“It’s a continued direction towards no accountability…These are steps towards having a secret police.”

Jim Reeves, a former dispatcher for the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and longtime Visalia watchdog, spoke to the Valley Voice about the quiet expansion of surveillance and privacy-eroding technology inside our local police departments.

Twice in three years, the Visalia City Council has quietly agreed to reduce what residents can see or hear from their own police force.  In December 2022, the city spent $1.8 million on radios that encrypted police radios and scrambled transmissions, cutting off public scanners.

In October 2024, the Visalia City Council voted on $300,000 for a four-year contract with a company called Flock to install automated cameras that would read license plates across the city. Both times, the decisions arrived without a single question asked by the public.

Today, residents can no longer monitor city police traffic, and at least 22 Flock cameras are active or pending in Visalia, part of a larger patchwork of at least three separate Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) networks.

Like the encrypted police radios, Flock cameras have flown under the public’s radar, silently expanding across Tulare and Kings County.

Forty percent reduction in stolen vehicles

The Voice spoke with Visalia Police Chief Jason Salazar and Operations Support Division Captain Andrew Swarthout specifically about Flock cameras and the growing concerns from the public.

One of the concerns making headlines recently involves ALPR technology being prone to error and misreading license plates, leading to innocent civilians being jailed or detained at gunpoint. When asked if Visalia’s Flock cameras might make similar errors, Salazar said there have been no wrongful-stop incidents in Visalia tied to Flock. He said the more likely culprit for wrongful detainments elsewhere is human error.

“Probably what’s more likely to happen is somewhere along the way, there was a human error. Someone that put the data into the system, maybe put a number or a letter wrong in the plate so the wrong plate was entered.”

Salazar explained that alerts from Flock cameras are only one part of the investigative process. Officers aren’t authorized to move on a stop or arrest the moment an alert comes in. Human confirmation is required first.

“The Flock alert is really nothing more than an investigative lead. It says, ‘Hey, the camera detected a license plate that is wanted for whatever reason…’ They then run the license plate themselves, do their own investigation to make sure that the vehicle that they found is actually the vehicle that is wanted.”

Salazar and Swarthout described the system’s effectiveness by citing VPD’s own statistics. According to their data, 2025 saw a 39% reduction in stolen vehicles, which VPD attributes to the Flock cameras it began using in 2024.

“The number of stolen vehicles went way down, and we’re on pace to meet that so far in 2026, where we’ve made arrests in 40% of the stolen vehicle cases,” Salazar said

Wrongful stops aren’t the only concern on residents’ minds. There are also worries about Flock data being misused by law enforcement to stalk people, or accessed by federal agencies to aid in the deportation of undocumented immigrants.

On the question of misuse, Salazar and Swarthout said they run their own internal audit every week to catch it, and that Flock includes a feature that automatically flags suspicious search behavior for Salazar’s review. Officers, dispatchers, and staff must complete training before they’re granted access to Flock data, and every use is logged.

“Date, time, what it was that they were doing, what they searched, everything is tracked,” Salazar said.

When asked whether any agency outside California law enforcement such as ICE or Border Patrol has access to VPD’s Flock data, Salazar was direct:

“We do not share with any federal agencies,” he said. “And in fact, if you’re a law enforcement agency in California, you’re not even allowed to turn on the federal sharing tab in Flock.”

That inability to enable federal sharing is a feature built to prevent the kind of scandals and lawsuits that have already hit other California police departments, several of which have faced legal action or cut ties with Flock entirely after their data was found flowing to agencies outside the state.

California restricts use and sharing of data

Two distinct California laws govern how police departments can use automated license plate readers like Flock’s. The first, Senate Bill 34, codified at California Civil Code sections 1798.90.51 through .90.55, requires any agency operating an ALPR system to provide an opportunity for public comment before implementing the program, publicly post a written usage and privacy policy, and restrict data sharing to “public agencies” within California. It also gives Californians the right to sue if their license plate data is shared improperly.

The second, Senate Bill 54, California’s broader “sanctuary state” statute, codified in Government Code section 7284, restricts the use of state and local law enforcement resources for federal immigration enforcement.

How these two laws apply specifically to ALPR data was left to interpretation for years after they took effect between 2016 and 2018. That changed in October 2023, when the California Department of Justice, under Attorney General Rob Bonta, stated directly in a bulletin that California law enforcement cannot share ALPR data with federal or out-of-state agencies, and that every agency’s usage and privacy policy must be public and transparent.

Visalia Police Department appears compliant on multiple fronts. Salazar says VPD is technically incapable of sharing data outside California even if it wanted to; its usage and privacy policy is posted on the department’s website; and the agency provided an opportunity for public comment at the October 21, 2024 City Council meeting where the Flock contract was approved.

That last point deserves scrutiny. The Flock contract, listed as Item 24-0415 on the Consent Calendar, was one of eleven unrelated items bundled together and approved in a single motion. No presentation was given. No council discussion occurred. And not a single member of the public raised a question about it, perhaps because it was buried among everything else on the Consent Calendar that night.

A similar tactic was used when the Visalia City Council approved encrypting police radios. The encryption item was listed in the consent calendar and approved along with many other unrelated items in one motion.

Is the CHP’s accessing of Visalia’s data monitored?

If Visalia’s Flock camera system has a shadow auditor, it’s Jim Reeves.

Before he was writing about Flock cameras on his website, jimmiejoe.com, Reeves spent 25 years as a dispatcher for the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. Over the past several months, he’s used that experience to investigate VPD’s use of Flock data through public records requests.

He spoke to the Voice about the cameras’ rollout and was critical of how little transparency accompanied it.

