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Articles from
June 2008
Benefit for the Diaz Family
Monday, June 30, 2008 ::
1 Comments
This is from my favorite person that works for Duane Chamberlain in his county office on a full-time basis.
This Wednesday(July 2nd) from 4:00 PM until closing, 8:00 PM, Ono Teriyaki (on the corner of Beamer and East St in Woodland) will be giving away dinners for donations to the children of Tony Diaz. All proceeds will go directly into their trust accounts.
Robert Taura, the owner of Ono Teriyaki is donating all the food.
Please tell everyone you know to at least stop by and drop off some money
(tax deductibility is being worked out at this time). Tony had such a positive impact on everyone who met him.
Please help to honor him and contribute to his children's future on this day, July 2nd, 2008.
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Grand Jury Report Today
Monday, June 30, 2008 ::
0 Comments
I think we will know what the Grand Jury report shows later today.
This is always a big day for local governments in the county. The rumor is that the group of folks on the GJ did an exceptional job this year.
I am looking forward to reading their findings.
My observation from last year still stands. They have a really cool name "Grand Jury" but are they going to tell me a little bit about themselves so I can determine if they are well qualified to critique public administrators running large organizations. They certainly have the right and responsibility but do they have the experience?
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Good grief
Monday, June 30, 2008 ::
0 Comments
The traffic today has been amazing.
As of 0616 we are at 3668 for the day.
I am going to have to find out what the record is for this site. I don't remember.
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My fortune cookie
Monday, June 30, 2008 ::
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My fortune cookie at lunch recently read "A SHORT STRANGER WILL SOON ENTER YOU LIFE WITH BLESSINGS TO SHARE".
I think it means this little guy on the tractor with my Dad.
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Public Calendar
Monday, June 30, 2008 ::
1 Comments
I have been toying with the idea of making my complete calendar available on-line here at rexroad.com.
In the end, I have nothing to hide and would like more things made public.
The reason I have decided not to do that is security. If I go and toss up where I am going to be at any one particular moment that means people would know when I am not home. That just will not work for me. I just can't get there with a wife and two small children.
I may work on something that comes a few days later -- after the events. For example, people did not need to know that I was out of town this weekend with no one watching my house.
I also don't want to keep multiple calendars. I just throw it all in so I am not going to have a Yolo Conty, Meridian, and family calendar. That is just too much fuss.
Any ideas?
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Needle Exchange -- one more thing
Monday, June 30, 2008 ::
1 Comments
It is 0108 and I can't sleep.
I realize that many of you think that my objection to this needle exchange program is because you think I am some sort of right wing nut job. I get that. Certainly part of my objection is that these drug users need to take responsibility for their actions.
The real objection I have is as a father. I am probably the member of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors that uses the play equipment in our parks the most. I am probably the elected official in Yolo County that uses our local parks the most --- just due to the age of my kids. Abbie is 4 and Adam is 22 months.
The comments that come in support of my position on this are not my Republican friends. They are coming from my friends and neighbors that are parents -- with no regard for politics. My wife is far more liberal than I am and she is really fired up over this. She wants to write a letter to all of my colleagues and let them have it. For those of you that don't know my wife - that is saying a ton.
The parents are the ones that find beer bottles in the sand area, used condoms on the lawn, burn marks on equipment, and written words on the playground equipment. We are also the ones that provide our own security in the park when random little gang bangers come walking through the park.
These are the people that are most appalled by the needle exchange program. To them it a choice to take care of the drug user with the risk being carried by their children.
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Needles in the Park
Sunday, June 29, 2008 ::
0 Comments
I have so much to write about this needle exchange program. Thank you for all the nice calls, e-mails, and letters.
This is something I have opposed from the start.
The original proposal was to not even require an exchange. Needles would just get handed out. Wrong. Yamada and Chamberlain joined me to block that. Thanks to both of them on that.
The Woodland City Council is right to be upset. As far as people saying they did not know anything about it...come on.
Post from May 2, 2007.
Post from April 29, 2007.
Post from June 20, 2007.
Post from July 30, 2007.
I am concerned about two groups of people here. They are the people that clean our parks and the families that use them. For me, the safety of the injection drug user is a very very distant third concern.
My concern for the people that use the parks and the people that clean them will guide my efforts from here on out.
