No increased parking fines; Modestans can't afford them.

Last night I spoke in opposition to increased parking fines at the Modesto City Council meeting. I stated that the per capita income in Modesto is much less than that of other California cities of comparable populations in the Bay Area and Southern California. Under the measure approved by the City Council last night, the cost of an overtime parking fine will increase by $20.00, from $33.00 to $53.00. All other City parking fines will undergo similar increases.

Modestans cannot afford increased parking fines

As I see it, the People of Modesto cannot afford to pay markedly increased parking fines. The per capita income in Modesto is only $24,957! In Sacramento, which is one of the "comparable cities" referenced by City Staff as having higher parking fines, the per capita income is $67,902! In San Bernadino, another referenced city, the per capita income is $60,420. And in San Francisco, yet another referenced city, the per capita income is $55,567. 

Mayor Brandvold agreed that I made a good point about the per capita income in Modesto not being commensurate with that of the referenced, "comparable cities." The Mayor also stated that he was opposed to this increase until he is presented with a complete plan showing what needs the increased fines will be meeting and how the additional revenue will be used. 

                                 The purpose of parking fines

I also stated that fines are intended to encourage people to comply with the law, not to generate revenue for the City.  My comment was in response to a statement by Council member Jenny Kenoyer that the increased parking fines will help offset a $6 million shortfall in the City's current parking revenue and pay for updates to the City's parking garages. All that is well and good, but that is not the purpose of parking fines. If anything, the increased revenue should be used to set up programs aimed at parking violation diversion and education, not for parking garages. 

                                  Blaming the Modesto Police

The City Staff presented several charts and graphs that showed that revenue from parking fines went down in 2017 and 2018. The City Staff blamed the Modesto Police for those shortfalls, stating that they were due to lax enforcement because, as they stated, the Modesto Police had "other priorities." I asked the City Staff if they had considered that perhaps the People of Modesto complied with the law in those two years better than in other years. I asked them if they had proof that the fine shortfalls in 2017 and 2018 emanated from lax enforcement rather than increased compliance with the parking laws. The City Staff did not answer me.

                                    The toast of the town

As I see it, last night's Toast of the Town goes to Mayor Ted Brandvold. He realized that the People of Modesto cannot afford increased parking fines. He realized that he is there to represent the People of Modesto, not the City budget. He realized that he is not a bookkeeper or an accountant, but that he is a representative of the People and a leader. And last night he exemplified leadership in its finest sense.

Sebastian Jones: Name Modesto's Next Elementary School After MLK

Local Modesto political activist Sebastian Jones is calling upon the Modesto City Schools to name its next elementary school after the late civil rights activist the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Jones, who is a Board member of Modesto's King-Kennedy Center, has been an activist for social justice all of his adult life. He regularly advocates for innocent victims of predatory landlords on the verge of homelessness before the City Council and various urban commissions that deal with landlord/tenant relations. Jones' application to serve on the Board of Building Appeals is being reconsidered after it originally was rejected by Council members Mani Grewal, Jenny Kenoyer, Bill Zoslocki and Ed Ridenour.

So Long Overdue

 

As Jones sees it, the naming of an elementary school after Dr. King is long, long overdue in Modesto. A city of over 200,000 people, like Modesto, Jones says, should project an interface of ethnic diversity. Such an interface, according to Jones, is not possible without the inclusion of an elementary school that is dedicated to the memory of the one civil rights leader who dedicated his life to bringing people of all ethnic backgrounds together peacefully and judging people by "the content of their character, not by the color of their skin."

Why an Elementary School

 

The question arises: Why is Jones calling for naming an elementary school after Dr. King, and not a junior high or high school? The answer is quite simple: The elementary years are the formative years and the impressions made during those years run the deepest. It is during those formative years that children will be the most responsive to instruction on who Dr. King was and the values that he represented. Also, it is during the elementary years that children best can be molded to accept each other for who they are and not on the basis of race.

Sebastian won't quit

 

Sebastian won't quit in his tireless fight to see to it that Modesto's next elementary school is named after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. He is a relentless fighter and he believes in the causes for which he advocates. And this is one cause in which he totally believes!

