One of my most satisfying experiences on the Fresno City Council was working with Mayor Autry and my Council colleagues to increase funding for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, best known as the SPCA. The Council, collaborating with the Fresno County Department of Health, also expanded the legal authority of the SPCA to cite animal owners that mistreat their pets. Residents and animals in both the City of Fresno and Fresno County can be proud of how their taxpayer dollars are being used by the professionals and volunteers at the SPCA.
I am, therefore, shocked and saddened to learn that Mayor Swearengin's proposed budget includes a 10% reduction (in excess of $200,000 dollars) for the SPCA. If approved by the City Council, this significant reduction will roll back the outstanding progress that has been made by the SPCA over the past few years in both animal control and public education.
I realize that the City of Fresno faces financial challenges. I do know, however, that when Mayor Autry, Councilmember Jerry Duncan and I were termed out in January after eight years in office, the City's budget was balanced to include a $17 million dollar reserve. Mayor Swearengin's proposed budget does not include any full-time employee layoffs. Why, then, should the historically underfunded SPCA be hit with such a huge decrease in funding which will result in both layoffs and decreased services?
Mayor Swearengin spoke on Thursday at her first State of the City about the progress being made by the City and all the good reasons for people to live here. I agree with her on her basic premise. I don't at all understand her thinking, however, in treating our defenseless animal friends with such callousness. It is not worthy of a proud city. It is a Fresno instead of a Fresyes decision.
I strongly suggest that you write, e-mail or call the council members, or at least your council member to protest against this proposed budget cut for the SPCA. I would also ask that you attend the Council budget hearing when the Parks and Recreation budget is discussed (check with the City Clerk by phone or http://www.fresno.gov/) to speak before the Council.
Someone has to speak for our little (and sometimes big) friends.
Coming Soon. . .
1)Taxpayers guarantee another loan?
2)Three cheers for the Old Administration Building (or whatever one wants to call it).
Your comments are always welcome. Just click on "Comments" below.
I have the privilege every now and then to enter a world very different from the one familiar to the world we know. It is a world of both danger and peace, treacherous and benign. It is not our world; it belongs to others. We are their guests and, once in a terrifying while, we are their enemies. This is the world of the ocean; more specifically, what lies beneath the waves.
Not too many years ago, man, through his curiosity and inventiveness, was able to devise a way of breathing under the water. The invention of the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, universally known by the friendly SCUBA moniker, permitted man for the first time to spend some serious time with the fish, coral, kelp, caves, shelves, currents and, more than anything else, the quiet of the deep.
Growing up in California meant swimming, snorkeling, and wave-riding. Hours were spent either on the top of the water or playing in the waves as they met the shore. I often looked out on the ocean wondering what lies 10, 25, 50 or 100 feet below. And then in the late 1950's and early 1960's the underwater world came to life as Lloyd Bridges, the SCUBA-packing hero of Sea Hunt, brought the ocean to the living room through the magic of television. Even though his underwater fights with the "bad guys" always took place at the same swim-through cave and the air hose was usually cut by a huge knife, Bridges always emerged unscathed. Our nation (to include the ocean) was safe for at least another episode next week.
I would have continued longing to "get wet" (diver talk for getting into the water prior to sinking under the ocean surface) and not done anything about it if not for my wife. She had become annoyed at my persistent talk of diving and finally forced me to do something about it by giving me for Christmas of 1992 a diving certification training gift at Bob's Dive Shop in Fresno. No excuses, Brian. Time to hit the classroom and pool training.
I wasn't crazy about the certification training in Fresno. A classroom with training manuals and an outdoor pool in February was, it seemed, a far cry from playing with swimming things in warm water. Finally, however, the Fresno training was over and our class of 10 wanna-be divers and instructor were off to Santa Catalina Island, 26 miles from Los Angeles. Catalina, part of the Channel Islands stretching from Santa Barbara on the north to south of Los Angeles, would be our final check-out dives. Satisfy our outstanding instructor and we would have our coveted Open Water Certification Diving cards.
I passed. Yay! Catalina was to be the first of hundreds of dives over the next 17 years. Dives that would routinely take me to the Channel Islands, but also to far-flung diving meccas in the Caribbean, Australia, Mexico, South Pacific and Florida. Some dives have been shallow at under 25 feet while others have been over 140 feet. I have seen the friendly Clown fish and have held my breath with sharks, barracuda, mantas, the extremely poisonous Stone fish and the threatening Moray eel that can exceed 12 feet in length.