If you notice the final post has an Matier and Ross column on what happened in Golden Gate Park. I passed this out right in the middle of the Board meeting.
These kinds of things are going to continue to be a problem.
If the program is not going to go away let's make it as safe as possible for our kids.
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Yolo County Crunch Time
Sunday, June 29, 2008 ::
0 Comments
Yolo County seems to be facing a number of challenges right now. We have the school district issues, the Grand Jury report is about to come out, the Abrahams death, the killing of Deputy Diaz, needle exchange issues, and the court room drama. This seems to be a long list for our area.
I spent some time this weekend thinking about all of these things.
In my life I have led and been part of some large organizations. Some really good. Some really bad. I have also made some major leadership mistakes. Some of those mattered a great deal. Some did not matter at all.
What I know for sure is that in large organizations people make some bad decisions. Actually, in every organization people make bad decisions. How you deal with those mistakes can be a way to classify the good organizations from the bad.
Not all of the issues we are currently struggling with are the same. Not by a long shot. Here are some factors to consider.
Time
In the case of the court room issues this is the most compelling reason that I'm not that concerned. It appears to me that a couple bad decisions were made independently. They were made with the opportunity to reflect on the situation and needed to be made under some difficulty. You have to give some people some slack here.
The Woodland Police Officers in the Abrahams case also did not have the luxury of time.
In the case of the school district building purchase plenty of time was involved. Certainly this decision should face greater scrutiny since those that made it had the opportunity to completely analyze the decision.
Was it wrong?
The courthouse issue does not even need to have an analysis done. It was wrong. Everyone admits it.
With Abrahams -- we don't know yet and may not.
With the school district -- people can disagree.
Available remedy - can you fix it?
In the court room case what can you do to fix the wrong? Not much except make sure it does not happen again. Clearly it was wrong but what can we really do to fix it?
Nothing will bring back Abrahams. His family is seeking monetary compensation but nothing will bring back their son. If something was done wrong by the officers then further training may be necessary.
For the school district I guess a fourth vote could put things in motion to attempt to get out of the purchase agreement. So in that case I guess it can be fixed.
Who pays the price?
I went through a difficult time in my business a few years ago with the actions of a young employee. It was an amazing learning experience for my, my company, and a young man with a promising career.
It is easy to throw people under the bus. It is impossible to get them back out from under it.
In a time when people seem to be hungry for blood I think true leaders resist the cries to drop a dime on someone that made a mistake. In the case of the courthouse drama I think Sheriff Prieto needed to stand up for his deputies. My experience in the Marine Corps tells me that if he would have dropped the dime on one of his deputies in that forum the morale problems within the department would have been huge.
Many commentators have been looking at this case in isolation. Sheriff Prieto is going to need to run his department long after the media attention has moved on to others things. A true leader looks beyond the short term ease. I think he did that here -- even if it was a bit awkward.
If elected officials are going to pay the price of the scrutiny then I am all for it. That is what we are paid to do. That is what we asked the community to trust us to do.
What I think is unfair is to force a deputy or young Woodland Police Officer to be tried in the newspaper without them having the skills or the ability to defend themselves. You want to pick on me, Judge Rosenberg, Sheriff Prieto, Mike McGowan, School Board President Carol Souza Cole -- go for it. We are fair game. Even Chief Sullivan should be expected to be able to represent his department.
I have a problem when we ask people that have never sought public attention to behave normally when they suddenly get it. A different standard is appropriate for some people. Think about. Sports writers do it all the time. Kevin Garnett is not given the same sort of slack that is given to OJ Mayo.
Who is there to fix it?
The other reason that I am not that worried about the courtroom issue is the people that are there. I disagree with Judge Rosenberg on a ton of issues. I probably disagree with Prieto on issues too.
What I know for sure is that Rosenberg is a very hard working, very bright, very shy of bad press. He will not let that happen again. As far as Prieto goes, I like the guy. I also really like Under Sheriff Tom Lopez. In my 18 months on the board I have enjoyed working with both of them. They know what they are doing. They compliment each other well and will fix this. They know a problem exists now we just need to let them do their thing.
In terms of the Woodland Police Department -- I love this department. Chief Sullivan and everyone there has a special place in my heart. They always will. They are professional and just need a fair shake. If a problem is found -- they will fix it.
