Stanislaus board candidates joust over spending. Do they support Patterson reservoir?
Three candidates from Ceres are running for the District 5 seat on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.
Ceres council members Channce Condit and Michael Kline and City Attorney Tom Hallinan routinely work alongside each other at City Council meetings. But one of them will leave when elected to succeed county Supervisor Jim DeMartini, who is retiring after 16 years.
DeMartini has represented a sprawling district that includes Ceres, part of south Modesto, Patterson and Newman. The top two finishers in the March 3 primary move on to the November election unless one garners more than half the votes.
In District 5, the hot-button issue is a proposed reservoir in Del Puerto Canyon just west of Patterson. In a county with a long history of agriculture fed by the state’s massive dams and storage reservoirs, the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir has stoked emotions among Patterson residents regarding flood risk, insurance costs and loss of a scenic canyon.
Hallinan, 58, said he met with residents opposing the dam and will meet with proponents before taking a position on the project.
“The concerns of the community need to be seriously addressed in the (environmental impact report),” Hallinan said this week in a Modesto Bee editorial board session. He added, “It is tough to get water storage (projects approved) and you should not let one get by when you have a chance to develop it.”
Condit, 30, promised to bring a fresh perspective and weigh the options, but he thinks a water storage project will benefit the community and residents.
“I understand there are different locations that are options and I will look at them equally,” Condit said. “That being said, I believe California for far too long has lagged behind on water storage and water projects.”
Kline, 61, said he sees no need for the dam, which would sacrifice agricultural land.
Proposed by Del Puerto Water District and partners, the 800-acre storage reservoir for agriculture will mostly inundate grazing land and natural habitat along Del Puerto Creek. Its cost is estimated between $400 million and $500 million.
Hallinan, an attorney for Churchwell White of Sacramento, provides legal services for Ceres, Patterson and Newman. The former trustee for the Yosemite Community College District has endorsements from Sheriff Jeff Dirkse, the Stanislaus Sworn Deputies Association and the three mayors in the supervisorial district.
Hallinan said his knowledge and decades of local government experience will be valuable at the county level. “I have a reputation of working well with everybody,” Hallinan said. “The county and the cities need to be partners, not rivals.”
He said he can bring the county, Patterson and Newman together on utility issues and other concerns raised by the county plan for an airport and business park at the former Crows Landing airfield.
Kline was first elected to the Ceres council in 2011. He said county government could benefit from his experience with budgets, staffing levels and setting standards for cannabis dispensaries. He wants to raise county Sheriff’s Department staffing to a level meeting the county’s needs.
“I am very approachable,” Kline said. “I live and work within the city. The citizens know me.”
Two Condits on Stanislaus County Board?
The county election could possibly install two Condits on the Board of Supervisors. Channce is a cousin of Matthew “Buck” Condit, who is running to represent the Oakdale-Riverbank area. Channce assured that each would bring his own perspective to county governance if both are elected.
Channce Condit endorsed former state senator Anthony Cannella for the District 5 seat last year and then pulled papers after Cannella decided not to run.
Condit is an economic development specialist for Opportunity Stanislaus, focusing on business retention and attraction. His skills could be used to help the county recruit businesses and expand employment opportunities, Condit said, noting that the plan for business development and thousands of jobs at the former Crows Landing airfield needs to get rolling.
Other priorities for Condit are public safety and improving county unincorporated neighborhoods that lack basic services
The candidate said he favors more equity in tax-sharing between the county and its nine cities. “That will make our cities stronger and will benefit our county as a whole,” Condit said. “The county gets the larger share of tax revenue. I do believe the cities know how to best use their tax dollars.”
Disagreements among candidates
Condit gives an average score to city governance in Ceres, saying the community center creates a $1.5 million budget deficit for the city. He said Hallinan has not been involved in difficult council votes. And he criticized Kline’s vote last year to approve an “unbalanced” city budget.
“I voted against it,” Condit said, adding: “The only law enforcement group that has worked with all of us is the Ceres Police Officers Association. They have endorsed me and I am proud of that endorsement.”
Condit proposes to earmark fee revenue from permitted cannabis businesses for homeless prevention, mental health services, life skills and job training to help people get off the streets. Condit and Kline disagreed when Condit suggested a couple of months ago that all funds from a cannabis testing lab in Ceres be devoted to law enforcement.
Kline said that cannabis funding placed in the city general already supports public safety, which accounts for almost 80 percent of general fund spending. While Condit warned that cannabis funds placed in the general fund could be spent on higher administrative salaries, Kline countered his fellow councilman was making an issue over $24,000 in annual fee revenue.
Regarding the Ceres budget, Kline said the community center has never paid for itself but the annual budget is essentially balanced. He noted that Condit has twice voted against a project that would provide treated surface water for Ceres and other cities through a partnership with Turlock Irrigation District.
Hallinan said the Sheriff’s Department should get most of the county’s funding received from legal cannabis operations. Efforts to shut down illegal grows are vitally important, he stressed, because of the hazardous materials and safety risks for neighborhoods. He said the Sheriff’s office needs the tools for the job.
The three candidates said the district attorney’s office is a county department that needs improvement.
Kline said homeless people who commit misdemeanors under criminal justice reform should fear prosecution or they won’t change their lifestyle. “We are encouraging repeat offenders who know they are not going to be prosecuted for thefts under $950,” Kline said.
Hallinan said city attorneys have wanted to prosecute quality-of-life offenses, such as drug possession or public urination, but District Attorney Birgit Fladager denied the request five years ago and suggested the cities provide the DA with funds for prosecution.
“It won’t cost any more money,” Hallinan said. “If I am on the Board of Supervisors, I am going to address that on Day 1.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 9:05 AM.