I have had seals play hide and seek with me in the kelp forests off the California coast. Marveled at the explosion of color from Fiji's soft coral. Slipped down the "throat" of the Devil's Cave in Cozumel to emerge at 110 feet on the side of a vertical wall plunging thousands of feet down into the blue and then black abyss. "Floated" rapidly and effortlessly with the current at the 50 - 90 vertical foot level along the "Wall" off the Cayman Island, marveling at the plethora of brilliant coral and friendly fish. (How disappointing to eventually run low on air and be forced to surface to the dive boat!)
Divers are like fishermen, they never tire of telling stories of great dives (or showing their underwater pictures or videos. It is my hope, dear reader, that you have enjoyed this brief introduction to my "different world." I will periodically share some of my diving experiences during my twice-weekly postings. Maybe you might be encouraged, as I was by my wife in 1992, to visit Bob's Dive Shop or Aqua Sport in Fresno or Central Valley SCUBA in Visalia to look into the the wonderful world of "getting wet."
Coming Soon. . .
1)Taxpayers guarantee another loan?
2)Three cheers for the Old Administration Building (or whatever one wants to call it).
Your comments are always welcome. Just click on "Comments" below.
Local officials don't want to admit it, but they permitted the State of California in 2004 to borrow money from them in cases of severe financial distress in California. Governor Schwarzenegger is now proposing to do just that and local governments and special districts are, predictably, crying foul. A little history will be helpful to understand how this came about.
California governors prior to 2004 periodically tapped local government revenues as a convenient piggy bank when revenue resources dipped in Sacramento. This was patently unfair and in 2004 local government entities, through the League of California Cities and other associations, placed Proposition 1A before California voters. The proposition limited the State to borrowing from local government and special districts only if the governor declared a State fiscal emergency and paid back what was borrowed within three years with interest. The voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 1A and it became law.
As a member of the Fresno City Council at that time, I was joined by my Council colleagues and Mayor Autry in supporting the proposition. It was either that or have the State reach into our local pockets any time it wished, take the money, and not pay it back. The hope, of course, was that the legislation would make it politically and financially unpalatable for the State to continue their previous practice of dipping into local government coffers.
Little did we know in 2004 that the State would be facing a financial deficit in 2009 of monumental proportions, currently $21 billion and climbing. Local governments and special districts are now howling about the Governor Schwarzenegger's proposal to declare a fiscal emergency and begin the process of borrowing approximately $8% of local revenues to help in shoring up the yawning gap in State revenues. The league of California Cities is threatening to sue to prohibit the State from taking the local revenues.
Yes, there is no doubt that an additional 8% hit on local revenues (slightly over $9 million for the City of Fresno, for example) would significantly add to the pain already being experienced by local governments and special districts. The reality, however, is that these same local officials (including me) supported Proposition 1A in 2004 knowling that the State could "pull the trigger" and borrow monies if and when a fiscal emergency was declared.
I am certainly not an apologist for Governor Swartzenegger or the California Legislature. I share the ire of most of the 38 million California residents (and local officials) that are displeased with the current fiscal mess in Sacramento. On the other hand, I am not Chicken Little running around in circles claiming the sky is falling and not willing to do something about it. The easy decisions over many years have brought California to this untenable fiscal deficit. Only the hard decisions now will return us to fiscal solvency.
One of the harder lessons for local government officials (including me as I reflect back on my former position on the Fresno City Council), is the importance of doing it right the first time. If local officials had seriously intended to keep Sacramento out of their pocket, they would have written Proposition 1A to do just that without any "but if" options. They didn't and now they (like their elected counterparts in Sacramento) may, unfortunately, have to live with the consequences.
Coming Soon. . .
1) Let's go diving!
2)Taxpayers guarantee another loan?
3)Three cheers for the Old Administration Building (or whatever one wants to call it).
Your comments are always welcome. Just click on "Comments" below.
I have tried to not weigh in on the drip-drip-drip of bad news coming from the Genesis Family Center, the adoption care agency. It was my assumption--since proved wrong--that the primary funding source for the agency, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, would conduct a thorough analysis after the legal due process through the courts was concluded. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Instead, the Fresno Bee, particularly the investigative work of Brad Branan, had to do the County Board's work for them by unearthing the hiring of Ken Steitz, the leased BMW, the high-end expensive office space and now the raises granted to the two principals--Ms. Bernard and Ms. Dela Torre--and the cozy board relationship of Mr. Der Manouel Sr.
The Board of Supervisors were so inextricably tied in with Genesis that they could never make an informed decision on the merits of the agency's services to the County. Supervisor Perea was at one time a Genesis board member. Supervisor Anderson never met a Genesis contract that she didn't like. The remaining supervisors either didn't care, never questioned County staff, or didn't like to be troubled with competition in the social services arena (maybe all three).