“Flock makes a big thing in their press releases that these cameras were democratically approved, and that’s technically true. But most of it was consent calendar agendas that only the policy nerds really dig into,” he said.

Reeves’ skepticism isn’t limited to how Visalia approved buying Flock cameras in the first place, it extends to what’s happened with the cameras since. Through his own records requests, he obtained audit logs, and what he found puzzled him. The California Highway Patrol, he said, accessed Visalia’s camera data 42,000 times in a single 30-day period, compared to roughly 1,600 inquiries by VPD’s own officers in that same window.

“A CHP officer from Eureka [could be] checking Visalia with no expectation that the car he’s checking has ever been in Visalia. Why does he need to check Visalia’s data?”

The reports he received were also, in his view, disappointingly vague. VPD’s data listed the requesting agency and a reason for each inquiry — the same reason field Salazar referenced — but Reeves said most entries simply read “investigation.”

“It doesn’t say investigation of what,” he said. “Most of the inquiries are just fishing. It’s not investigation.”

He added that the audit itself isn’t public in real time. Records only surface after a public records request, and by then, the data is well out of date. “It’s very delayed,” he said. “So it’s not current data.”

According to Reeves, VPD has since removed the reason field from the public records it releases on Flock inquiries.

Reeves’ own records request, filed in April of this year, also requested any log of inquiries involving  his own license plate. State law generally gives departments 10 days to respond to a records request; it took VPD nearly three months to fulfill his. When the records finally came, his request for information tied to his own plate was denied, citing the department’s own privacy policy.

That experience points to a broader question about the department’s transparency. If records related to Flock cameras are opaque enough that a resident can’t see the reason behind an inquiry, or obtain information about searches involving his own license plate, how transparent is the department?

When asked about Salazar’s assurance that California agencies are structurally unable to enable Flock’s federal-data-sharing setting, Reeves was skeptical that a togglable software setting could reliably hold up against unlawful remote access.

“That can be changed remotely by Flock, whether intentionally or unintentionally,” he said, pointing to an incident at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in early 2025, when a “vendor error” reportedly re-enabled data sharing to agencies outside the state, leading to more than 364,000 outside queries before it was caught.

Reeves said he isn’t opposed to ALPR technology itself. What troubles him is who owns and controls the data it generates, which isn’t the VPD or any other local agency.

“It would be different if they were controlled by the local agency, where the data is stored locally, where only the agency has direct access to it,” he said. Leaving that data in the hands of a private company, he said, leaves it vulnerable to breaches and to side-door loopholes federal agencies can use to gain access.

He was also blunt about the broader pattern he sees playing out: “There have been many instances where police have abused the system,” he said. “There are insufficient checks.”

Asked how he felt about radio encryption in tandem with the Flock rollout, Reeves said neither, on its own, alarms him as much as the two together.

“Each one of these things by itself doesn’t seem like much,” he said. “But it’s just a creeping, step by step, into more intrusive monitoring of the public.” It’s a continued pattern, he said, of no accountability and the public kept in the dark about what’s happening in its own city. “These are steps towards having a secret police.”

Not Just Visalia

Visalia PD isn’t the only department in the region using Flock cameras. College of the Sequoias PD, Hanford PD, Dinuba PD, Woodlake PD, and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office all use the technology as well, though the Voice was not able to secure interviews with those agencies by publication.

Hanford Police Department is scheduled to present its own use of Flock technology at the city’s September 15 City Council meeting. Hanford’s Community Relations Manager Brian Johnson said the meeting is open to everyone and there will be opportunity for public comment.

The flock discussion will be during the study session portion of the meeting, which starts at 4 p.m.

The post Residents take notice of local Flock cameras as company attracts national attention appeared first on Valley Voice.

Aguirre’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.

In the summer of 1943, Aguirre was assigned to the 67th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), in Libya. On Aug. 16, he was the assistant radio operator aboard a B-24D Liberator bomber on a mission to San Nicola, Italy, near the city of Foggia. That morning, Aguirre’s bomber was one of 25 making an attack on the airfield there. After a successful run, the bombers were targeted by intense, accurate anti-aircraft fire. Aguirre’s bomber was one of nine to go down. With the area around San Nicola under enemy control, it was impossible for Allied forces to search for possible survivors. With no news of Aguirre’s survival and no record of him being captured, the War Department issued a presumptive finding of death on Aug. 17, 1944.

Beginning in 1946, the American Graves Registration Service, the organization tasked with recovering missing American service members in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, searched for Aguirre, his crewmates, and signs of their plane, but were unsuccessful in finding anything that could be identified as belonging to Aguirre or the plane. Aguirre was declared non-recoverable on Nov. 15, 1950.

In 2019, DPAA historians began researching five sets of unknown remains that had been recovered from the town of Lacedonia, Italy, about 30 miles south-southwest of San Nicola. They had been reported to British Graves Registration personnel in February 1945 and investigated by the AGRS in April 1945. During the investigation, no evidence could be found identifying the remains or the plane that had crashed. AGRS disinterred the remains in Lacedonia and reburied them at the U.S. Military Cemetery Naples. After much research, DPAA historians recommended the five Unknowns be disinterred for scientific comparison to Aguirre and his crew. In June 2022, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission disinterred the five Unknowns and transferred them to the DPAA laboratory for scientific analysis.

To identify Aguirre’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used nuclear single nucleotide polymorphism DNA analysis.

Aguirre’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Carthage American Cemetery, an ABMC site in Carthage, Tunisia, along with the others missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Aguirre will be buried on Sept. 18, 2026, in his hometown.