A colleague's hurtful comments over the JFK assassination: The pain continues

As most of you know, I rarely talk about President Kennedy's assassination. It totally traumatized me as a young boy of nine. I must share this now: This was the singly most traumatic event of my childhood, even more traumatic than when I was very ill as a kid, or when I was in an emergency landing of a fiery airliner at age twelve. 

My internal trauma

 

I was totally traumatized and horrified over the JFK assassination. I was glued to the television for 4 days straight. I cried and pounded the floor repeatedly. I was in as much of a grieving state as possible for a little boy anywhere in America. 

Suddenly this man, who was only a little older than my father and who had given me so much hope, had been murdered by a madman in a city called Dallas and in a state called Texas that was southeast of my home state of California.

A colleague's hurtful comment

Years later I was siting in the faculty room at the school where I was an educator. A woman who was at least 12 years older than me started talking about the assassination of President Kennedy. She mentioned that she was in college at the time. I stated that I was in fourth grade at the time and that I was very adversely affected and traumatized by the event. She very cruelly stated: "Oh no Kevin. You don't remember that. You were too young at that time."

I do remember

 

To my colleague who knows who she is but who will remain nameless: I DO remember the assassination of President Kennedy and I was totally traumatized and mortified by this event. Not only do I remember this horrible event, but I lived through it and I will never forget! I stayed up all night for four nights. I saw tens of thousands of people pass by the President's casket in the Capitol Rotunda. I saw the First Lady and daughter Caroline kneel at the coffin. I saw Caroline step back to get John-John to bring him to the coffin as well. I saw Oswald get shot live by Jack Ruby. I watched every single second of the President's funeral. I saw Mrs. Kennedy walking with her blood stained dress. I saw John-John salute his father's horse drawn caisson as it went by and I saw it live! And I cried. And I cried. And I cried until there was nothing left for me to do but to keep crying, and then cry even more.

And the pain continues to this day and it will never end, not ever!

Never underestimate the trauma of major events on children. Never.

How dare you!

 

Don't ever tell me what I do or do not remember about a tragedy in my childhood. To my former colleague: How dare you ever judge what does or does not affect me, or what I remember from my childhood. How DARE YOU!! John F. Kennedy was the singly most inspirational and hopeful leader of my lifetime. Colleague: You will never take that away from me! Worry about your own memory. If it is as lacking as your compassion for others, there is nothing there!!

The downfall of impeachment: Trump's base will mobilize; Dems face an uphill battle; Impeach anyway

Some respondents to my articles have suggested that after Donald Trump either resigns or is removed from office by the Senate, that Nancy Pelosi should go after Pence and force him out of office. Perhaps so but that will not happen. I can 100% assure you that if Trump leaves office early for whatever reason, that Nancy will not pursue this matter any further. She will let it go after Trump leaves office. I know how she operates. After she scores a major victory, she does not gloat and she moves on. 

 

Senate won't remove

 

Move on. That is exactly what Nancy Pelosi will do if we manage to get Trump out before his term is over. However. we all know that the Senate will not vote to remove Trump. The votes simply are not there. He will be impeached and that is as far as it will go. 

Trump will be the 2020 GOP Nominee 

 

Unfortunately, Trump will be the GOP nominee again and the impeachment will infuriate his base to no end. And he will be able to raise a lot more money than he would have been able to raise had he not been impeached. 

Democrats are in deep trouble 

 

The failed impeachment is going to make the 2020 Presidential race a lot harder for the Democrats than it would have been otherwise. We had D... well nominate someone who can win and who will win because this is going to be the toughest Presidential race in history for the Democrats. I am sorry to say it but it is the sober truth. We are up against a very steep incline and we are climbing it with only 2 cylinders and no All Wheel Drive. We are in trouble for 2020, deep, deep trouble. 

Impeachment must be done nevertheless

 

Despite the fact the impeachment effort will fail and that Trump will be one formidable GOP nominee in 2020, the Democratic House of Representatives still must impeach Trump. The evidence that Trump abused power, solicited a bribe, committed obstruction of justice and lied to Congress is overwhelming and totally convincing and irrefutable. Therefore, it is the incumbent responsibility of the House to pursue this matter and to vote to impeach Donald Trump for "High crimes and misdemeanors."  

