Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Vidak Accuses Dem Leader, Ag Group in Hall Conspiracy
David Website Replacement
By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 8 years ago on
March 24, 2017

Share

[This revised story features reaction from Sen. Kevin De Leon’s office and more from Vidak]

Sen. Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) lobbed another charge about the appointment of Isadore Hall to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB). Less than two weeks after accusing Hall of having a vendetta against those who opposed him, Vidak now says there is a cover up into any potential investigation of those claims.

Vidak initially said that Hall, a former state legislator from Compton, approached farmers at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento the night before his March 1 confirmation at the Senate Rules Committee. In his March 13 letter to senate president and rules committee chairman Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), Vidak wrote Hall engaged “in an obscenity-laced tirade, threatened to use his position to ‘get’ several farmers who oppose his confirmation.”

In a news release Friday afternoon (March 24), Vidak says that De Leon (D-Los Angeles) told him on the senate floor there would be no investigation into Hall. Now, Vidak wants another senate committee to investigate his allegations “concerning a possible conspiracy to cover-up” de Leon shutting down the investigation.

George Radanovich, a former U.S. congressman and now president of the California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA), confirmed to GV Wire that he was at the bar in the night in question. He did say that Hall approached Radanovich and three other officers with the CFFA. But, he would not divulge the nature of that conversation.

Vidak referred to Radanovich, albeit not by name in a news release today (March 24). He further states that de Leon told him the CFFA ‘have worked things out so Hall won’t be investigated.” He has now filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee.

Radanovich responded to the senator’s accusation. “He has no clue what he is talking about. He should have gotten a hold of us, his constituents, first.” According to Radanovich, his group’s attorney met with de Leon to lodge their objection to Hall as an ALRB member. They also appealed to the governor’s office.

“Deal, arrangement, understanding, wink-and-a-nod.  Call it what you want but I’m just taking (De Leon) at his word,”  Vidak responded to GV Wire via e-mail.

Hall’s appointment to the board from Gov. Jerry Brown drew the ire of Vidak, newspaper editorial boards and others in the agriculture industry, feeling he was neither impartial nor qualified to serve on the ALRB. That group helps mediate labor disputes between farm workers and the ag industry.

At the March 1 hearing at the rules committee, Hall addressed some of those critiques.

“I want you to know that I fully recognize these challenges and plan to confront them head on in an inclusive, methodical and transparent way that involves bringing all parties from business to labor together in order to find commonality, build consensus, and solve the problems that we no doubt will be confronting us on the board.  I hope that my record standing up serving as a voice for working families and also as one for business illustrates my deep desire to be fair and just and put the interest of the great people of California first.”

Hall was approved 3-0, with one abstention and one voter absent. He may serve on the ALRB for one year without confirmation. He now awaits a full floor vote as a final step before becoming an official ALRB member.

“Now, more than ever, there needs to be an investigation by somebody,” Vidak wrote in his news release.  “Has this reported ‘arrangement’ with the CFFA ‘leaders’ to roadblock an investigation into Hall been agreed to by the four other members of the Senate Rules Committee?  Hard to believe that Rules Committee members pretending nothing happened somehow serves the public’s interest or the rights of farm workers or farmers?”

The office of Sen. De Leon sent GV Wire this response:

“With due respect, the State Senate doesn’t waste taxpayer resources investigating dubious hearsay accounts of private conversations held in hotel lobbies – and that’s what Senator De Leon clearly and politely communicated to Senator Vidak.  Any suggestion otherwise is patently ridiculous.  Chasing goofy conspiracy theories might fly on President Trump’s Twitter feed but it has no place in the California Legislature.”

In today’s letter to the ethics committee, Vidak writes:

I subsequently formally asked the Chair of the Senate Rules Committee, in a letter copied to all other members of the Senate, to have the Rules Committee investigate this incident involving Hall, to inform the entire Senate of the results of the investigation and to hold up Hall’s pending Floor confirmation vote until the investigation was final.

No response from the Chair or any other member of Rules Committee about an investigation was forthcoming until yesterday on the Senate Floor when Senator De Leon informed me that “there would be no investigation” and that he and the leadership of the CFFA “have worked things out so Hall won’t be investigated.”

