MISERY INDEX

Forbes Magazine recently released its annual rankings for the most miserable cities in America. California cities didn’t fare very well, as eight of them placed in the top twenty. Forbes used 10 major factors to rank cities, including weather, unemployment over three years, tax rates (both sales and income), commute times, violent crime, and how their pro sports teams have done.

In my opinion, these types of rankings are often somewhat arbitrary and subjective. When I came across this article on the internet, I hurriedly scrolled through the list of top twenty miserable cities in America to see if Visalia had achieved this distinction. I’m happy to report that Visalia was not on the list. However, you might recognize a few of the ones from our valley: Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield. I believe that Visalia was skipped over for this "honor" because it is a well-run city, has lower tax rates than many others in the area, has no commute times, violent crimes are down, and the Visalia Rawhide continue to be winners.

Stockton had the dubious honor of being number one on the most miserable list. In response to Stockton’s poor rating, City Manager Bob Deis stated that "Stockton has issues that it needs to address, but an article like this is the equivalent of bayoneting the wounded." While Visalia certainly isn’t without its problems, I believe most of our citizens acknowledge Visalia’s livability and agree that it is the "jewel of the valley."

Changing topics, I note elsewhere in the state that the city of San Bernardino just imposed a 10% pay cut on their fire fighters union. Additionally, the city of San Jose indicated that it’s possible that 349 police officers and 145 firefighters could lose their jobs this coming year, which is on top of the 49 firefighters who lost their jobs last year. Overall, it is conceivable that one-fourth of their public safety employees will face layoffs. San Jose officials are projecting a looming $110,000,000.00 deficit. That city is looking to get all unions to implement 10% concessions in total compensation. If those concessions are somehow accomplished for all unions, then it is possible that only 237 officers could lose their jobs. Other cost-saving measures suggested including turning off street lights, reducing library hours, and closing community centers.

I mention the foregoing merely to emphasize that while Visalia has its own budgetary concerns, due to past conservative spending and laying in store for a rainy day by building up its reserves, Visalia has so far been able to keep its budget in balance. More tough decisions for the City Council are ahead regarding how to stretch our limited resources and about potential cuts in services and/or benefits.

In 2010, two firefighters from Miki, Japan, one of our sister cities, visited Visalia. Mayor Link, Fire Chief Nelson, and I hosted them at Fire Station 55 and gave them a tour of this new facility. One of our visitors, Shigeyoshi Daito, stated that his specialty was rappelling out of a helicopter onto the top of skyscrapers in emergency fire situations. Not long ago I received an email from him indicating that Miki was not affected by Japan’s recent earthquake and tsunami, since Miki is located to the south of the affected area. However, Mr. Daito indicated that his fire team was heading to Fukushima for search and rescue. We are pleased that our sister city survived these natural disasters, and wish Mr. Daito and his highly-trained team the best in their relief efforts. I might add that his specialty is not one that our local fire department trains for, since Visalia is not yet in the skyscraper business.

On a final note, I received a nice email from Visalia resident, Annabell Jennings, in response to my recent Direct Magazine article, "Recovering From December Rains." She wrote this about our city staff: "I’m so grateful that those men and women were willing to go the extra mile to keep our city and residents safe. It is so refreshing to hear that people still do those things."

If you have questions or topics regarding the city which you would like to have addressed in future articles, please email Warren at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313.

COOL, CLEAR WATER

As a boy, I remember hearing the Sons of the Pioneers sing:

All day I've faced a barren waste

Without the taste of water, cool water

Old Dan and I with throats burned dry

And souls that cry for water

Cool, clear, water

I was reminded of this song when I attended the Visalia City Council Strategic Planning Workshop on February 4, 5, 2011. A report on Visalia’s water supply was presented there by Kim Loeb, Visalia’s Natural Resource Conservation Manager, and Mark Larsen of the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District. The following are excerpts from that report.

Visalia’s water supply is obtained solely from ground water that is primarily purveyed by California Water Service Company (Cal Water). Ground water beneath Visalia occurs in the Kaweah Basin, which is part of an inter-connected aquifer system that extends across much of the San Joaquin Valley. In the Kaweah Basin, agricultural pumping accounts for about 90% of the groundwater used.

