Envisioning Modesto as a mecca that doesn't grow

By C.V. Allen

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Ah, yes, here we go again. An alphabet soup of pro-growth measures in the never-ending saga of how and whether Modesto should grow when all around us is the answer -- of course we will grow -- like it or not. The economic and political gods demand it.

You may not know this but I was the first president of GOAL (Growth, Orderly, Affordable, Livable, a quadruple oxymoron if there ever was one) when the first Measure A was on the ballot in the '70s. I was just a figurehead while good people like Peggy Mensinger, Sue Siefkin and others did the heavy lifting. And of course, we won, slaying forever the evil empire of builders, developers and outside money and thus saving Modestans from overcrowding, congestion and disappearing farm land. Right?

Well, not really. I think we had a population of 60,000 then, with 10 percent unemployment, and were just beginning to worry about things like crowding, congestion, etc.

Yes, a recession did slow population growth for a bit, but soon it began again its inevitable march to today's 200,000 and the measures now before us that do nothing to slow it. The Bee, which should know better, gives tepid support to several of them, using the oldest excuse of all to justify it -- jobs.

This ignores the unwritten but inescapably valid law that says for every 100 people coming to Modesto, at least 10 must be unemployed. True in 1965 (40,000) and even more true in 2009 (200,000).

And now, in addition to A through Z growth choices, we have a group of well intentioned citizens who want to change our image -- maybe even changing our motto? I have suggested we just add a question mark: "Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health?" To what purpose do we tilt at windmills?

It is now time for me to release the Allen plan for future growth: check points at all entry roads to Modesto (or Stanislaus County?). Each entering citizen would be given one of three passes:

A. You live here, so you can come and go as you wish;

B. You have a six-month pass to visit but must then leave or we come and throw you out, or

C. A four-hour pass to have dinner and see a show at the Gallo center and then leave -- ankle bracelets with timers.

OK, so there are some minor constitutional hang-ups but we'll find a way. Too many children? A knock on the door and eviction. Nyet on any sewer line.

What would this bring in 2109? From Redding in the north to Fresno in the south, a pure, congested, asthmatic, unemployed mass of non-farming humanity broken by one small green spot of 200,000 happy, contented citizens now part of the new "Central California National Park" (Ken Burns, note) where people can come from the rest of California and exclaim - "so this is what it used to look like!"

Failing that, just vote "no" from A to Z -- it won't make any difference but you may feel better.

Allen is a semi-retired Modesto physician. Write him at columns@modbee.com.