For family and funeral information, call the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

For additional information on the War Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa, https://www.linkedin.com/company/dodpaa, https://www.instagram.com/dodpaa/, or https://x.com/dodpaa.

Aguirre’s personnel profile can be viewed at: https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001EhN2dEAF.

The post Exeter airman accounted for from World War II appeared first on Valley Voice.

“Chief Salazar has led the Visalia Police Department with honor and integrity. We have been blessed by his leadership and his service to this community for over 30 years,” said Mayor Brett Taylor. “He is a great man who loves his family and the City of Visalia. We wish him well and thank him for his three decades of service.”

Born and raised in Porterville, California, Salazar is a graduate of Monache High School and attended the College of Sequoias before receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Mountain State University and his Master of Arts from Fresno Pacific University.

He began his career with the Visalia Police Department in October 1993 as a Community Services Officer, then promoted to the position of Police Officer in June 1996. Throughout his extended career, Salazar served in nearly every division and capacity of the Visalia Police Department before rising to the rank of Police Captain in January 2011. He was named Chief of Police for the Visalia Police Department in June 2015.

Committed to community, building connections and advancing policing in Visalia, and across the state, throughout the 30 plus years of his career, Salazar has served on several boards and committees. He served as the President of the California Police Chiefs Association from 2025 to 2026.

“It has been a true honor to have served this community as part of the Visalia Police Department for the past 33 years and the last 12 as the Chief,” shared Salazar. “I have had the privilege of working alongside some of the finest people I ever have known – both within this department and the Visalia community – doing work that has always had meaning and purpose, for a community that I love. I am incredibly proud of the men and women of the Visalia Police Department and the work they do every day and know that they stand poised and ready for the future.”

With the announcement of Chief Salazar’s retirement at the end of 2026, the City will begin a comprehensive process to select the department’s next leader.

The post Visalia Police Chief Jason Salazar announces his retirement appeared first on Valley Voice.

One, referred to here as Aria – her name has been changed for her privacy – alleges he sexually abused her starting when she was 15.

“Anyone who comes into contact with [Guerrero] will be damaged by him. He needs to be locked up,” Aria said.

On July 31, the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office confirmed it had received Guerrero’s case and assigned it to an attorney for potential prosecution.

“The case has come into our office and has been assigned an attorney,” a member of the DA’s office told the Valley Voice.

The DA’s office said it will conduct a preliminary review before the assigned attorney recommends whether to formally take on the case. No timeline was provided. The office said the process depends on the statutes of limitations involved and the complexity of the charges.

On August 6, a member of Guerrero’s family, who is choosing to remain anonymous, stated that Guerrero is no longer in Tulare and is currently residing in Mexicali, Mexico for his own safety.

On August 7, COS Marketing Director and Public Information Officer Lauren Fishback told the Voice the college has made “meaningful progress” regarding the allegations against Guerrero, but declined to comment on his enrollment status, citing FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects student privacy.

“The safety and wellbeing of our students is our top priority, and any allegations or reports are taken very seriously. COS encourages any allegations to be reported through the Tell a Giant process, which creates formal documentation and thorough review of any student or staff misconduct,” Fishback said.

“I Was 15 When This Happened”

Aria is among the latest to come forward with allegations against Guerrero. In 2012, Aria met Guerrero through Facebook: she had just completed middle school. Their friendship turned romantic when she entered her freshman year of high school. Guerrero was 18 at the time.

Aria alleges the abuse began almost immediately with controlling behavior around her physical appearance.

“I was anorexic and bulimic because of him,” she explained. “A majority of the time I remained around 90 lbs. It’s what he liked.”

The abuse only escalated from there.

Aria mentioned an instance when Guerrero allegedly stripped her naked and put his dog’s collar on her. She claims he then used a leash to drag her around the house and insult her, calling her “dirty” and a “whore”.

Aria also stated Guerrero threatened to take her outside so the neighbors could see her naked.

In another instance, Guerrero allegedly forced her to have sex with him and perform sexual acts on himself and others.

Aria described a particularly traumatic incident at a gathering at Guerrero’s home, during which she alleges Guerrero coerced her into a threesome with another adult.

“I was 15 when this happened,” Aria recalled. “He made me do things to her and pushed my head into her private parts and forced me to perform oral sex on her.”

Aria alleges Guerrero used drugs and alcohol to coerce individuals to perform sexual acts, an allegation similarly leveled by others.

Aria additionally claimed that once she became an adult, Guerrero attempted to convince her to initiate a threesome with a student at COS who was a minor at the time. Aria refused.

According to Aria, it was difficult to refuse Guerrero’s demands, because he controlled her social media, would monitor her online usage, and made attempts to isolate her from her friends and family. When she did manage to deny Guerrero, it would result in “consequences.”

Aria said she eventually ended the relationship in 2016.

When asked what made her come forward after all this time, she explained that people started reaching out to her after the “COS Predator” Reddit post gained local attention in June 2026.

Aria stated she attempted to make a formal report with the Tulare Police Department in June. She emailed a personal statement detailing the abuse while she was a minor and left a voicemail with the department. Aria says she never heard back from the Tulare PD.

“I never got justice,” Aria explained. “So even if I can’t get my own justice, maybe other people can.”

The ˆ was able to receive a copy of Aria’s original personal statement she sent to TPD. However, TPD could not be reached for comment by publication, so it is unclear if Aria’s testimony was included in the case handed over to the DA’s office last month.

The Ex-Wife: Guerrero’s Alleged Fantasies

Among the sources who have recently come forward is Guerrero’s ex-wife, who will be referred to as Emily to protect her identity. She claims Guerrero confessed to fantasizing about child rape and desecrating corpses at his workplace(s).