The depth to water in Visalia averaged less than 20 ft. below the ground until about 1960; averaged between 20 ft. - 40 ft.from 1960 to 1990; declined precipitously to about 75 ft. by 2000; and dropped down to an average of 115 ft. below the ground in 2010. By December 2010, the depth came back up to 110 ft., most likely due to groundwater recharge efforts.

During the 1990's, the average decline in our Visalia groundwater table was 3 feet per year. In the 2000's that increased to 4 feet per year.

Cal Water’s annual pumping has increased about 233% from approximately 15,000 acre ft. in 1980 to about 35,000 acre ft. presently. Cal Water estimates that it can pump 23,500 acre feet per year without contributing to the overdraft. Cal Water pumping has exceeded the estimated sustainable amount since 1995; however, regional overdraft has a significant impact on water levels beneath Visalia, irrespective of Cal Water’s pumping. As surface waters become less available for farming purposes, mainly due to environmental issues, more groundwater is pumped, adding to the decline of Visalia’s water table. Likewise, as Visalia’s population continues to grow, more water usage is anticipated. The majority of the city’s water is used for landscape irrigation.

The City is at the forefront of efforts to address this water overdraft issue. Visalia has an ongoing groundwater recharge program. When funding is available and prices are reasonable, the City purchases surface water on the spot market to recharge groundwater. The water is run through waterways or placed in basins to percolate into the ground and recharge the aquifer. Over the last five years, the City has recharged an average of 2,800 acre ft. per year. In 2010, the City purchased and recharged over 7,800 acre ft.

Visalia’s current water conservation plant upgrade will enable the City to recycle 100% of our wastewater. Some of the recycled water will be used to irrigate facilities on the west side of the city, but plans are to trade the majority of the recycled water with farm irrigation users west of the City in exchange for surface water that can be used for recharge on the east side of the city. Approximately 14,500 acre ft. of recycled water will be generated annually by the upgraded water conservation plant, and as much as 24,500 acre ft. may be generated by 2025.

Additionally, plans are to construct infrastructure to deliver recycled water from the wastewater treatment plant to irrigate Plaza Park, Valley Oaks Golf Course, and the Visalia Municipal Airport so that irrigation wells at these facilities can be turned off. The system can be expanded to support new development on the west side of the City.

Of course, water conservation by our citizens can directly improve the City’s water supplies. While analysis suggests that less than half the water artificially recharged may provide a direct benefit to the City (although it does to the region) water conservation provides a one-to-one direct benefit. An acre foot not pumped is an acre foot saved.

Visalia, and the region, is on an unsustainable course. At this rate, wells will continue to go dry, requiring expensive, deeper drilling. The City must do its part to reduce its increasing water demand and to increase supply. The General Plan update will address these concerns further. Long-term regional solutions are also required as more than 90% of groundwater use in the Kaweah Basin occurs outside of the City.

If you have questions or topics regarding the city which you would like to have addressed in future articles, please email Warren at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313.

STORMY WEATHER

In my article last month, I briefly touched upon our December rainstorms. I want to address the topic again this month in more detail.

Visalia experienced 6.27 inches of rain in December 2010. We received 1.55 inches of rain on December 18-19 alone! Another big storm passed through the following week. It was the wettest December in Visalia’s history!

And yet, not a single home or business flooded. Lessons were learned from prior severe storm experiences. This time, City staff became aware of the pending storms based upon a National Weather Service forecast on December 12. Staff met on December 16 to discuss how to respond. On the order of Fire Chief Mark Nelson, an emergency operation center (EOC) opened at 4:15 a.m. on the morning of December 19, in the basement of the downtown police station. The EOC remained open for five days to deal with the impact of the storms on the community. At approximately 10:00 a.m. on December 19, City Manager Steve Salomon made a declaration of local emergency. The Visalia City Council affirmed that declaration at its meeting on December 20.

Our city has over 40 ponding basins. Currently, we own three portable, trailer-mounted pumps, and in this particular emergency we needed to locate and rent 10 additional ones. These can pump 3,000-4,000 gallons of water per minute. They were used to pump water from the ponding basins into adjacent creeks and ditches.

