more?

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More for the poor-mouthing police

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 5, 2010 | 0 Comments

A reader writes:

“Some additional facts (about the item, below). An average officer with 5 yrs of experience is earning about $90K in base pay and at least $15 to $20K in overtime.

“In addition, the city is paying $35K per year towards his pension (5 times what they were paying before enhanced pensions became the rage) at least $15K to 20K per year towards his medical along with a uniform allowance and covering his liability insurance as well. This doesn’t include comp time, sick leave, training or equipment. There are plenty of areas to cut without impacting take home pay. The city is in for well over $200K per officer when you look at total operational and labor costs. 

.”..A recent salary survey … puts Stockton’s officers total compensation at the top of other area cities. Also note, that while average family income in this County has increased 58 percent over the past 15 years, officer pay has jumped 120 percent and officer retirement pay has gone up over 200 percent and employee medical cost over 200 percent.”

And yet they claim they’ll lose their homes if forced to share in the cuts required by the recession.

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Exchange with a cop

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 4, 2010 | 0 Comments

A law enforcement officer, Holy Cow, responds to my blog post The politics of public unions

For the police department to cut the $10,000,000 from their budget, you are asking 365 police officers, to take an approximately $27,000 a year pay cut. Mr. Fitzgerald, could you afford that ? How can you expect anyone else to take that kind of pay cut? Perhaps you have an extra room I could rent for my family to live in, since we surely won’t be able to keep our house.

My reply: 

A police department’s budget is not entirely composed of wages. It includes other expenditures such as administration, purchasing, etc. Cuts in those areas would lessen the overall cuts required of the rank and file. I suspect you know this.

Also, the preliminary figure for requested cuts most probably represents a negotiating position. Just as the city manager comes in high, the chief will come in low, as will the unions. Negotiations will produce a compromise. I suspect you know that as well.

Finally, it is invidious to ask me if I could afford “that kid of pay cut.” I don’t make that kid of pay, because – unlike public employees since the budget-busting “3 percent at 30” plan was adopted — I am not overpaid.

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Cinda Fox’s frustration

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 4, 2010 | 0 Comments

Superior Court Judge Cinda Fox, who retired on disability after a courtroom attack, is “frustrated by a lack of answers.” Results of the investigation into the attack, and the courtoom killing of her attacker, have not been released. A whole year has passed.

“Why is it taking so long to resolve something that in our opinion is really straightforward?” her attorney asks reasonably. “It’s not like this case is a whodunit.”

I wonder if Fox felt similar frustration when authorities took over a year to release their report on the fatal shooting of Joey Pinasco. California Highway Patrol officers shot him dead when he fled them in his truck, contending he charged at them in his vehicle. The investigation ultimately cleared the officers.

But the point is law enforcement officials took their sweet time. Officials did not seem concerned the leisurely pace compounded the family’s grief. And this aloof behavior is increasingly typical of law enforcement agencies which put the public second to their institutional prerogatives and concerns. Everyone has a stake in curtailing this self-serving trend.

If Fox is saying justice delayed is justice denied, she is right. But her outcry would carry more weight if she had expressed this objection before.

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What planet are they on?

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 4, 2010 | 0 Comments

It has rained so much — significantly above average — the National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for city streams. So of course the Department of Water Resources says the drought is “severe” on its cockamamie drought page.

“Preparing for Year 4!” they say.

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Also stuck in Santiago

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 3, 2010 | 0 Comments

John Edman, subject of today’s column, is not the only Stocktonian stuck in Santiago, Chile, by the big quake. A party of at least eight Stocktonians, maybe more, went down to Santiago for a wedding last week and is stuck there.

“It was supposed to be a nice, wonderful trip of a lifetime,” says Tami Tuel, a Stockton realtor.  “It turned into a nightmare.”

They Stocktonians are in Santiago because the groom, Ben Valverde of Stockton, married a Chilean woman. Tuel’s daughter, Natalie, is also stranded.

Cel call service is down. Stockton relatives are communicating by texting.

“It’s a parent’s nightmare,” Tuel said.

 

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SJ Film Fest’s expansion a success

By Michael Fitzgerald | Published: March 3, 2010 | 0 Comments

Sophoan Sorn, director of the San Joaquin International Film Festival, writes:

“We had a magical moment on Saturday at the 3rd San Joaquin International Film Festival’s presentation of “The Young Victoria” at Modesto’s State Theatre. This is our first year having the festival in centralized locations in two cities (five days at the Empire Theatre in Stockton and two days at The State in Modesto).

“We had a nearly sold-out crowd of 450 people at this presentation, and people were in line wrapping around the buildings! This is the second most well-attended single show in the history of the Film Society.

“This was really a moving experience for me, personally, as having an expansion into another city (that’s 45 minutes away) for our young organization is a “gamble.” To see the support of the people of the Southern San Joaquin Valley really was amazing.”

Bravo for Sorn. Incidentally, isn’t that Sierra Club activist Eric Parfrey in the foreground?

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