It’s back by popular demand after a nearly three year hiatus! Please join us for a lively discussion about the November election at our third Ballots and Brews, tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. at Tioga Sequoia. Register here now!
Good morning! Dani Bergstrom, policy editor here.
We have been working hard on our fall voter guide over here at Fresnoland, which we can’t wait to share with you later this week. Our guide will have everything you need to know about local candidates and ballot measures.
Ballots are out – but it’s not too late to register to vote! Click here to check your status.
The year-long battle over an industrial rezone in southwest Fresno is over (for now): on Thursday, the Fresno City Council approved a rezone that would allow industrial uses – including a recycling facility and a pharmaceutical distribution center – near Elm and Annadale Avenues in southwest Fresno to remain operating in perpetuity. The site was zoned for neighborhood mixed-use – after residents won a battle in 2017 to transition many industrial sites in the residential area through the Southwest Specific Plan.
What the council ultimately approved was a compromise proposed by Councilmember Arias that rezoned 25% of the whole site in question and added an industrial overlay.
Fresno leaders once again rebuffed Attorney General Rob Bonta: the AG sent a letter late Wednesday asking councilmembers to reconsider the rezone, considering the fact that the neighborhood is one of the state’s most polluted and economically disadvantaged census tracts in the state. It was the third time this year that the Attorney General has intervened on land use and environmental justice issues in Fresno County.
Community members are not pleased: “This is an age-old story –influential people buying land in the poorest areas of our cities, and then building businesses that help them maintain their rich lifestyles,” said Booker T. Lewis, senior pastor of the Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church in southwest Fresno.
And there was a second industrial rezone approved in southwest Fresno on Thursday: this rezone, on West and Church Avenues in southwest, allows Busseto Foods – a big manufacturer of salami and other processed meats – to expand and consolidate their operations in the city. Community members were more divided on this proposal – Robert Mitchell, a staunch opponent of the Elm/Annadale rezone, was supportive of this one, as he didn’t see residential development ever happening in the area.
The plan to rename Squaw Valley hits a bump: the Fresno County town, named after a slur for indigenous women, has become central in the fight between state, federal, and local officials.
Another groundwater plan gets rejected: as our friends at SJV Water report, the state rejected the groundwater plan that covers most of Kings County, sending the feud between the Boswell and Vidovich agricultural empires to a new level.
“We’re all gonna pay the price for this,” said Doug Verboon, Kings County Supervisor and farmer. “It’s like being in a classroom, you got two kids that are the class clowns, disrupting the whole class, and you all pay the price.”
Why you should care: the area in dispute is the former lake bed of the Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River and formerly, home to many wildlife species, birds, and wetlands, until industrial farming diverted the many rivers of the San Joaquin Valley away from the area. The ground is sinking rapidly due to over-pumping of the aquifer. Many smaller farmers rely on the aquifer to keep their farms running. Context, from the Mercury News, here.
Kettleman City gets Mojave water, thanks to federal pandemic relief funds: The Kings County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay the Mojave Water District $1,400 per acre foot to keep water flowing in Kettleman City, which historically had relied on the State Water Project to make sure the taps keep running. The $105,000 contract for 75 acre-feet is coming from the county’s slice of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.
They’re not the only valley city paying a high price to keep the taps flowing: Avenal, Huron, and Coalinga – all of whom got a fraction of their water allocations from the Central Valley Project – are searching for ways to keep their water supplies afloat, reports Jesse Vad for SJV Water.
Some San Joaquin Valley towns pay hefty price to keep taps flowing
Looking for a new job? This California program will pay women to work in construction
City Council rezones 25% of 92.5 acres of disputed land to industrial, asks city planner to find solution for the rest
City Council approves location of Busseto food plant in southwest Fresno
Will Councilman Arias’ plan for a rezoning compromise save the day? Both sides say no
California county defies Biden and Newsom administrations on move to rename Squaw Valley