The Fresno Bee pulled a trifecta Sunday by reporting that the current Genesis board awarded raises to the two administrative principals following their court-determined illegal activities, granted a $500-a- month automobile allowance for Ms. Bernard (which she used to lease a BMW), and is now determining what would be "an appropriate separation payment" for Ms. Bernard." Yikes! And as also reported by the Bee's Mr. Branan, one of the board members, Mr. Der Manouel, sells insurance to Genesis. Yikes! Yikes! Talk about a blatant conflict of interest!
It's about time that Genesis folds up shop and goes out of business. The social services provided by Genesis can be picked up by competitors, all of whom would probably do a job better than this company run by individuals who have come under legal scrutiny and who are overseen by a board that "turns a blind eye" to obvious conflicts of interest.
I commend the Fresno Bee for its outstanding investigative reporting. I know that the Bee can give additional "thumbs down" to the Board of Supervisors, Genesis administrators, and Genesis board members.
Coming Soon. . .
1) Let's go diving!
2)Taxpayers guarantee another loan?
3)Three cheers for the Old Administration Building (or whatever one wants to call it).
Your comments are always welcome. Just click on "Comments" below.
The blighted green building at the corner of Van Ness and Inyo downtown is an eyesore and needs to be immediately brought up to code or torn down. The building has been in its current gutted and sorry state (propped up by poles placed in the street!) for more than two years. Owned by local developer, Cliff Tutelian, it is statement that the Mayor and Council can approve lucrative development projects by Mr. Tutelian on the north side of town (The Villagio at Blackstone and Nees and Park Place at Nees and Palm), but allow him to let a major building sit idle downtown waiting to crash down upon some poor unsuspecting pedestrian or driver.
Is this what the Mayor intended when she ousted most of the previous occupants of the City's Economic Development Department to be replaced by Craig Scharton and others? Does Mr. Tutelian warrant special consideration for a building he owns while he does nothing about downtown? One would think that the cash flow from the developments on the north side would support doing something with the Ugly Green Building.
And speaking of idle buildings about to collapse, the Bank of Italy building on the corner of Fresno and Fulton has been neglected for so long that it is close to or past the point where it can be saved. This building and the one across the street from it is owned by Rafi Cohen of Los Angeles. While Mr. Tutelian is a local developer and, one would think, should care about his reputation in Fresno, Mr. Cohen conveniently lives out-of-town and can use his buildings as a convenient tax write off.
The Mayor, Council and Mr. Scharton need to explain to City residents why these buildings continue the 'no' in downtown Fresno instead of a 'yes' in Fresyes.
Please refer to my March 24 posting on how the implementation of an adaptive reuse ordinance for the City would be helpful.
Coming attractions..
1) Let's go diving! 2)Taxpayers guarantee another loan?
Your comments are always welcome. Simply click on "comments" below.
Millions of Americans do not rely on banks to meet their financial needs. Instead, they pay huge fees at check cashing outlets and payday lenders, making it difficult for consumers to save money, accumulate assets and become financially self-sufficient. These predatory lending operations, a $85 billion a year industry, have experienced a resurgence during the past sixteen years made possible by exploiting deregulated interest rates, winning special treatment from state legislatures and designing products to intentionally slip through regulatory loop holes.
The economic peril currently facing the nation further exacerbates the numbers and frequencies of our citizens being exploited by these check cashing outlets and payday lenders. It is the belief by many that the current lack of federal regulation in the mortgage lending industry is the cause of the financial crisis we see today. It can be said that the lack of predatory lending regulation in 35 states--to include California--contributes to the continual exploitation and financial peril of millions of Americans throughout our communities. Stark evidence of this is the staggering fact that payday lending costs consumers over $6 billion a year in interest for over $40 billion in loans.
A study of these predatory lending practices show that many people take out payday loans with Annual Percentage Rates (APR) or interest rates ranging from 400% to 1,000% when they run short of cash before their next paycheck. The comprehensive report issued in November of 2007 (Controlling the Growth of Payday Lending Through Local Ordinances and Resolutions) offers information and guidance on this issue.
The following example illustrates what commonly occurs to people seeking help in surviving until their next paycheck. The borrower writes a check for $100 to $300, plus a fee, payable to the lender. The lender agrees to hold the check until the borrower's next payday, at which time the held check will be deposited. In return, the borrower gets cash immediately. The fees for the payday loans are extremely high: from $17.50 for every $100 borrowed, up to a maximum of $300. The interest rates for such transactions are staggering: 911% for a one week loan, 456% for a two week loan and 212% for a one month loan.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal tells of Nicki Newman, who worked at two payday-lending stores during the past six years, most recently at Heartland Cash Advance in Chillicothe, Ohio, said if a customer didn't come back later for a new loan, the company would call them weekly. This persistent practice ensured that the same 200 to 300 customers returned every two weeks to pay off their previous loan and take out a new one.
