U.S. senators of both parties who blocked Sen. Ted Stevens' latest heavy-handed attempt to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling struck a good blow not only for the environment, but also for a more honest and better government.   more »

A Dec. 23 Record letter writer made the standard liberal comment that Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, wants to "gut" the Endangered Species Act. This isn't based on fact. I remember when we had the big flood 10 years ago. The levees broke, and homes were flooded around Mossdale and along the Delta. The Endangered Species Act was protecting some gopher or mole that bored holes in the levees and was a contributor to the levees' failure.   more »

Mark Connolly, a local lawyer and slow-growth advocate, has decided not to run in a Republican primary against Rep. Richard Pombo, clearing the way for a septuagenarian former Republican congressman to enter the race himself.   more »

In an e-mail last week, Pombo said he expected additional legislation to address the labor issue: "This is a first step in the right direction, and I expect more proposals, including temporary worker provisions, will come up next year." That would be welcomed by Rodney Schatz, Lodi grape grower and chairman of the California Association of Winegrape Growers. He said the large number of illegal immigrants in the United States points out the need for such labor.   more »

The famed battleship USS Iowa would retire in California under legislation announced Friday, opening the way for Stockton and other port cities to vie for the right to put it on public display.   more »

The San Francisco voters passed a ballot proposition in 1987 declaring SFO a "nuclear free zone", and now they want to make it the home of the U.S.S. Iowa?  This is apauling!

The founder of the conservative religious organization, Christian Community Concerns, is campaigning this year to "bring Christ back to Christmas." Lodi resident Ken Owen, the organization's founder, asked the Lodi City Council on Wednesday night to recognize Christmas for what it is — a sacred observance of Christ's birth — rather than be "politically correct" and decorate a "holiday tree," have Christmas parties, have Christmas programs in public schools and not be afraid to say "Merry Christmas" to someone.   more »

John Beckman's term as mayor • Dec. 1, 2004: Beckman elected mayor by an unanimous vote. • Dec. 12, 2004: Council offers job of city manager to Blair King. • Jan. 19: Beckman has to recuse himself from a key hearing on the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter because of comments he made about the project during a party. The council approves the project in February by a vote of 4-0 with Beckman not voting.   more »

Ya had to know it was going to happen sooner or later - gas prices affecting mass transit. One thing that is often missed in the "I pay too much for my fuel- someone PLEASE do something about it" debate is the effect it has on those who are not direct consumers. Changes to mass transit brought on by higher fuel costs - like fare increases or service cuts - affects those who are least able to absorb them and who are some of the most important members of our communities.   more »

Lets see, a story on THE major water project impacting the Valley with quotes from on-again, off-again (on-again??) Congressional candidate Machado and that uses the always incendiary phrase "environmental justice." Can anyone say "campaign issue?"   more »

On Tuesday, Tracy voted to impose a developer's fee to help pay for new transportation projects. With the amount of growth the Valley is experiencing, I'd suspect we'll see more of these type of votes. Also I know that our current Washington reps like Pombo get how important the transportation issue is. Question is where are the plans from his challengers? Oh, I'm sure they'll get around to letting us know...someday.   more »

Extreme environmental groups do not like him.The liberal editorial page of The New York Times has attacked him. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made him a high-profile target in the 2006 congressional elections. Wow! Who is this guy? He must be doing something right.   more »

Environmental groups have whirled themselves into a froth opposing it. Pombo sees this as a sign his time may finally have arrived.   more »

Strong antiwar comments in recent days by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean have opened anew a party rift over Iraq, with some lawmakers warning that the leaders' rhetorical blasts could harm efforts to win control of Congress next year.   more »

LODI -- Cottage Bakery has abandoned plans to expand in Lodi, citing a changing customer base and the increasing cost of doing business there. Bakery President Terry Knutson said that 30 percent of the bakery's customer base is now in the East and that land, permit, building, wastewater, worker's compensation and other insurance costs have risen so much that expanding in California no longer makes financial sense.   more »

LODI -- Lodi once used low electric rates, offered by the city's municipal utility, to lure businesses such as Apache Plastics. Because plastics companies use large amounts of power, city officials hoped cheap electric rates would establish Lodi has a center for plastics manufacturing. And other companies followed Apache, which moved to Lodi from Stockton in 1997.   more »

Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-WY) has responded to these criticisms with a piece in the Casper (WY) Tribune in which she says one of the reasons for the proposal is to stop the outsourcing of hard rock mining to foreign countries. She disputed the claims made by environmental groups about the bill and below we've noted her clarifications.   more »

SJ Blog is a generally conservative blog, and as such those of us posting here are inclined to side with property owners against government. That isn’t surprising since disputes between landowners and government usually consist of government predations against landowners.