One of the major priorities occurred at the Mineral King and Linwood basin, located at Bruce McDermott Park. This basin quickly filled to overflowing, largely due to Caltrans pumping rainwater from adjacent Highway 198 into that basin. In order to stop the water from overflowing the basin, city staff got Caltrans to agree to stop pumping water into it from 198. Once the Caltrans pumps were turned off, rainwater filled the section of Highway 198 between Akers and Demaree, which resulted in the closure of Highway 198 for approximately eight hours. This reprieve from Caltrans pumping allowed city staff to operate an excavator and break the north bank of the ponding basin, which allowed water to flow from the basin into the adjacent Persian ditch, and from there west out of the city. After the water level lowered in the basin, the highway pumps were turned back on, the water in the Highway 198 depression was pumped into the McDermott basin again and ultimately out through the Persian ditch.

This is but one example of the swift city responses to emergency situations throughout the community. Several small basins overflowed or reached capacity but did not cause significant damage to private property. In most cases, these basins overflowed because lift station pumps were not able to move the water from the basins to canals. All functioned, but some were moving water very slowly because pumps became plugged with leaves. Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District and Tulare Irrigation District worked with the city to provide capacity in the channels for city storm water run-off. If this storm had occurred in the spring when there was simultaneous snow run-off, there would have been substantially more flooding problems to handle.

At the January 17 city council meeting, the council appropriated $968,000.00 from its general fund reserves to temporarily fund needed repairs, with the majority of that, $650,000.00, allocated to repair the sink hole at Ferguson and Shirk near Fire Station 55. We believe a large portion of these monies will be reimbursed from state and federal emergency funds. Staff will continue to assess our emergency response and will bring a report back to the city council at a future council meeting for further direction. Included in these considerations is the recommendation to purchase seven additional portable pumps with hose to be used in future such emergencies.

Again, I applaud the efforts of the city’s emergency response personnel in dealing with these storms and in minimizing the potential damage that could have been caused thereby. Perhaps FEMA could take some lessons from Visalia as to how to respond to such natural disasters!

If you have questions or topics regarding the city which you would like to have addressed in future articles, please email Warren at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313.

Warren Gubler

Visalia City Council Member

High Speed Rail

In mid-December, Visalia Mayor Link, assistant city manager Mike Olmos, and myself met in Hanford with Hanford’s mayor and vice-mayor, along with members of the High Speed Rail Authority. Our main objective was to begin coordinating efforts between our communities to get ready for and to help implement the new Kings/Tulare station that will be built between our communities, near the corner of Highways 198 and 43.

The Rail Authority announced recently that the first phase of California’s high speed rail line will be built from Fresno on the north, south through Kings County and Tulare County, and ending approximately at Bakersfield., The only two stations announced to date are the Fresno Station and the Kings/Tulare station. When adding up the bond money previously approved by California voters, and matching federal ARRA funds, along with the additional ARRA funds which Wisconsin and Ohio declined and which got re-directed to California, approximately $5.5 billion dollars will be available for the first 100+ miles of track.

At this meeting we learned that this section was chosen to be built first, because construction and land acquisition costs in the Central Valley are anticipated to be less than elsewhere in the state, and thus more can be built with less. It is estimated that for every billion dollars spent on this high speed rail line, 20,000 jobs will be generated. This is the first time that such massive funding has been appropriated to the Central Valley by the state and federal government. I believe that this infusion of cash will jump-start our local economy.

Construction needs to commence no later than September 2012 so that these funds are not forfeited. The track will continue to be extended in both a north and south direction as additional funds become available on a yearly basis. We learned at this meeting that it will still be a few years before high speed trains will actually run on these tracks, as the electrical power source will be added later. Ultimately, passengers will be able to travel on these bullet trains at a speed of 220 miles per hour between San Francisco and Los Angeles and elsewhere.

At one time, there was a question as to whether we would even get a station in our area, and there were discussions that our local communities would have to pay for such a station if and when it was built. Due to the location selected for this first phase, our station became indispensable as part of the initial game plan, and full funding thereof is anticipated from federal and state monies. With the work already progressing to add two additional lanes to Highway 198 between Visalia and Hanford, Visalians will have easy access to the station. There is excitement in the air as we anticipate this new project, and what it will mean for local jobs, for boosting the local economy, and for the future. This is the train to prosperity! I have ridden the Shinkansen in Japan and the Eurostar in Europe, and high speed rail is a superior form of transportation.

