Troubled fire district ignites debate in Stanislaus election. Jobs are another priority.
Modesto Councilman Bill Zoslocki and Waterford Mayor Michael Van Winkle have political experience and are well connected in local government circles.
Matthew “Buck” Condit, a captain for Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District, is making his first bid for public office in an election in which the fire district is one of the issues.
The three are running for the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors in District 1, the seat that represents Oakdale, Riverbank, Waterford and part of Modesto. The March 3 primary is expected to whittle the field to two for a runoff in November, unless one of them gets more than 50 percent of the vote.
Former supervisor Bill O’Brien represented the area for 12 years, followed by former assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, who ran unopposed in 2016 and is not seeking a second term.
Van Winkle, 60, said his 11 years as Waterford’s mayor and experience on the Stanislaus Council of Governments and Local Agency Formation Commission, has prepared him for service at the county level.
As an electrician who commutes to the Bay Area, he said he knows the transportation and economic needs of working adults in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. More effort to boost economic development and living-wage jobs is a priority for the candidate.
“We can’t just keep building more freeways (for commuters),” said Van Winkle, who is chairman of LAFCo, a regional land use panel. “We need to have more serious conversations about building the high tech industries here. I have been a firm believer that improving the economy is about earning a living wage, affording housing and providing for your family.”
He said the former ammunition plant in Riverbank has rail access, and land in the foothills could be developed without destroying prime farmland.
None of the office seekers have dared to suggest business development in the politically sensitive Wood Colony area, which is west of Modesto and outside of District 1.
Condit said the county’s plan for an airport and business park at the former Crows Landing airfield near Patterson could increase employment opportunities. “We need to diversify the economy,” Condit said. “Let’s find those businesses that want to move to Stanislaus County and take advantage of our lower cost of housing.”
Zoslocki, 66, said completion of the North County Corridor, an expressway between Highway 99 and Oakdale, could open areas for business development possibly off of Claus Road. “The jobs are coming in this direction if we prepare for them,” Zoslocki said. “We need to make sure those industrial areas are in good shape” with water and sewer service and access to roads.
Zoslocki, whose second and final council term ends in 2022, made jobs a priority when he ran for the mayor’s office during the economic slump in 2011, finishing behind Brad Hawn and the ultimate victor, Garrad Marsh.
The Modesto councilman was involved with the North Valley Regional Recycled Water project that delivers highly treated wastewater to agriculture in western Stanislaus County. He’s one of the few original members of the county’s Water Advisory Committee, formed to study groundwater issues, that remains on the panel.
Zoslocki said a top priority is making sure the county and local irrigation districts secure water rights for agriculture against a state plan to reallocate flows from the Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers for fisheries.
Cycles of crime
Along with continued efforts to shelter and house the homeless, Zoslocki wants to focus attention on low-level crime. He said criminal justice reform in California has spawned numerous complaints about theft and burglary involving offenders who stay within the $950 threshold for misdemeanor charges in case they’re arrested.
Zoslocki wants the county to fully staff the Re-Entry and Enhanced Alternatives to Custody Training Center, or REACT, a 288-bed programming unit at the Public Safety Center designed to help inmates break cycles of crime. Repeat offenders could be placed in behavioral management, vocational training and accountability programs to help them change their ways.
“We are being hammered by people who know that $950 is the limit,” Zoslocki said. “I know it will cost some money to staff the REACT center — it will be in the millions — but isn’t the quality and improvement of our society worth it?”
Van Winkle said his qualifications for county office include his record as the top elected official in Waterford. He’s endorsed by the mayors of Oakdale, Riverbank and other cities in the county except for Hughson’s mayor, who is backing Condit.
Under his leadership, Waterford City Hall was rebuilt without incurring debt. The city has a new police station, development has occurred downtown and the water system that serves the city’s 9,100 residents was acquired from Modesto.
Van Winkle’s routine has been a 2:30 a.m. wakeup for a weekday commute to work, returning home at 4 p.m., and attending city meetings three nights a week.
The mayor has worked quite a bit on water matters and opposes the “water grab”, or the State Water Resources Control Board’s controversial proposal to reduce river diversions for agriculture. Gov. Gavin Newsom temporarily defused the conflict by adopting former Gov. Jerry Brown’s position to work out voluntary agreements with local irrigation districts.
Waterford recently began talks with Modesto and MID about securing a surface supply for Waterford customers, Van Winkle said, noting the state will soon expect cities to supplement wells with treated river water, as a way to prevent over-tapping of groundwater.
Fire district woes
Condit, 50, says his primary reason for running is public service, and public safety would be his top priority as a county supervisor. He adds that his 32 years in the fire service sets him apart from the other candidates.
Condit is an official spokesman for Stanislaus Consolidated, a fire district serving Riverbank, Waterford, Empire and portions of Modesto that’s been maligned in recent years for mismanagement, financial problems and the short tenure of its fire chiefs.
He’s running an active campaign with T-shirts, precinct walking and an offer to voters to book a “Chat with Captain Buck”. But is he running to put a friend of the fire district on the Board of Supervisors?
“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Condit said.
Stanislaus Consolidated has a key role in public safety in District 1, he said, and its partners should work on solutions to restore two stations that are closed. Condit, who is supported by firefighter unions, said he would retire from the fire service if elected to county leadership.
Van Winkle said the fire district is poorly managed and the most recent raises given to personnel were excessive. Waterford replaced its representative on the district’s appointed board this year, while Oakdale did not renew a service agreement with Stanislaus Consolidated and instead signed a contract for service with Modesto Fire Department.
“They are almost a million dollars over budget this year,” Van Winkle said of the fire district. “If they don’t figure out a way to get themselves organized they may be going under. ... As a fire captain, Buck needs to stand up and be more vocal on what needs to be done if he wants to be considered a leader.”
Zoslocki said an arrangement with Modesto fire for regional service may be possible if the situation worsens at Stanislaus Consolidated. Such an agreement, he said, could serve to reopen a fire station east of Modesto on Yosemite Boulevard, near The Fruit Yard; that station was closed in October due to the $925,000 budget shortfall.
Condit noted that not all is well with criminal justice and public safety in the county. The Sheriff’s Department has finally recovered from the recession, he said, but the county needs to deal with a shortage of prosecutors in the District Attorney’s office.
Helping the homeless
Zoslocki said the county and Modesto were the most effective in the state in responding to the federal court decision that lifted restrictions on where the homeless can sleep. The Modesto Outdoor Emergency Shelter was created last year and the tent city was closed and vacated almost on time when additional shelter space was opened in November.
Condit said the effort is headed in the right direction, but county residents also want to hear about success in getting people off the streets. Drug treatment and recovery services will be essential in rebuilding lives, the fire captain said.
“I have crawled inside caves dug in the side of the riverbank to treat (the homeless) and talk to them,” Condit said. “All of them have said they had drug issues. We need to offer them services so they have the help they need.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 3:02 PM.