At the school district I think this is where some questions remain. Who will be there? The Superintendent is gone and now I am not sure what will happen in the future. I do like Carol Souza Cole but I am not sure what the Board as a whole is doing.
Finally, some of these things don't need to be done in public. [Please start breathing again Jim Smith and DPD. Hear me out.] Some of these things, not all of them, are basically personnel decisions. Public hangings are floggings may get headlines and make people feel better but it will not make the organization better. With organizations of dozens or hundreds of people the most important thing is to make sure the incident does not happen again. That is a given. Real leaders make sure them same kind of related thing does not happen again because the lesson is learned throughout the organization that can be applied to the same and somewhat similar situations in the future.
The Daily Democrat's last editorial on the issue mentioned some actions to be taken in the personnel files of county employees. That clearly is something that does not need to happen on the front page of the newspaper.
These are opportunities to grow. Let's do that.
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Re-entry facility
Sunday, June 29, 2008 ::
1 Comments
This post could go on for days. Where to start?
First, the rules have changed several times during the time Yolo County has attempted to administer some of the provisions of AB 900.
I disagree with this part of the editorial in the paper today -- "From all outward appearances, Yolo County officials have been trying to hide discussions on a future site for a "prison" on a 15-acre lot, capable of accommodating 500 inmates plus 350 workers." Here is the full editorial.
We have never hidden anything.
For those people like "The By Hell Chronicles" and Leslie Phardresher in her letter to the editor today I am amazed that I show up in Zamora at their invitation to explain what the deal is and then they attack me. I can tell you that if something like this was happening in Woodland I would want to be the one explaining it to the people I represent. That is my job.
As for where to put this thing -- I think it is more consistent with industrial zoning than anything else. That is my opinion. I discussed this option with the City of Woodland in a 2x2 meeting that was publicly noticed that no one from the press or pubic decided to show up too. In fact, Supervisor Chamberlain sat right there in the meeting. Please look at the record of public notices you will see that re-entry facility has been openly discussed multiple times.
I have two reasons that I think we need a re-entry facility in the area.
First, our current system of corrections and the state level is a disaster. Re-entry facilities are the kinds of things we need to stop wasting money on a "rehabilitation system" that does not really exist.
Second. $30 million. By siting one of these facilities in the county that comes with 375 good jobs on 15 acres the county makes $30 million toward our jail expansion.
Several of the people in Zamora said we should pull the application. One guy after the meeting said no amount of money was worth it. As a fiscal conservative I just can't buy that. $30 million is $30 million.
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Dave Flory is my friend
Sunday, June 29, 2008 ::
0 Comments
I have been basically out of commission since Flory's party on Tuesday night. Actually, even earlier than that. It was Monday night. Lots of blog about. Lots to comments on.
I will start with Jim Smith's column about Woodland Mayor Dave Flory. I do love Dave. I do hate his hat.
Dave will be missed.
He was great to work with on numerous projects. I respect him and thank him for all his years of service to Woodland.
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Point Lobos for our anniversary
Sunday, June 29, 2008 ::
0 Comments
Jenn and I celebrated seven years of marriage on Saturday. On Friday we dropped the kids off at Grandma's house and then headed to Point Lobos State Reserve. What an amazing place to spent a day hiking.
We stayed at a great place, ate great food, and spent some needed time together without our kids.
I am very thankful for my wife.
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Needle Exchange -- all over town
Thursday, June 26, 2008 ::
0 Comments
The Yolo County needle exchange program was on the front page of the Daily Democrat last night. Then, right as I was falling to sleep I saw this on Channel 3. It has Woodland CIty manager Mark Deven and Dr. Bette Hinton in it.
Then I just found this piece on the Channel 13 site with Dave Flory and Helen Thomson quoted.
I will post more later today on this issue. I have not had time to realize all this was going on.
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Yolo Post 77 Newsletter
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 ::
0 Comments
I just got a copy of the Yolo Post 77 newsletter. Download it here. It has a picture in it of McGowan and I presenting the Memorial Day resolution to the Post.
McGowan wore his pink shirt that day. It represented the "old corps".
Semper Fidelis.
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This is the hat I gave Dave
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 ::
0 Comments
This it the hat I presented to Flory last night at the Gibson Mansion. The key to the city was a gift from the City Council. I also gave him a framed copy of the resolution posted below.