Emily began dating Guerrero in 2018 at the age of 18.

They eventually married in 2021 and relocated to Oregon, where Emily attended university. It was during this period, she said, that she witnessed a side of Guerrero that disturbed and frightened her.

“[Guerrero] told me he wanted to make enough money to go to other countries and rape other children,” Emily said.

Emily said she asked Guerrero how young he meant.

“As young as you can go,” she claims he replied.

On a separate occasion, Emily alleges Guerrero confessed to physically abusing bodies prior to cremation during his time working at a funeral home.

The Voice independently confirmed Guerrero’s employment in the funeral industry. According to his LinkedIn profile, Guerrero worked as a funeral home assistant at a local mortuary and a mortuary transport company between November 2017 and January 2018.

“[Guerrero] said he would brutally beat the bodies and then cremate the bodies because nobody would know,” Emily stated.

Emily also alleges that Guerrero would sexually assault her while she slept.

When she discovered this and attempted to establish a boundary, Guerrero responded by telling her he could “do whatever he wants” because they were together and she was “basically his property.”

An alleged disregard for consent within a relationship was shared by others who spoke to the Voice.

Aria, who was a minor during her relationship with Guerrero, described similar experiences, including waking to find Guerrero sexually assaulting her. Aria also recalled being made to sit in the back seat of his car, which she said Guerrero enforced based on his belief that was where women belonged.

Emily’s also claimed that Guerrero would attempt to coerce other women to participate in a threesome.

“He would try to push me to initiate sex,” Emily said. “And then when I didn’t because I didn’t want to he would go off on me.”

Emily also spoke about Guerrero’s violent tendencies, stating that Guerrero had violently thrown her on the bed on more than one occasion and cut her with a knife once.

“He’s a super dangerous person,” she said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to murder someone one day.”

Perhaps one of the more notable statements Emily made to the Voice is that she claimed Guerrero had discussed creating a cult and sexually assaulting minors – suggesting that the events that took place in the COS creative writing club in 2023 may have been pre-meditated.

Was There Really a Secret Cult?

“The cult wasn’t something that happened, there was no God we worshiped – nothing like that. It was something [Guerrero] had divulged a desire in wanting to begin.”

This is a statement by Samantha — her name has been changed in this article for privacy. She was one of the former members of the COS creative writing club while Guerrero was president in 2023.

According to Samantha, the alleged “cult” never existed. It was just a small circle of club members that Guerrero invited to his parents’ house to have drinks and partake in recreational drugs.

Samantha said she went to these hangouts at Guerrero’s around three or four times. While there weren’t any cult-like activities taking place at these events, Samantha did mention that Guerrero did have fascination with cults.

“He kept saying he wanted us to get tattoos of his sigil design like some sort of branding, he had called our group chat ‘the cult’. He would just generally talk a lot about cults.”

The “sigil design” Samantha referred to is believed to be Guerrero’s authors signature for his pseudonym Jay. H. Cults. According to multiple former club members, this is the sigil that Guerrero was attempting to push onto the club to symbolize his imagined cult.

While the cult may not have manifested for Guerrero, the manipulation and coercion of young students certainly did.

Samantha stated Guerrero lied about his age and that she witnessed him get drunk and attempted to isolate people in his bedroom.

“He would bring people to his room, unbeknownst to them on the basis of trying to hook up with them,” Samantha said. “I only put two and two together when my friends started coming out with what he had done.”

When asked what kind of people Guerrero seemed to target, Samantha said:

“Young alternative women and transgender people who were freshly in college desperately looking for friendship and a collective.”

Where is Cristobal Guerrero? What Happens Next?

According to a family member of Guerrero’s that is choosing to remain anonymous, Guerrero is no longer in Tulare County and is currently hiding in Mexicali, Mexico for his own safety.

This statement contradicts a statement made by Guerrero’s mother who claimed that her son was still residing in their home in Tulare.

Considering Guerrero’s case is now in the hands of an attorney and awaiting potential prosecution in Tulare County, Guerrero being in Mexico could complicate a potential prosecutorial process.

According to Assistant District Attorney Adam Clare, if charges are filed and the case moves forward while Guerrero is in Mexico, they would need to ask the United States Department of Justice to submit an extradition request to Mexico.

“The request would be reviewed by a Judge in Mexico who would rule on the extradition request. If extradition is granted, the defendant would be subject to arrest by Mexican law enforcement and would be transported to California upon their arrest,” Clare stated.

There is no set timeline for this process, but according to Clare, it could take several months or even longer, especially if Guerrero challenges the extradition in Mexican court.

For the time being, the DA office will do what’s called a preliminary review of Guerrero’s case. This involves a prosecutor reviewing the reports and any additional evidence provided. If there is enough evidence, the prosecutor files the appropriate charges, and it goes to court.

Anyone with information about Guerrero can file a report with their local police department. In addition, victims can contact Victim Services main phone number, 559-636-5471 for North County, and 559-701-2020 in South County, including the city of Tulare.

There are advocates available to assist whenever the District Attorney’s Office is open, even before a case has been filed.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, support is available 24 hours a day through RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or rainn.org. Crisis support is also available by texting HOME to 741741

The post Tulare County DA office looking into alleged “COS Predator”, women come forward with new allegations appeared first on Valley Voice.

Bringhurst will tell some of these stories from the book and sign copies during the Downtown First Friday Art Walk at the Brandon-Mitchell Gallery, 117 S. Locust, Visalia, at 6 p.m. on Aug. 7.

In September 2026, Visalia Junior College opened its doors to 63 incoming freshman on the Visalia High School campus (now Redwood). High school teachers taught the classes, and college life was much like high school. Bells announced the beginning and ending of classes, and students were given tardy slips if they were late.