Evidence at hand

The decision of the House to impeach or not impeach needs to be based on the evidence at hand, not the predetermined outcome of the impeachment, which will be acquittal by the Senate and a very tough Presidential race for the Democrats in 2020, no matter who the Democratic nominee turns out to be. 

Sometimes you have to stand for what is right no matter the projected outcome of your actions. This is one of those times. Impeach Trump anyway!

Assemblyman Adam Gray supports UC Med Center campus for Fresno; not sure of what to do for Modesto.

I attended a meeting of the Latino Democrats of Stanislaus County on Thursday, September 26, 2019. I got a chance to talk to Assemblyman Adam Gray, (D). Gray was saying that he is working on establishing a U.C. Med Center extension of UCSF Medical Center in Fresno to provide UC medical services to the Valley. I asked him why he is not working on establishing it in Modesto since it is closer to the Bay Area and it is in the center of the Valley and of California. He stated that he is seeking to establish it in Fresno because the infrastructure for such a campus already exists in Fresno. 

100 miles from Modesto

I pointed out that the UC Med Center in Fresno still would be 100 miles from Modesto as is the one in San Francisco (actually we are only 90 miles from San Francisco, 100 miles from Fresno). He nodded his head, "Yes." He did not offer any suggestions about this dichotomy, but did acknowledge that this is a problem: Although the UC Med Center in Fresno would provide UC professional quality services to the Valley, it would do little or nothing for Modesto. Modestans would have a choice of driving 90 miles west to UCSF in San Francisco or 100 miles south to UCSF Fresno. As I recently discovered on a trip to Fresno during commute hours, Fresno also has commute issues and metered lanes and traffic jams, just like the Bay Area does.

 

What to do for Modesto

I then asked him what he plans to do for Modesto itself because it always ends up being the "lost stepchild" when it comes to services and special, innovative facilities, such as a UC Med Center. He then asked me to tell him if I have any ideas for Modesto. He did indicate that he had been instrumental in securing the ACE Train for Valley commuters to the Bay Area. Assemblyman Gray is to be commended for his efforts towards this end. 

Modesto the medical mecca

As I see it, Modesto can be quite a spectacular medical mecca for Central California. Modesto already has the Valley Children's Center which opened just a few months ago. It also has a state of the art Kaiser Hospital, Memorial Hospital with a Cancer Center, Doctors Hospital with a Cardiac Center, a Veterans' Clinic, a Same Day Surgical Center, and a new Alzheimer's Hospital. 

With all of those things going for it already, it seems to me that Modesto is the perfect site for a UC Med Center campus. It is in the center of both California and the Valley and is close to the Bay Area. Fresno may have the infrastructure for a UC Med Center campus; but Modesto has the town, the proximity and the ambiance to be a medical mecca that includes a UC Med Center. 

As Sacramento sees it

The fact remains that no matter how much Modesto has going for it, and no matter how much we aspire to build a great future for Modesto, Modesto's future depends largely on how Sacramento envisions it. That is why we must talk with our local Valley Assembly members like Adam Gray and Heath Flora. Let them know what you're thinking. They can't represent you if you don't let them know how you feel about the issues. Assemblyman Gray can be contacted at: (209) 726-5465. Heath Flora can be contacted at: (209)-599-2112. Go Modesto!

Eliminate the salary for the Mayor and City Council: Attract those who want to make a difference instead of career politicians

In an effort to reduce the attractiveness of running for the Modesto City Council/Mayor to career politicians, I am proposing some fundamental changes. Modesto City Council members currently are paid $24,000 annually. The Mayor is paid $42,000 annually. Plus the Mayor and Council members are provided a credit card on which they can charge hotel rooms, restaurant tabs, travel expenses, gas, etc.. To curb the enticement to professional politicians to run for the Council for personal enrichment, I propose that we allow Council members to retain the credit card with very strict limitations, but that we curtail their salaries. I propose that we pay the Mayor a stipend of $1000 per year plus a $200 per diem for attending City Council meetings but no salary. I propose that we pay City Council members a per diem of $100 per meeting attended but no salary. 