Thank you for your service Mayor Flory.
If you look closely -- the guy in the background is Art Pimentel. Art is praying that Skip Davies will stop picking on him.
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Flory Resolution
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 ::
1 Comments
CERTIFICATE OF RIDDANCE AND CONDEMNATION
PRESENTED TO
DAVID MICHAEL FLORY
WHEREAS, David M. Flory began his assault on his community when elected to the City Council, beginning his first term on April 19, 1988; and was re-elected to Council on April 21, 1992, and again on April 9, 1996; and just wouldn’t go away; and then
WHEREAS, Dave began his first term as Mayor on March 19, 2002; and,
WHEREAS, Dave worked with the best Mayor in Woodland’s history from 2004 to 2006, the community, reluctantly, came to terms that Dave would begin his second term as Mayor on March 7, 2006; and,
WHEREAS, the good news is that Dave will be followed by an even better Mayor in 2008; and
WHEREAS, God has shown his mercy, as Dave shalt not run for a sixth term as a Woodland City Council Member; and,
WHEREAS, Dave has been a member either personally, professionally, spiritually, or by lingering smell on extensive Boards, Committees, and Commissions, blah, blah, blah, and countless other resume inflating endeavors; and,
WHEREAS, Dave’s intense interest in the Woodland Downtown has been evident in the closure of his own business, Flory Jewelers; with infrastructure enhancements, such as backward facing benches on Main Street; and in his role as Honorary Mayor, wearing that stupid top hat that just about everyone hates, to many downtown events, embarrassing himself beyond belief, and annoying the entire community; and,
WHEREAS, in addition to his duties as a Member of the City Council and owning and operating his own business, Dave raised his two children, Mindy Flory Dodge and David Flory (who now have to deal with him full-time), and who enjoys immensely his grandson, Riley Dodge, who tries unsuccessfully to keep his grandfather out of trouble.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Yolo County Third District Office, past, present and future, and the citizens of this community thank God, and commend David Michael Flory for retiring from political office, wishing him well in all his future, personal, and professional endeavors. Woodland is truly a better community through the departure of Dave Flory. Bu-bye.
Issued this 24th day of June, 2008.
________________________________________
Matt Rexroad, Yolo County Supervisor
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Tonight at Gibson House
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 ::
0 Comments
Tonight after a long board meeting some of us will by hosting a party for Woodland Mayor Dave Flory.
We have a couple cool things for him.
I am not sure if it is Flory being free from Woodland or Woodland being free from Flory.
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Do I smoke?
Monday, June 23, 2008 ::
0 Comments
I have never smoked anything in my life.
It is quite clear to me that today just by living in this area -- I did more damage to my lungs then hanging out in a smoking area in a Nevada casino.
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Tonight in Zamora
Monday, June 23, 2008 ::
5 Comments
Tonight I headed up to Zamora to attend a meeting of the Zamora Advisory Committee.
They were concerned about two things. First the water ordinances.
The main issue of the night was the proposed re-entry facility to be located in the I-505 area. It was pretty clear that not one person in the room supported the idea of Yolo County locating a re-entry facility in Yolo County other than me.
What I heard tonight from most people was -- anywhere but here. Some people did bring up some issues of traffic and water but mostly they don't want the facility to be located there.
The reality is that we are talking about $30 million from the state to be included in the Capital Improvement Plan for Yolo County. The people there felt that $30 million was not enough and that it was a sell out.
From my view we are trying to make good economic decisions for Yolo County. It needs to go somewhere.
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Sometimes you get exactly what you ask for
Monday, June 23, 2008 ::
0 Comments
I get lots of paper. Lots of paper sent to my office.
I would like to get all my agendas sent to me electronically if at all possible. My business is going paperless and the county is moving in that direction.
So last night I realized that I did not have an agenda for the LAFCO meeting today. When I called about it -- Elizabeth said they e-mailed it to me. She was right.
LAFCO is actually sending this stuff to me electronically and now I am using it that way. No huge stack of paper. No postage. Saves money and time.
In the future all this stuff will be on the computer. I am looking forward to that.
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Woodland Wiki
Monday, June 23, 2008 ::
0 Comments
Surf Putah brought Woodland Wiki to my attention. I have some vague memory of this from the past but can't place it.