Speaking of mass transit, the Visalia City Council has agreed to participate in a program with COS to initiate a COS student pass, commencing winter semester 2011. All students at COS will be charged $5.00 per semester, with COS contributing another $.40 per student per semester. In return, all enrolled students will receive a transit pass good on most fixed-route systems in the county. This pilot program has the goal of giving our students an affordable option for transportation, will hopefully cut down on some of the parking problems at COS, and will give them a taste for the benefits of public transit.

Finally, kudos to city staff and personnel for their prompt and efficient response to the recent rain storms that hit our area. While many citizens were just coming to terms with the 4+ inches of precipitation, city staff had opened up an emergency operations center in the basement of the downtown police department, where our city manager, Steve Salomon, and other personnel directed the city’s emergency response. Many of our city staffers stayed up throughout the first night directing workers at various ponding basins to make sure that pumps were in place and working and that waters were being discharged through local ditches and creeks to prevent flooding, similar to that which occurred in 2006 in the Cobblestone area. On Sunday, December 19, I drove around the community with my youngest daughter, and we observed our fire fighters and other city staff manning the pumps and hoses at these ditches and basins. Water damage was limited. Hats off to our city personnel for their quick and effective response.

If you have questions or topics regarding the city which you would like to have addressed in future articles, please email Warren at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313.

Warren Gubler

Visalia City Council Member

LOOKING BACK

As we come to the end of 2010, and anticipate 2011, it’s a good time to reflect upon the City of Visalia’s progress over the past year. The national economy is still moribund, and city government has attempted to stretch your tax dollars without raising taxes further. The construction industry locally is still off, but there are glimmers of better times on the horizon. Visalia is still a great place to live, raise families and do business. Our local economy will get better.

The local transit center expansion was completed, and the final touches are being put on construction at the Ben Maddox interchange and on Mooney Boulevard. The transit center expansion includes 31,371 square feet located just south of the existing transit building. It features twelve new bus bays, above each of which new monitors will display "real-time" bus arrivals and departures. The transit center provides a connection point and distribution center for various transit services. The transit center facilitates connections between Visalia transit, Dial-a-Ride, Visalia Town Trolley, Tulare County transit, Tulare City transit, Kings area rural transit, Sequoia Shuttle, Orange Belt Stages, Greyhound and a connection to Amtrak. Down the road, we hope that there will also be a connection to the new high-speed rail station located between Hanford and Visalia.

The following is a list of some new commercial development in 2010. Remember, these are pieces to the puzzle as we re-build Mooney Boulevard and the Visalia business climate in this economy. Eventually, the pieces will all fit together nicely in a complete mosaic.

Vallarta--The grand opening of this new supermarket was held September 22, in the Orchard Walk Shopping Center in north Visalia. This store exudes the fun and flavor of old Mexico with some unique offerings. A few weeks after its grand opening, I dropped by with my son to inspect some of their speciality items. I was amazed at how packed the store was with customers.

Hobby Lobby--This craft store will be opening December 27, 2010 in the old Mervyn’s location at the Sequoia Mall. This company is big time, with 462 stores in 39 states, especially strong in the Southeast and Midwest. Special kudos go to Mayor Link and city staff for encouraging Hobby Lobby to enter the California market here in Visalia first. Find out more at www.hobbylobby.com.

Rabobank--Rabobank is moving into the old Blockbuster Video store on South Mooney, next to the Sequoia Mall. They expect to be open by the end of December 2010. Another plus for the Sequoia Mall and its comeback.

Main Street Promenade--This development by The Mangano Co. broke ground earlier this year and the first phase is expected to be completed by Summer 2011. This is the first new office and retail development on Main Street in many years, and hopefully will lead to more investment in the east downtown area.