But “usually” is not the same as “always,” and here in San Joaquin County we have what appears to be a genuine case of what liberals castigate as “corporate greed.”

It involves Trimark Communities, LLC, who many readers probably know as the master developer of the Mountain House community – the largest development project ever approved in San Joaquin County. Trimark is the lead player in a drama of a property owner’s predations against local government.
              
A little background on the players in this drama.  Trimark. It is an affiliate of SunChase Holdings, which is owned by three gentlemen by the names of Chee Yah, Arte Moreno and Bill Pope.  Chee Yah is a billionaire Taiwainese businessman.  Bill Pope is a real estate and land-developer from Phoenix, Arizona.  Arte Moreno is also a Phoenix developer and – as sports fans know – the owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim major league baseball team.

SunChase, in turn, uses Sterling Pacific Management to manage the Mountain House project.  Duane Grimsman of Sterling Pacific and Eric Teed-Bose of Trimark represent Trimark’s interests to the denizens of SJ County.
              
Messers, Yah, Moreno and Pope have made more than a billion dollars on Mountain Home. It is undoubtedly the most lucrative development project ever undertaken in San Joaquin County.

And good for them. This is America, and landowners ought to be able to earn wealth from their property.
              
This is where the “greed” part comes in. This massive financial return is apparently not enough for Yah, Moreno and Pope. They continue to pressure Mountain House landowners (Trimark is the master developer, as opposed to the home builder) – for more money.

Furthermore, Trimark, is seeking to escape its contractual obligations to San Joaqin County – a contract it entered into freely – to the detriment of local residents. If successful, Trimakr’s maneuverings will further delay the long-awaited Delta College campus.

Early in the process of developing Mountain House, Trimark negotiated several ordinances with San Joaquin County and the Mountain House Community Services District (CSD) – the legal/financial mechanism for funding the infrastructure improvements that accompany the project.

The CSD is ultimately financed by the people who buy homes in Mountain House. A CSD is the mechanism by which developers recoup their infrastructure investment.

Now, the above-mentioned ordinances require the other Mountain House landowners and merchant builders to pay fees and dedicate lands to the County, and they require the County to use such fees and land dedications to reimburse Trimark.  Thus far, everyone has complied with these ordinances.

Now, the greed part.

After having negotiated the terms of its reimbursements, Trimark has decided it wants to change the rules of the game in order to get its money back more quickly.

Trimark wants to bypass the CSD altogether. Instead of having the fees paid to the CSD, Trimark wants to be paid directly, the law be damned.

Naturally, the County and the Mountain House CSD exhibit reluctance to surrender to Trimakrs demands. After all, the original agreement is the standard mechanism for infrastructure all over the state.

Instead of explaining why they should be the exception to the rule, Trimark is threatening to sue the County and the other landowners if they do not acquiesce to Trimark's demands.
              
That’s not the end of it.

Trimark also wants Delta College to pay for infrastructure – even though there is no such requirement for Delta to do so.

The billionaire principals of Trimark want the taxpayers of San Joaquin County to hand over 4.95 acres of land, $10 million in infrastructure cost payments; and $127 thousand in Plan preparation fees.

And Trimark is threatening to sue if it doesn’t get it’s way.

In fact, the ordinances originally negotiated by Trimark state specifically that public entities – i.e. Delta College -- are not required to pay certain fees and/or make land dedications. 

On top of that, California Constitution prohibits community colleges from diverting funds from their educational mission to pay for broader community infrastructure. 

In other words, Trimark wants Delta College to disregard local ordinances and the state constitution so that Trimakr can incrementally increase their already massive financial returns from the Mountain House project.

Trimark is behaving more like a racketeer than a reputable landowner. It’s demands are tantamount to extortion. For those of us who defend the rights of property owners to develop their land in the face of bully tactics from NIMBYs, environmentalists and local government greed, Trimark’s behavior is embarrassing and shameful.

I’ve posted some links that include references to Trimark’s principals and their agents in this drama, specifically the Yah family, Bill Pope, SunChase Holdings and Sterling Pacific, relating to other investments.

http://members.cruzio.com/~bluejay/main.html http://members.cruzio.com/~bluejay/main.html  http://members.cruzio.com/~bluejay/main.html

And here’s a link to the December 3, 2005 Stockton Record story on this sad tale in which the clichéd villain of the greedy developer is, to my chagrin, is a reality rather than the product of liberal imaginations.

I ran across this story over the weekend in the Sac Bee. While I'm glad to see Rep. Pombo is looking into it, it seems someone from the California delegation is missing. Event without knowing all of the in's and out's of the Pineros, it's pretty clear that this is first a LABOR issue and that Rep. George Miller is the #1 democrat on the House committee that deals with labor issues. I have to ask, what (if anything) is HE doing about this problem?   more »