A call to public service

Serving as Mayor or a City Council member is supposed to be public service. It is not supposed to be a source of income or a "living" for its members. Additionally, I propose that we suspend the credit cards for any members of the City Council, including the Mayor, who have filed their candidacy for another office while in office. That way, we can be sure that the City is not paying the campaign or special event expenses of those candidates. 

Get rid of term limits

Finally, I propose that we get rid of term limits for members of the City Council, including the Mayor. That way, the Council members and Mayor are much less likely to spend their time in office running for other offices instead of tending to City business. 

 

Original purpose of the Modesto City Council

The Modesto City Council was designed to be a place where public minded, dedicated, sincere, self-sufficient or gainfully employed or retired people could serve and make a difference for Modesto. It was not intended as a main income source or stopping point from which to launch a political career. 

Attracting civic minded people to run for office in Modesto

If we implement the changes that I have proposed in this article, we will attract the kinds of people who want to be on the Council to make a difference and help improve the quality of life in Modesto. The changes that I have proposed here will mitigate the attractiveness of running for the City Council/Mayor to professional politicians and to those who have personal gain and enrichment in mind instead of quality public service to one's community. Make these changes and you will see more public-spirited, civic minded people running for office in Modesto instead of career politicians. And the quality of life in Modesto will improve significantly.

California Assembly passes bill to classify GIG workers as employees; Uber and Lyft drivers, Doordash and Grubhub workers and others affected.

Under a bill that passed the California State Assembly on Wednesday, AB5, GIG workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers, Grubhub and Doordash food delivery workers, Amazon document delivery  workers and others, will be considered employees rather than independent contractors. Currently, GIG workers, who rely heavily on tips to make ends meet, are considered independent contractors. As such, GIG workers are responsible for all the costs associated with the upkeep of their vehicles and other equipment necessary for performing their duties.

Benefits for workers

As independent contractors, GIG workers are not entitled to benefits exclusive to employees, such as unemployment benefits, Workman's Compensation, overtime pay, and medical benefits. Additionally, GIG workers do not have payroll deduction charges for Social Security, which means that they do not accrue Social Security benefits from the money that they earn. 

Parent companies escape all commensurate charges

As things stand currently, the parent companies for which the GIG workers are providing services as independent contractors, do not have to pay the fees that normally are paid by employers, such as Workman's Compensation, Unemployment insurance, health insurance, Social Security deductions, and federal and state tax deductions. If AB5 passes the State Senate and is signed into law by Governor Newsom, the free ride for parent companies, including Uber, Lyft, Doordash and others, will be over.

A spokesperson for Uber stated that AB5 potentially would seriously affect its business model and ultimately change the services that it offers to the public. The company suddenly would be responsible not only for paying all of the aforementioned benefits and deductions, but would be forced to pay a $12.00 per hour minimum wage and to provide break times and meal times.

It is unclear whether or not the parent companies would have to pay for the maintenance of the driver owned vehicles that their service drivers currently operate. As it stands now, the drivers are totally responsible for such costs.

The ABC test

AB5 extends the 2018 Supreme Court ruling known as Dynamex. Under that ruling, the ABC test is applied to determine if a worker is an employee rather than an independent contractor. According to the ABC test, the following three parameters are required for a worker to be considered an independent contractor: 1) The worker must be free from the control of the companies for which they work, 2) The work conducted by the independent contractors must not be central to the company's business, and 3) The workers must have their own independent businesses in the industries of the companies for which they are providing services.

It goes without saying that companies such as Uber, Lyft, Grubhub, Doordash and others would not pass the ABC test for hiring independent contractors. The services provided by such workers are central to the companies for which they work and most if not all of their workers do not have their own independent businesses in their industries.

Increased costs to consumers

The ultimate outcome of AB5 is unknown at this time. Most likely it will pass the Democratic controlled State Senate without difficulty. However, the bill's fate once it lands on the Governor's desk remains a mystery for two reasons: 1) The Governor could veto the bill outright and 2) The Governor could use his "Line item veto" power and change the bill before signing it.

The one thing that is certain is that if AB5 passes and is signed into law as it is currently written, the increased costs of doing business to the parent companies will be passed onto the consumers. Prices will go up which will reduce the competitiveness of the parent companies and the services that they provide. As with all industries, the increased costs of doing business are always passed onto consumers. Buyer beware.

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