VWR International--In August 2010, VWR International LLC announced that it was building a new facility in Visalia’s industrial park. The facility, approximately 500,000 square feet, will be a distribution center. VWR is headquartered in Westchester, PA and is a global laboratory and distribution company with worldwide sales in excess of $3.5 billion dollars in 2009. The Visalia distribution center will act as a supply chain solution for this company in the western United States. The facility is expected to be operational in 2012 and will create many jobs locally.

The Habit--Coming soon to Visalia at the old Merle’s location across from COS. This company started in 1969 in the Santa Barbara area and now has 39 locations in California, Visalia will be its 40^th. I personally investigated their only location in the San Joaquin Valley, recently opened at Fig Garden Village in Fresno. I found the burgers, salads, shakes, sandwiches, fries and onion rings to be tasty, and reminiscent of 1950's dining. I particularly recommend their hot pastrami sandwich. Find out more at www.habitburger.com or take your own taste test in Fresno. I believe this to be an excellent solution to how to use and restore the old Merle’s location. I predict that the citizens of Visalia will enjoy frequenting this new business establishment, and that it will help rejuvenate North Mooney Boulevard.

Happy New Year to all!

If you have questions or topics regarding the city which you would like to have addressed in future articles, please email Warren at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313.

Warren Gubler

Visalia City Council Member

A SIGNITURE EVENT

In October, I made a quick trip to St. George, Utah to visit my parents who are in their 90's. Part of the reason for the timing of this trip was to check out the 24^th annual Huntsman World Senior Games. I had read about this event, and was curious to see if this would be something that we could explore doing in Visalia.

These Senior Games lasted for two weeks, and immediately followed the St. George marathon. The main criteria for qualifying for the Senior Games is that you must be at least 50 years old. You compete against people in your own age range, beginning with the age group 50-54, and every five years thereafter. The top age group was 95-99. I competed in the youngest age group, brought home a medal in the triple jump, and had a great time.

Over ten thousand people signed up for these games, coming from every state in the union and from many foreign countries. Barbados even sent a senior track team fully decked out in athletic garb and who apparently compete regularly on the senior circuit. There were 26 events, both individual and team competitions, including archery, basketball, cycling, golf, soccer, softball, track and field, swimming, and volleyball, along with some less common ones such as badminton, bridge, horseshoes, lawn bowling, square dancing and pickle ball. You might be wondering what pickle ball is. It is similar to tennis, but is played with something that looks like a wiffle ball, and a hard paddle similar to table tennis, but larger. This red-hot senior sport uses a court about 1/4 the size of a tennis court. Today, the sport boasts an estimated 100,000 adult players, more than triple the number in 2003.

The seniors who were attending these games brought not only their spunk, enthusiasm and fun-loving attitude to town, but their tourist dollars as well. As I drove around town, I noted that every hotel parking lot and RV park were filled to capacity, as were area restaurants. These seniors infused $10 million into that community during the two-week time span! I should mention that St. George, along with its adjoining towns, is approximately the size of Visalia. Their athletic facilities are comparable to ours, including their own new sports park with soccer and softball fields.

The entry fee for these games was approximately $100.00 per person. Multiply that by 10,000 entrants, you can do the math. This is in addition to the tourism dollars brought to town. The convention center was decked out with banners, and sales booths hocking all types of wares and goodies geared toward senior citizens. Volleyball teams competed in one of the large rooms at the convention center, and another large room was filled with ping pong tables and players. The city streets were also lined with banners advertising the Senior Games. Overall, it was a festive atmosphere around town. More information about the Huntsman World Senior Games can be found at www.seniorgames.net.

I wonder if this is something that we can promote here in Visalia. We have the physical facilities, beautiful weather (imagine senior games in the springtime), and tourist attractions such as downtown Visalia, national parks, ag tourism etc. We’ve seen the growth and success of the International Ag Show in Tulare. Why not bring such a signature event to Visalia, take advantage of our local resources, promote tourism and jumpstart the local economy? I made a power point presentation to the Visalia City Council on October 18, 2010. Imagine if we got together all the stake holders to begin such an annual event, i.e., the city, chamber of commerce, the hospital and health care professionals, service clubs, parks and recreation, schools, business people and senior citizens/volunteers. Does Visalia have the foresight and the determination to come up with its own signature event, such as senior games?