Specifically, my complaint to your committee is that the Senate’s confirmation process of gubernatorial appointees may have been compromised in this situation if as it appears:  1) credible information about potential criminal activity by an unconfirmed gubernatorial appointee is intentionally ignored/withheld; and 2) a member of the Senate Rules Committee is making arrangements with representatives of private organizations to bury investigations of gubernatorial appointees.

Contact David Taub

Phone: 559-492-4037 / e-mail

This story was not subject to the approval of Granville Homes.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Clovis Memorial Run Brings the Community Together, Supports Senior Programs

DON'T MISS

Attorney Error Lowers Fees in Fresno Measure P Case

DON'T MISS

Trump Gives Commencement Address at West Point, Stressing a New Era

DON'T MISS

9 of a Doctor’s 10 Children Are Killed in Israel’s Latest Strikes in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Daisy Can’t See or Hear, but She Knows How to Love

DON'T MISS

How to Travel Without a Phone

DON'T MISS

Chukchansi Casino Hosts Job Fair to Fill 80 Food and Beverage Positions

DON'T MISS

California’s High Living Costs and Rampant Poverty Sharpen Its Economic Divide

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Killed in Head-On Collision Identified

DON'T MISS

California Allocates $56 Million to Combat Youth Homelessness

UP NEXT

California Allocates $56 Million to Combat Youth Homelessness

UP NEXT

Let the Hunt for Fresno County Fruit Trail Delights Begin!

UP NEXT

18 Injured in Knife Attack in Hamburg, Report Says

UP NEXT

All Six People Aboard Plane That Crashed in San Diego Confirmed Dead

UP NEXT

Clovis Church’s ‘Giving Truck’ Offers Free Coffee With a Twist

UP NEXT

Low-Income Compton Students Get $225M State-of-the-Art High School Campus

UP NEXT

Trump Re-Escalates Trade Threats, Takes Aim at European Union, Apple

UP NEXT

Will the Pacific Coast Highway Reopen for Memorial Day Weekend?

UP NEXT

CA State Senator Cited for Suspicion of Impaired Driving, Says She Wasn’t Intoxicated

UP NEXT

Multiple People on Private Plane That Crashed Into San Diego Neighborhood Are Dead

David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

9 of a Doctor’s 10 Children Are Killed in Israel’s Latest Strikes in Gaza

1 day ago

Daisy Can’t See or Hear, but She Knows How to Love

1 day ago

How to Travel Without a Phone

1 day ago

Chukchansi Casino Hosts Job Fair to Fill 80 Food and Beverage Positions

1 day ago

California’s High Living Costs and Rampant Poverty Sharpen Its Economic Divide

1 day ago

Fresno County Man Killed in Head-On Collision Identified

2 days ago

California Allocates $56 Million to Combat Youth Homelessness

2 days ago

Let the Hunt for Fresno County Fruit Trail Delights Begin!

2 days ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Southwest Shooting Through Valley Crime Stoppers’ Tip

2 days ago

18 Injured in Knife Attack in Hamburg, Report Says

2 days ago

Clovis Memorial Run Brings the Community Together, Supports Senior Programs

The annual Clovis Memorial Run brought runners and walkers to the new Clovis Senior Activity Center on May 24, featuring multiple races that...

20 hours ago

20 hours ago

Clovis Memorial Run Brings the Community Together, Supports Senior Programs

1 day ago

Attorney Error Lowers Fees in Fresno Measure P Case

1 day ago

Trump Gives Commencement Address at West Point, Stressing a New Era

1 day ago

9 of a Doctor’s 10 Children Are Killed in Israel’s Latest Strikes in Gaza

Blind and deaf, Daisy is a gentle senior pup who has blossomed in foster care and is now searching for a loving home. (Mell's Mutts)
1 day ago

Daisy Can’t See or Hear, but She Knows How to Love

1 day ago

How to Travel Without a Phone

1 day ago

Chukchansi Casino Hosts Job Fair to Fill 80 Food and Beverage Positions

California Wealth and Poverty
1 day ago

California’s High Living Costs and Rampant Poverty Sharpen Its Economic Divide

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend