Incumbent Carlton Jones is defending his District 3 seat against Phil Smith, a local commercial credit manager. Carlton Jones’ first foray into politics came as working for the Tulare Fire Department. He was president of the firemen’s union and led labor negotiations. After he was hired by the Fresno Fire Department he missed working with […]
The Visalia City Council Candidates and Visalia Unified School District (VUSD) candidates had an opportunity to outline their platforms September 29 at the Visalia Veterans Memorial Building. Each candidate had the chance to explain their goals and then answer questions posed by moderator Paul Hurley. The forum was sponsored by the American Association of University […]
Incumbent Craig Vejvoda is facing three challengers for Tulare City Council District 5: Suzanna Aguilera-Marrero, Margee Fallert, and Greg Nunley. According to the challengers, the biggest issue facing Vejvoda’s 12-year incumbency is the lack of residential and commercial development. Fallert and Nunley both expressed a deep dissatisfaction with rate of development in Tulare. Vejvoda’s philosophy […]
Tulare residents will have a difficult time choosing between the qualified and experienced candidates running to represent District 1. Tulare City Councilmember Shea Gowin will be defending her District 1 seat against Jose Sigala, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representative. As an active member of the Tulare Chamber of Commerce, Gowin heard its call to […]
I Never Knew Plastic Bags Could Be So Confusing I got several comments about last issue’s Political Fix. One concerned “Custer’s Last Stand,” where I stated “no Republican has held statewide office in 10 years.” Cheyne Strawn of Tulare called to say that it’s only been five years since a Republican has held office in […]
Water’s about to get more expensive in Visalia. The Visalia City Council voted to approve water rate increases at starting with a less than 1% raise in January of 2017, a 2.5% raise in 2018 and an additional 2.5% hike in 2019. City documents, formed from a 350-page agreement between the city and Cal Water, […]
Tulare County supervisors have approved their own raises, increasing their salaries by 4.25% and an additional 2% cost of living increase. Their yearly salary increased from $101,776 to $108,224. In accordance with County Ordinance, the TCBOS receives an increase in salary when the four elected county officials receive a similar increase. The four elected officials […]
Custer’s Last Stand During the last century the United States experienced some major historical changes. Such as when the South went from being Democratic to Republican after President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A similar change happened when the military repealed the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in 2010. The Religious Right […]
It was standing room only during Congressman Devin Nunes’ Water Forum August 31 at the International Agri-Center. More than 400 people sat at attention while Nunes outlined a grim future for agriculture if Central Valley legislators don’t act together to change federal laws affecting the California water conveyance system. Nunes told the crowd on several […]
For the second year in a row, Tulare County’s budget is over $1 billion. County Administrative Officer Michael Spata presented his recommended budget overview for fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017 at the September 13 Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting. The BOS will continue the public hearing on the budget to the September 20 meeting ,when they […]