The student body adopted the “Tartars” as their school mascot. Sports teams were quickly created along with music and theater programs.

Important in starting the college were two men whose names are now inscribed on Redwood’s auditorium: the L.J. Williams Theatre in the DeWitt Montgomery Auditorium.

But the high school campus was crowded, and Visalia Schools Superintendent Montgomery promised the college its own campus. High School and College Principal Williams found a remote 55-acre plot of land “far out in the country” on the Visalia-Tulare Highway (now Mooney Blvd.) He came under fire for selecting such a “large site so far outside of town.”

In September 1940 the new campus opened, with an administration/classroom building, gym and two industrial arts buildings designed in the “ultra-modern” Art Deco style.

In 1949, the student body chose a new name. Mineral King, Mount Whitney, Kaweah and Sequoia were considered. Students also chose a new mascot, the Giants, which represented the huge redwood trees in Sequoia National Park and the new college name, College of the Sequoias.

That year, Ivan Crookshanks, principal of Visalia High School, was chosen first president/superintendent/of the college, a job he held for a record 35 years.

The book goes on to record the turbulent 60s, unsettling changes in leadership, the addition of campuses in Hanford and Tulare, and many historic photos.

Bringhurst was a long-time history instructor at the college and has written many books, most about Mormonism. He also wrote “Visalia’s Fabulous Fox” about the history of the Visalia Fox Theatre, published when the theater was restored and reopened in 1999.

Those attending the talk can also view the art show on display by the Kings County Art League.

For more information, call the gallery, which is located in the Center for Spiritual Living, 559 625-2441 or go to www.brandonmitchellgallery.com/gallery

The post Celebrating COS’s 100th anniversary August 7 with book signing telling the college’s history appeared first on Valley Voice.

Planning Commission OK’s Changes at Mall Property

That possible pathway became more clear this week when the Visalia Planning Commission approved a change to parcel divisions at the 13.6-acre commercial property on the northwest corner of Mooney Boulevard and Caldwell Avenue. The move came at the request of the mall’s Tustin-based owners Paynter Realty and Investments, which is quietly pursuing the “de-malling” of the Sequoia Mall and has been since 2023, according to the online real estate marketplace Crexi.com.

While the commission approved Paynter’s request unanimously at its July 13 meeting, it was without knowledge of why the property owners asked for the changes or what they plan to do with the parcels. This is standard behavior for property development. All the city has to know is a plan complies with city standards.

“We wait and see like the rest of you,” said Josh Dan, senior city planner at Visalia City Hall. “Usually, they don’t like to disclose the type of business.”

The changes are a redrawing parcel of lines to redivide the western portion of the property into four portions. One of those is small, just 0.3 acres, has odd borders, and has Dan scratching his head.

“They have not alluded to what that may be in the future,” he said. “It’s a weird shape. I’m befuddled.”

Developers, Dan said, are often tight-lipped about their plans, seeking to protect deals in progress and to manage the public’s expectations. Despite City Hall’s being in the dark, Dan sees the changes as a sure sign of upcoming development at the Sequoia Mall.

“Whatever their plan for the future is, somehow these parcel lines make sense,” he said. “They’re setting up for their next steps.”

Payner Realty’s executive vice president Jim Sanders, however, gave the public a rare insight into the developers’ operations. He said the way the property has been reapportioned will let the company pay for rebuilding of the former location of Longs Drugs at the southwest corner of the property.

“We’re under construction with the drug store building to bring in Crunch Fitness,” he said. “With that, we wanted to get the parcels corrected so we could finance that parcel.”

It’s part of a long-term plan to turn the property into an open mall. Paynter abandoned the original enclosed design in 2023, and the interior portion of the mall was finally closed that year.

All the current tenets occupy outward facing storefronts, including the recent additions, like Saphora, Sprouts Farmers Market, Barnes and Noble, and Sketchers Warehouse Outlet. Payner is also rebranding the mall as it’s transformed. While many will always remember the property as the Sequoia Mall, officially it’s now the Boulevard at Sequoia.

The Rise, Fall and Rise of Sequoia Mall

The Sequoia Mall was once the favorite shopping location for many Visalians, and it drew a big customer base from surrounding communities, especially in the decade after it opened its doors in 1974. By 2013, when it was purchased by Paynter Realty, the property was listed as “distressed” by the commercial real estate tracker CoStar. The mall was a high-vacancy property – 60% empty storefronts – available at a price far lower than its assessed value. Its price tag was lower than the remaining mortgage on the property, a bargain-priced “short sale” in real estate jargon.

At the time of purchase, the county assessor’s office estimated the property’s value at $17 million. Tustin-based Paynter Realty paid just $10.7 million for the dead mall.

Only it wasn’t quite dead. Not yet. But it certainly was close.

Mervin’s Department Store, the main anchor store at the mall, went belly up in 2008, declaring bankruptcy and closing all its stores across the country, including in Visalia. An exit by Borders Books followed in 2011, with that company also declaring itself bankrupt. Along the way, classic mall shops like Kaybee Toys, Miller’s Outpost, Lerners and Orange Julius also shuttered their Visalia locations.

In 1998, the mall had changed hands for the first time, and it got its first and only interior renovation in 1999, perhaps too little and too late. The mall was sold again in 2003, with the new ownership paying $27.4 million for the property. It went on the market again four years later, and was purchased by the Schottenstein Property Group.

Schottenstein, too, held the property for four years, and during that period the vacancy rate continued to climb. In 2007, Schottenstein sold the mall to Kimco Realty Corporation with an asking price of $30 million. Kimco had little success. Apparently on the brink of foreclosure, the property went on the market again in 2013, getting the attention of Paynter Realty.