The City of Fresno is saturated with 78 payday loan businesses. Compare this to approximately 125 banking institutions serving Fresno citizens. Of the 78 payday loan businesses, 13 are concentrated on East Kings Canyon Boulevard in Southeast Fresno. The report titled, "An Examination of the Payday lending Industry in the City of Fresno" (Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center, February 2008) offers this: "Estimates show that spending resulting from borrowers could create a total of $35.4 additional millions of dollars in business sales in the city, support 251 more full-time jobs and create $8.9 additional million in labor income paid by city companies if these borrowers were not paying costly short-term loan fees."
In Alex Padilla's 20th State Senate district in the San Fernando Valley, there are 96 payday lenders and 76 banks, an inverted ratio of lenders to banks confirming the availability of these predatory lenders state-wide, predominately in low income areas. This illustrates their intent to dominate specific markets to the exclusion of traditional banks by attracting customers and holding customers caught in the payday lending trap. They prey on those that have the least and often don't completely understand the vicious cycle that they are getting into.
Predatory lending can be devastating to households and neighborhoods. The California Reinvestment Coalition estimates that check cashers and payday lenders extract billions of dollars per year from California households. A study released by the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity conservatively estimated that $20 million dollars in fees were being extracted annually from residents in Pima County, which includes the City of Tucson.
Existing law does not go far enough to protect consumers from these predatory lenders. Former State Senator Don Peralta introduced Senate Bill 834 which essentially allows the same charges for payday loans as the Financial Code currently allows for small loans made by licensed finance lenders. The charges permitted would be a $5 "set-up" fee, plus a maximum interest rate of 36% per year (3% per moth or 1.5% for two weeks). thus, a $100 two week loan would cost a maximum of $6.50 ($5 set-up fee plus $1.50 interest) as compared to current law allowing a $17.50 charge. A $200 two-week loan would cost $8 rather than $35.
Several cities and counties have enacted moratoriums on payday lending outlets. There are three types of ordinances that have been found to be effective. The first is a six-month moratorium on new payday lending outlets during a "study period" of their impact on citizens. The second is the requirement of special non-conforming Special/Conditional Use Permits for payday lending outlets. Some cities also require a public hearing in conjunction with the permit application. Lastly, the third option that has been found to be effective is a complete prohibition on new payday lending outlets.
Payday lending is currently prohibited in fifteen states and the District of Columbia. Of the 35 states that allow payday lending some--such as New Hampshire, Ohio and Oregon--have enacted interest rate caps of 36%. In a number of instances, predatory lenders have actually closed.
City of Fresno Mayor Swearengin and City Council members face many challenges and are given many opportunities to adopt ordinances and codes to protect citizens. In this particular case, city officials need to take both local action and request the State Legislature to join the 15 states and federal government (which has capped interest rates on loans made to military families) that have already taken action to protect their citizens.
This is not cutting edge governance that I am suggesting. I am simply asking elected officials to join the growing list of cities taking local action and to take the lead in urging the State to do what only they can do to stop the cycle of lending predators. Let's not wait and find Fresno joining the elected officials in Washington who wish they would have acted earlier in passing regulations in the mortgage lending industry which finds itself in peril today.
Specifically, I would request that Mayor Swearengin and the City Council pass a resolution to be sent to the State of California Legislature to cap interest rates at 36% for all California check cashing and payday loan companies. Additionally, I request the Mayor and Council members place a three-month moratorium of the establishment of new payday lenders in the City of Fresno pending a review of these practices on Fresno citizens.
Coming attractions..
- Let's go diving!
- Boy, do I have an ugly downtown building for you!
Schools Need a National Test: National Assessment of Educational Progress to the Rescue
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 |There was no standard means of assessment K - 12 student achievement prior to the establishment of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2001. Even with NCLB, the federal government left it up to the 50 states to determine whether students were making adequate yearly progress (AYP) to meet the 2013 goal of having all students achieve grade-level standards.
The problem of leaving testing standards to the states is the natural tendency of school districts and states to fudge test scores to make it appear to both the general public and the federal government that progress was being achieved. Reported scores, in too many cases, are just not believable.