If you have questions or topics which you would like to have addressed in future articles regarding the city, please email me at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313.

Warren Gubler

Visalia City Council Member

CITY SALARY NEGOTIATIONS (Published in Visalia Times Delta)

Now that the city council has completed salary negotiations with our city employees, I want to share my thoughts and insights on this process. The City of Visalia has over 500 employees, whose salaries and benefits consume over 70% of our general funds (sales and property tax revenues).

The city’s fiscal year began July 1, 2010. We began our negotiations with the five bargaining groups (unions), representing our city employees in early March 2010. Plenty of time, right? No, these negotiations stretched into October before they were concluded. The city’s negotiating team, spent many hours with each union’s labor representatives and attorneys. These five employee bargaining groups include Group A (police managers and supervisors), Group B (Visalia police officers), Group E (miscellaneous supervisors and managers), Group G (Visalia firefighters), and Group M (miscellaneous employees).

Being faced with a $2.5 million deficit, the city council was tasked with closing the budget gap. The alternatives included deficit spending (think federal and state government), layoffs (Fresno and Clovis), bankruptcy (Vallejo), raising taxes (SLO), depleting our reserves and hoping the economy gets better soon (Pollyanna thinking) or reducing salaries and benefits. Numerous CA cities have required such reductions this year. Turlock city employees agreed to another 5% pay cut this year, after taking a 5% cut last year.

Our city council, through negotiations, achieved agreement with four of our employee groups. Group B and their negotiators, after months of meetings, declined the city’s last, best and final offer, such that for, the first time in city history, an imposition occurred. The imposition amount was equivalent to what the other four unions agreed to, i.e., approximately 4% pay decrease and reduced retirement benefits for new hires. The city council gave themselves a 4% pay cut also. The total resulting savings to Visalia taxpayers will be approximately $1,000,000.00, with the balance of the 2010 shortfall ($1,500,000.00) being paid from general fund reserves.

I address the following issues raised by some constituents and media:

1. All five unions and department heads were treated equivalently. Group A (police managers and supervisors) did not receive a 4% pay increase in 2009 while the other four employee groups did. Accordingly, we did not require another 4% pay cut from Group A in 2010. Each union is aware of what the other unions are negotiating, and treating them with disparity doesn’t work when a pay decrease is contemplated.

2. Repair and upkeep of the golf course is a separate line item in the budget. Sprinkler repairs are paid from green fees and revenues generated by the golf course. Funds generated by a city enterprise (golf course, water conservation plant, airport, etc.), are used for maintenance and improvements, and to pay for salaries/benefits for that enterprise’s employees. Each enterprise is expected to be self-supporting. Enterprise funds are not used to pay salaries and retirement benefits for city employees in other departments.

3. A pay raise does not equate to being tough on crime, nor does a decrease equate to being unconcerned about public safety. A 30% pay increase for police in SLO a couple of years ago hasn’t made their streets any safer, although it has contributed to that city’s financial disarray. Everyone is concerned about public safety and gang prevention efforts, and we appreciate our police and firefighters for all they do in our community, just as we appreciate the rest of our city staff. Visalia would be a much different place without their wonderful efforts. Pay increases and decreases are usually just a reflection of economic conditions and available revenues. Visalia public safety salaries compare favorably with Fresno, Clovis, as well as other communities in Tulare County.

4. The role of unions is to look out for their members and to obtain what concessions they can for them. The role of the city council is to consider not only our city employees, but our tax payers as well, and to be responsible in managing limited tax revenues, especially in a bad economy.

5. We are well past the July 1 new fiscal year. Eight months of negotiations is enough time to either reach agreement or imposition with the five unions. Everyone at the table understood that these negotiations could not go on forever.

6. City employees should not expect salary increases or benefits that are inconsistent with private industry. Many private citizens locally have lost their jobs or taken substantial pay cuts.

Quoting a letter from one employee, "I appreciate the fiscal responsibility that city leadership is taking in these tough economic times... . At the end of the day, I truly believe we are on the same team with the same goals for the betterment of our community." On behalf of all Visalia, I thank our city employees for what they do to make Visalia the clean, safe, and enjoyable city it is.