By the time Paynter Realty took possession, Sears Department Store was the last remaining major retailer from the mall’s glory days. In 1996, Mann Theaters had moved its Cinema I-II-III from the back of the mall’s parking lot to its interior and expanded to a six-screen complex inside the mall next to the Ross Department Store (another major anchor retailer that would eventually abandon the location). But the theater stayed, purchased by Signature Theaters in 2002 and by the Regal Entertainment Group in 2004, and expanded to 12 screens.

But the decline wasn’t quite over yet. Transformco, the owner of Sears and Kmart stores, was also in financial trouble by the late 2010s. Transformco eventually threw in the towel, selling 96 of its less viable retail locations, including those in Visalia. Liquidation of the Sears stock began in 2019, and by February, the store’s 80-year run in Visalia was over and done.

Fortunately, Paynter Realty saw the writing on the wall and purchased the Sears property, which was divided from the rest of the mall property, in 2018.

Where There’s Life, There’s Hope

Even through the period of its deepening decline, the mall was still attractive to certain retailers. In 2011, Hobby Lobby, despite ownership’s concerns about meeting California regulations, took over the former Mervin’s spot. It was the first location for the crafting goods store in the state, and, according to multiple online sources, the Visalia store broke company sales records.

There was also another major retailer still doing business at the mall, at least technically. In 1995, Marshall’s Department Store and Bed, Bath and Beyond opened in the Tower Plaza, an adjoining property integrated into the mall’s overall scheme and also owned by Paynter Realty. While Bed, Bath and Beyond has since shuttered, Marshall’s remains.

Marshall’s, Hobby Lobby and the Regal Cinema were the last three big boxes standing.

Yet Sanders said the company was still certain about the potential of the mall property and remains confident. But that doesn’t mean they’re ready to show their hand, though Sanders is definitely upbeat about the property’s future.

“I’m not trying to promote anything until it’s time to promote it,” he said. “There’s a lot of neat things to talk about in terms of what’s happened so far. The real estate has proven its worth. The first rule is ‘location, location, location,’ and it’s proven that with Sprouts and Borders.”

What’s Coming Next for Sequoia?

Now, 13 years after Paynter took ownership and three years after the decision to reorganize as the Boulevard at Sequoia, the once dead mall is rising back to its feet, and it could be that the revitalization is just getting into full swing. The addition of Sprouts in the former Sears space, the opening of a Barnes and Noble bookstore in the same storefront where Borders Books once operated, and the arrival of big brand names like Nordstrom’s and Sketchers all seem to herald better days ahead.

But Sanders still won’t say what other plans might be in the works.

“What you see is what we’re doing,” he said. “It’s a real success story, and now we’re bringing Crunch Fitness. And now Sierra TGX. This is only their second location in California.”

Sierra offers a wide variety of outdoor and sporting goods at what it promises are lower prices than other outlets offer. Sanders describes it as “a discount version of REI or one of those outdoor sporting goods companies.”

“They have not done a ton of marketing there,” he said. “It’s fully open and worth a visit.”

The sales pitch for the Boulevard at Sequoia listed by Crexi promises new building construction and a “state-of-the-art cinema” to come in the near future. What other retailers and changes the future holds not even the people at Paynter Realty know for sure.

“Everyone I talk to says that it was the mall. We’re trying to figure it out,” Sanders said. “It’s a strong intersection for the trade area.”

The company, he said, has an affinity for the area and is fully committed to the ongoing project.

“We love Visalia and really care about the community,” Sanders said.

And he let slip one more secret. There is no plan yet for the small, oddly shaped parcel next to the Shady Lane entrance and in front of the future home of Crunch Fitness.

“It’s for a drive-thru,” Sanders said. “We aren’t planning anything right now. It’s just for the future so we’re ready to roll if something comes along.”

The post Visalia’s shopping mall that wouldn’t die appeared first on Valley Voice.

The fee and rate schedule changes for all city departments were approved by the City Council on June 15. The majority of the adjusted fees went into effect on July 1.

Yearly Fee Changes Avoid Sticker Shock

City fees are adjusted annually to keep them in line with regulations set by other agencies, when contractors change the rate they charge City Hall or to match the city’s actual cost of providing a service. Not all fees and rates increased this year, and some were removed because of redundancy or just weren’t needed anymore.

By adjusting fees and rates on a yearly cycle, City Hall avoids hitting the public with big changes in the cost of doing business.

“When you’re jumping it up 30%, people are shocked or awed or angry,” said Mayor Brett Taylor. “When we’re increasing every year, then it’s a lot easier to swallow.”

Monitoring what the city charges for its various services is not a small task.

“We have nearly 1,600 fees,” said city financial analyst Jana Ferguson.

Those fees cover every service the city provides, from renting trash dumpsters to issuing housing permits to overnight airplane parking. The majority of the rates saw only small changes matching inflation.

Group Rental Fees Increased at Senior Center

The only large increase approved on the new rate sheet is the added cost non-residents will have to pay at the Parks and Recreation Department.

Beginning on August 10, out-of-towners will pay an additional 25% more than those who live within the city limits. The cost increase will not apply to children enrolled in programs funded partially by the Visalia Unified School District.

“This would apply across all Parks and Recreation fees,” Ferguson said.”Picnic areas and indoor facilities rentals, the rental of athletic fields or courts, the lights and concession stands, and then special permits and staff fees that are required for those facilities.”

By delaying the increase, the upward adjustment will match the upcoming fall enrollment in group sports. Identifying out-of-town players will be added work for parks and rec staff, but they make up a large portion of participants.