If standardized tests are going to be used, I propose that the only way learning can be accurately assessed is to replace state-adopted tests with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card." The NAEP has been conducting assessments since 1969 and is the only national test that assesses what "America's students know and can do" in various subject areas. The national Assessment Governing Board, appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education but independent of the U.S. Department of Education, governs the program.
NAEP assessments are administered between late January and early March of each year. NAEP does not report scores for individual students or schools; instead, it bases its results on a sample of students and provides data at the state and national level. As a requirement of NCLB, states and districts receiving federal funds must participate in state-level NAEP tests in reading and mathematics at grades 4 and 8 every 2 years. (Although it doesn't apply to NCLB, the NAEP also tests reading and mathematics at the 12 grade level.) State participation in other state NAEP subjects (science and writing) remains voluntary.
NAEP assessments also are conducted on the state level. States that choose to participate--and only some do--receive assessment results that report on the performance of students in that state. When national education officials refer to student achievement, it is usually NAEP test scores they use when making comparisons and advocating for reform. These also are the tests that state officials refer to when looking at their state scores in comparison to national test results. As an example, consider the following response to the 2007 NAEP report by Jack O'Connell, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction for California Public Schools:
"California's score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress reflects the trends we see on our state standards-based tests, and also the challenges faced in educating California's diverse population. Once again, these results point out stark and persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps in our schools that must be addressed if our students and our state are to thrive in the demanding global economy."
"I am pleased that achievement in reading has improved and that we've not lost ground in other areas since 2005. While there are valid reasons to question the fairness of state-to-state comparisons, it is also clear that California schools have much work to do to raise the achievement levels of all groups of students."
"There has been a steady increase in the average scale scores of black and Hispanic students since 1998 in fourth grade reading and since 2000 in fourth grade and eighth grade mathematics. However, the achievement gap remains between white or Asian students and their African American or Hispanic peers. We know all children can learn to the same high levels, so we must confront and change those things that are holding groups of students back."
"When considering the NAEP scores, it is important to remember some significant differences between NAEP and our state assessments, and also to take a close look at California's demographics and the performance of specific student groups."
"Even so, California's Hispanic students showed a significant 5 percentage point increase since 2005 in the proportion of students performing at basic or above in fourth grade reading, and Hispanic students who were not classified as English learners increased overall by nearly 5 points."
Why do we need the NAEP and 50 state-developed tests? It becomes so confusing trying to compare "apples with apples" that even a full-time educator like me finds his head spinning. Why not have the one proven NAEP test (40 years without any criticism) expanded to more grades and administered to all students? There would be no questions about fairness, about state-fudging of test rigor, and results could be compared across individual schools, school districts and states.
If Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is really serious (and I believe his is) about transforming K - 12 education in America to compete with other countries in the 21st Century ("Race to the Top" as he refers to it), I believe it is imperative to adopt the NAEP as the assessment standard.
Coming attractions..
1) Pay Day Loans: Do we care?
2) Do I have an ugly downtown building for you!
Your comments are always welcome. Simply click on "comments" below.
In a December 20 posting, I shared with you the wonderful service provided by Pete Medrano, my daily chauffeur. No, I am not wealthy; Pete is my morning commute FAX bus driver. I told you how personable Pete is to me and all those riding his #30 Blackstone Avenue southbound. For the full story, please check my December 20 blog.
I recently learned that my outstanding chauffeur was recognized by the City of Fresno for successfully completing seven years of safe driving.
The letter of commendation states, "Your diligent defensive driving techniques have been demonstrated by your commitment to the 'Culture of Excellence' by providing safe and courteous service. The achievement of this award demonstrates your professional skills, attitude and dedication to safety that distinguishes you as a safety driven professional and your commitment to safety on the road."
I cite Pete as an example of the hard-working City of Fresno professionals that make this a Fresyes community. A vibrant community does not operate on auto-pilot. It is instead friendly, competent people like Pete, my personal chauffeur, that makes your day and mine just a little better.
And speaking of FAX, I would like to know what the City is doing with the $8 billion dollars that is being showered on communities for improved transportation from the federal Stimulus Fund. In particular, what is the City doing to upgrade the present slo-mo bus system to the more advanced Bus Transportation System (BTS) that was promised by City management when I served on the Council? The BTS system would provide larger and more comfortable buses and, most importantly, faster and more convenient service. There should be no reason why taxpayer- supported Measure C dollars and federal Stimulus dollars can't move (bad pun) our FAX system into the 21st Century.
Coming attractions..
1) Schools need a national test: National Assessment of Educational Progress to the rescue.
2) Pay Day Loans: Do we care?
Your comments are always welcome. Simply click on "comments" below.
