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Kings County Supervisors Talk Water With Trump
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By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 7 years ago on
October 24, 2018

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Two Kings County supervisors spoke with the president at a Washington event on Tuesday (Oct. 24). During a State Leadership Event Day meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, President Donald Trump talked about California water.

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That’s when he noticed two men in the crowd.
“You people are nodding like you know exactly what I’m talking about,” Trump said.
Trump then started interacting with Craig Pedersen and Doug Verboon, who serve on the Kings County board.
“Unfortunately, for me, because of a lack of water, three generations — my family, we sold the farm two years ago because of a lack of water,” Pederson told Trump. “So we just can’t thank you enough. You kept your campaign commitment to help us.”
Verboon talked about the challenges of purchasing water.
“So I had to pay $6,000 an acre-foot to buy this water. So over a million dollars to farm 187 acres,” he said. “That doesn’t make any sense. So it created another industry. So now some people in the Southern California are paying $5,000 an acre-foot for water when they shouldn’t be paying that. It’s too much money.”
You people are nodding like you know exactly what I’m talking about.” — President Trump to Craig Pederson and Doug Verboon
Verboon said the president’s appearance at the event was a last-minute surprise. So was getting called upon.
“We had an opportunity, and we took advantage of it. Hopefully, we represented well,” he said.
Naturally, Verboon talked to his family about the chance conversation.
“I called my wife. And she said, ‘You mean the real president?’ ”
Later in the day, the president signed the America’s Water Infrastructure Act.
(Click on the image above to watch the video.)

Police Survey

The Fresno City Council will hear an update from the mayor’s Citizens’ Public Safety Advisory Board at Thursday’s (Oct. 25) meeting. The group worked on two main issues in the first quarter —  crafting a policy on the release of body camera video footage, and analyzing a recent survey of sworn and non-sworn police department employees.


“If you are willing to say this is a good place to work, I think we’re doing OK.”FPOA President Damon Kurtz
A preview of the presentation available in council documents reveals that the advisory board isn’t ready to make specific recommendations.
However, the board has concerns about the results of the May 2018 police department survey.
The 30-question survey asked officers and civilian members of the department their opinions on working there. For the most part, employees gave the department positive reviews.
“Overall it was fairly positive, compared to the 2014 survey,” said Damon Kurtz, president of the Fresno Police Officers Association, which conducted the survey.

FPOA Survey Highlights

Some notable answers:
— 68% of sworn personnel indicated that low morale is a problem.
But Kurtz said that response comes with a caveat.
“That is a subjective question. However, recommendations are high,” he said.
Kurtz referred to the fact that 67% of sworn personnel would recommend to friends and relatives that they work for Fresno PD. Even more, 89%, are satisfied with job stability.
“If you are willing to say this is a good place to work, I think we’re doing OK,” Kurtz said.
— 49% of sworn personnel answered that the department “supports its employees’ well-being and work/life balance.”
“We’ve been understaffed for years now, we’re doing more with less. That is a reflection of the workload. It deals with requests for days off. You just can’t because the staffing is not there,” Kurtz said.
— 51% said that “information passed through the chain of command is accurate and timely.”
“It’s like the game ‘Telephone,’ ” Kurtz said. “You’re in a large governmental agency. Sometimes the message doesn’t always reach the bottom. It’s like that in any organization.”
A follow-up survey is scheduled for next year.
It should also be noted that the citizens’ advisory board has lost two of its inaugural members.
Amy Guerra resigned after being named a Fresno County Superior Court judge by Gov. Jerry Brown. Clifford Williams resigned because of scheduling conflicts.
And, according to attendance records, Avis Braggs has not attended the CPSAB monthly meetings since June. Michael Vang last attended a meeting in July.

Measure P Fix Re-Do

For the second time in a week, the council is scheduled to discuss how to fix an error in the Measure P ballot language. Voters will decide on the sales tax increase to benefit parks, trails and cultural arts on Nov. 6.
The council canceled a Monday meeting when not enough members attended. The item is rescheduled for Thursday.
Members are set to discuss a plan to mail corrections. City staff has yet to provide a cost estimate.
The ballot language council passed in August never made it to the actual ballot, in what is being called a “clerical error.” An earlier version of the language will appear instead.
Council will also talk about asking the Fresno County elections clerk to post the updated version at polling places. If the clerk refuses, the case could wind up in court.

City Council Candidate Fundraising Update

It’s been a while since Politics 101 examined the financial figures of the six candidates running for the Fresno City Council. Here is an update:

Candidate Race Raised through 9/22 Cash on hand/
Debt
Big Money Donations Since*
Miguel Arias District 3 $98,350 $41,043
$13,457
$18,583
Tate Hill District 3 $72,045 $33,895
$15,053
$9,500
Luis Chavez District 5 $162,705 $76,066
$0
$9,400
Paula Yang District 5 $38,774 $948
$5,551
$2,500
Nelson Esparza District 7 $198,149 $31,088
$5,506
$27,846
Brian Whelan District 7 $356,166 $135,293
$0
$35,355

* As reported through Form 497 through Oct. 24

Alex Jones Comes to Local Radio


He may be banned on Twitter and other social media platforms, but conservative provocateur Alex Jones remains on the airwaves.
Jones is bringing his Info Wars radio program to a revamped lineup on Talk Radio 1680 (AM) KGED. His show airs daily 2-4 p.m. and again 8-10 p.m.
The station will also include Ben Bergquam, who is perhaps best known for heckling local politicians at various events and live-streaming his monologues from the Free Speech area at Fresno State.
The new line-up:
Laura Ingraham 6-9 a.m.
*Local Programming 9-10 a.m.
Hugh Hewitt 10 a.m.-noon
Mike Savage 12-2 p.m.
Alex Jones 2-4 p.m.
*Ben Bergquam 4-5 p.m.
*Guillermo Moreno 5-7 p.m.
*Jerris Lee 7-8 p.m.
Alex Jones 8-10 p.m.
Larry Elder 10 p.m.-midnight
Beyond Reality 12-2 a.m.
Dave Ramsey 2-5 a.m.
America First News 5-6 a.m.
*local show

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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

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