“It’s generally around 10%,” said parks and rec director Jason Glick. “For new registrants, we’ll ask for their place of residence. It will take some work. We’re not going to hide from that.”

Parks and Recreation also asked for and got an increase in the per-person fee it charges for rental of space inside the city’s four community centers. The city currently adds a $0.35 per person charge when renting out space for events. It’s going up to $0.50 a person.

The increases affect rentals at the Anthony Community Center, the Manuel F Hernandez Center, the city-owned facility at Whitendale Park and at the Senior Center. The centers have spaces for groups as small as 15 people, or as many as 200.

Some Changes Outpace Cost Increase

A small few of the fees City Hall charges bring the city into line with either regulation or industry practice, and the increases more than match an increased cost of living.

The hourly equipment fee for charged firetrucks used during responses due illegal activities, negligence or carelessness will go up a few percent to match the increased rates allowed by FEMA. The cost of overnight aircraft parking at the municipal airport is rising from $12 to $15 to “match industry standards.” And the fee for replacing damaged city-owned waste cans and bins is also going up to match the actual cost to the city.

At the Visalia Convention Center, the fee for maintenance and custodial services during events is going up $1 per hour to $28 ($41 for overtime and holidays). The cost of Internet service is rising slightly, up $2 to $70, and, finally, a change in wording is intended to end confusion about what is included (or not) when renting tables.

“In order for customers to be able to clearly identify that a table rental does not include the tablecloth or any type of linen or skirt, they wanted to add the word ‘bare,’” Ferguson said. “Those are obviously available at an additional cost.”

Also, in a boon for those who are hard on equipment, the cost to replace a damaged or burnt city-owned dumpster is being adjusted to match the city’s cost to replace it. Some of those replacement costs have dropped, meaning a financial break for those unfortunate enough to somehow destroy a reinforced steel bin.

The cost of some city services – like grading permit fees or home occupation permits – will go up to match the city’s labor costs. Some fees at the Visalia Police Department, such as processing fix-it tickets, are going up to match a rise in officers’ salaries.

The post Visalia hikes parks & rec fees 25% for out-of-towners appeared first on Valley Voice.

The spending plan includes a $110.4 million allocation for the general fund in its first year, and $110.8 for the general fund during the second year. The city’s Finance Department expects a combined surplus of about $7.8 million in the general fund when the books close at the end of June 2028.

City Leaders Declare City Coffers Strong

In presenting the proposed biannual budget, the city’s financial staff promised more of the fiscal stability that’s been the hallmark of City Hall’s approach to budgeting in recent decades.

“Overall, the city is in good financial shape,” said city financial analyst Jana Ferguson. “Revenues are up in all categories and are projected to continue. Development continues throughout Visalia. Departments are controlling expenses.”

The biannual budget includes spending for all the separate spending accounts maintained by the city: the General Fund, as well as various special revenue funds, capital funds, enterprise funds and internal service funds.

“The largest category is the business-type funds at 41% (of the entire budget), and that consists of 14 funds,” Ferguson said. Business-type funds include money earmarked for wastewater treatment, airport maintenance and solid waste disposal. “And the next one is our general fund at 27%. That’s our largest fund that we have.”

Planned spending for the next two years includes investments in our city infrastructure, including maintenance and replacement projects, she said, and the general fund has a healthy reserve balance. Both upcoming budget years are projected to end with a surplus: $2.6 million in 2026-27, and $5.6 million in 2027-28.

Reserve Cash, Low Debt Keep Visalia Solid

The city has reserves worth $27.4 million as the current fiscal year (July 2025 to June 2026) comes to a close. That nest egg should increase to $29.6 million in 2026-27, and climb to $30.6 million during the 2027-28 budget year. City policy requires a cash reserve equal to 30% of the general fund budget, and Mayor Brett Taylor said the city is within “several hundred thousand dollars” of meeting that goal.

Keeping the city ready to handle economic downturns with a large reserve fund, combined with saving for big projects to avoid borrowing, has given Visalia a solid financial footing most cities don’t have, Taylor said.

“Financially, our city is doing really, really well,” he said. “So many other cities are looking at ‘Which employees are we letting off?’ We’re looking at some of our school districts letting go of some employees. Visalia is in a strong position because we spend within our means.”

The city is almost nearly debt-free compared to most municipalities. Since Visalia has avoided borrowing to fund capital projects, like large construction projects, it has only $4.9 million in debt at the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year. The debt should be completely off the books by the end of the 2028-29 fiscal year.

Currently, repaying outstanding loans accounts for less than 1% of city spending.

“Any other city of our size or of any decent size, they’re putting out millions and millions of dollars a year in debt,” Taylor said. “And we don’t live off that, so we’re not having to pay off that debt, which is huge.”

The city’s low debt service and its large reserve keep Visalia in a unique position among California’s cities.

“No other city is in that position,” Taylor said. “That really speaks volumes about our community and what we do.”

City Manages Expectations in Budgeting

Caution and precaution have been key to the city’s financial wellbeing, according to finance director Renee Nagel. Her department’s policy is to avoid being overenthusiastic when predicting the city’s incomes and pessimistic about expenses.

“We’re conservative with our revenues, and we’re overly conservative with our expenditures,” she said. “We do that for several reasons. For the revenue side, we always hope that they will come in higher. If the economy starts to turn, we would have some wiggle room there because we weren’t overshooting it. You never know. The slightest economic change, it could be foreign or domestic changes, or a policy that can affect your revenues.”

Council member Brian Poochigian credits the wisdom of past elected city leaders for setting the stage for Visalia’s ongoing strong financial footing.

“Previous councils should be applauded for this,” he said. “We are in such a good financial state and very stable compared to a lot of other cities because of the conservative nature of what the (finance department) does and the long-term planning, that if something really bad happened, the residents could rest easy because we’re covered because we’ve been saving for years in case of emergency.”

An example of how this thinking has benefited the city shows up in the difference between the 2026-27 budget and the lower 2027-28 budget, which is $50 million smaller.

“Those large differences, those are heavier in capital projects for the first year of the budget,” said Ferguson. “So they have more projects and more money being appropriated for those capital projects in the first year of the budget.”

The money for those projects, including construction of Fire Station 51 and the expansion of the wastewater treatment system, was banked during previous budget cycles. And the projects and the payouts are happening now.

The city has a six-year capital improvements plan in place, but so far funding for only the first two years of projects is secure. The entire six-year list of capital projects is included in the 500-plus-page electronic copy of the city budget available at the city’s website:

http://www.visalia.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3095/Proposed-2026-27–2027-28-Budget-Document-PDF

“In that six-year capital plan were the first two years of proposed projects,” said Nagel. “Some of those were projects (with) continuing phases that we’ve started, and then some of them are starting new projects, with the heavy lifting being maybe in the first year.”

City Hall Now Hiring

City Hall plans to add 21 new full-time personnel over the next 12 months under the new budget. Most will be new police officers. The parks and recreation, finance and public works departments will also see new hires.

“(Adding) these 21 positions brings our full (count of) full-time allocated positions to 722 for fiscal year ‘27/’28,” said city finance and technology director Negal. “At any given time, the city, which includes full-time and hourly, on average we have about 950 employees.”

The single largest fund in the city budget is the General Fund, which receives 27% of the entire allotment in 2026-27 and 31% in 2027-28. The General Fund will spend $110.4 million in 2026-27, and another $110.8 million in 2027-28, and most of that cash will cover labor costs.

The largest expenditure from the general fund covers salaries and benefits for staff. It makes up 76% of total spending. In 2026-27, the city will shell out $84 million on labor. That’s an increase of 8% from the previous budget, and that mainly covers hiring more staff. But it also covers a 4% wage adjustment for current staff members. The cost of labor should increase another 4% in 2027-28, rising to around $87.5 million, depending on how wages adjust.

General Fund Spending, Income Expected to Rise

General Fund spending will increase by 7% in 2026-27, and by 3% in 2027-28 under the current budget.

Ninety percent of the General Fund comes from taxes. Sales tax is the largest source, making up 44% of the General Fund money. Property tax supplies 19% of the General Fund, a state scheme that uses property tax money to replace lost vehicle licensing fees makes up another 16%, and the rest of the General Fund money comes from franchise taxes, transit taxes, business license taxes and other sources.

City staff is predicting a 2-3% for all six tax revenue sources during the next two years. During the last 20 years, sales tax income in Visalia has increased by 3.9% on average, with a 5.5% average increase in the last 15 years. It increased 3.5% in 2025-26; and 2.5% increases are projected for 2026-27 and 2027-28.

But, of course, the budget is only a very thorough plan. Expenditures and revenues can change unexpectedly, but the city has prepared as well as it can for any financial surprises.

“We try to plan for everything, but things do come up throughout the year or two years,” Nagel said. “You try to plan for every foreseeable future, but you just never know what’s going to happen.”

The post ‘Conservative’ budget for Visalia promises surpluses, security appeared first on Valley Voice.

• Man of the Year: Mark Perry
• Woman of the Year: Merritt Wiseman
• Nonprofit of the Year: The Source LGBT+ Center
• Small Business of the Year: Pacific Employers
• Medium Business of the Year: The Naxon Group
• Large Business Finalists: Visalia Ceramic Tile, Inc.

The post Visalia Chamber honors community leaders and businesses at 71st annual awards appeared first on Valley Voice.

“We’ve released our highly anticipated summer Live & Play Activity Guide, packed with events, classes, and programs and activities start this week,” shares Laurissa Roggenkamp, Recreation Manager. “School is out and summer fun in Visalia is just getting started.”

From interactive youth camps and swim lessons to adult sports leagues and community-wide special events like the Independence Day Spectacular on July 3, this season’s guide serves as a comprehensive roadmap to an active, engaging, and memorable summer.

“Whether you’re looking to learn a new skill, keep the kids active while school is out, or just connect with your neighbors at our community events, our team has put together an incredible schedule,” adds Roggenkamp.

Highlights of the 2026 Summer Lineup Include:

• Aquatics and Swim Lessons: Dive into the season with public swim sessions, swim lessons for all age groups, and aquatic fitness classes to stay cool.
• Youth Camps and Teen Enrichment: Keep young minds and bodies active with multi-sport camps, creative arts, and STEM-focused summer programs.
• Adult Sports and Fitness: Stay competitive and healthy with adult leagues, fitness, and dance classes.
• Community Events: Find favorites like the Juneteenth celebration, Summer Night Lights, and the highly anticipated Independence Day Spectacular on July 3 at Riverway Sports Park.

The digital version of the Summer Activity Guide is officially live and accessible on the City’s newly redesigned website at www.visalia.gov/LivePlay. Visitors can browse programs and classes and complete their registration online.

Physical copies of the Summer Live & Play guide are also available at city facilities, including the Visalia Senior Center, the Anthony Community Center, and the City of Visalia Administration Office. For more information regarding registration, programming, or accommodations, please visit www.visalia.gov or contact the Parks and Recreation Department at (559) 713-4535 or recreation@visalia.gov.

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The post Summer Fun in Visalia Starts Now appeared first on Valley Voice.