This whole Wiki thing is something that I just don't really understand.
For those of you into this kind of thing -- here is the link.
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The biggest bang for the buck
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
3 Comments
I admit it. I don't like the needle exchange program. I just never will think that is a good thing to do when we risk harming park employees and kids. So set all that that aside.
I ask you to just think about the best use of $100,000 annually. For me I would rather give 50 cents back to every Yolo County resident.
It seems that since I have been a Supervisor I have heard how much money certain programs save. It goes something like this -- "You should be happy to spent $x million here because we would have to save $5x million in the emergency room or [fill in the blank] if we didn't have this program.
So let's assume that I can't give the money back to the taxpayers and instead am forced to spend it on health care within county government.
I don't know for sure what the biggest bang for the buck is in terms of health care dollars -- but I have a good idea. I would rather spend the money on prenatal care or health care for kids. Even if you could convince me that the $100,000 on needle exchange saves $100,000.01 at some other place you will never convince me that spending this on prenatal care, health insurance for kids, or dental care for kids doesn't give you an even greater return.
So even if I set aside all my other issues I just don't think this is the best use of our public resources.
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7 Years Ago Today
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
1 Comments
My seven year anniversary is coming up on Saturday. Seven years ago today Jenn moved to Woodland. We then eloped to Napa and then to Spain a few days later. Big scandal -- but the right way to do it.
At this point I had a $150,000 house at 380 Quail Drive with --
1 bed (my dad made)
1 dresser (my dad made)
1 kitchen table with chairs (my dad made)
1 folding table (aka "desk")
1 chair in front of the folding table (aka "desk chair)
1 bean bag chair - my brother didn't want it
1 color television - bought in high school
1 leather chair - my dad didn't want it
Everything I owned fit in the back of my Ford pick-up.
Seven years later we haul more crap around then I owned just to take the kids to the tractor show.
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What is going on?
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
0 Comments
It is not even 2pm yet and we have had 4,000 page views today. For a Sunday that is a ton.
Did I leave an 'l" out of "public safety" somewhere? I did that once.
It must be the Flory countdown clock. Woodlanders either want to be free of Flory or Flory wants to be free of Woodland.
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Big week coming up
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
0 Comments
There is a ton of stuff going on this week.
Monday -- LAFCO in the morning and then later that night I am headed up to Zamora to talk about the re-entry facility with Duane.
Tuesday -- Schools meeting in the morning then regular board meeting all day. That night we have the Flory Party at Gibson Mansion.
Wednesday we have Yolo County 101 on the County Budget. Pat Leary will be the speaker. This is perfect timing to discuss the topic.....and I love Pat Leary. She is great.
Thursday I have an Administration of Justice for CSAC in Sacramento, a meeting about the Court House in Woodland in the afternoon and then have a meeting at the Housing Authority that night to talk about foreclosures.
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Supply is not the long term solution
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
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The national debate right now about energy policy is fascinating to me because most people are not talking about the same thing.
The oil people are talking about supply. That seems to be the answer to everything. I will agree that the quickest (not the best) way to drive down fuel prices is a bunch of oil to be dumped into the market to drive prices down. That could be from the Middle East, Bakersfield, Venezuela, Canada or Alaska -- does not matter.
The real issue on supply of energy is a way that will see fewer emissions. That answer is NUCLEAR power. Suck it up and make it happen. This is the one thing the French do that it right.
The answer to all of this is reduced demands. We have a current system can't be maintained. We are burning oil reserves in a manner that will continue to see fuel costs go too high. Demand is changing as people are altering their behavior due to the $4.50 per gallon gas.
We just need to use less oil. Much less oil.
That is the way we really make some changes in the world.
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Blog on Climate Change
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
0 Comments
At our Friday meeting of Yolo County local government on climate change a new blog was brought to my attention. I have not really checked it out too much but I will be giving it a chance over the coming weeks.
Read it here.
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20 years of rule --- about to end
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
0 Comments
For twenty years Dave Flory has been there on the Woodland City Council. That is about to end.
Webmaster Bob has even allowed Woodlanders to see the "Countdown to Freedom" when Flory is not on the City Council.
Look to right.
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Courthouse Security
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
0 Comments
Yolo County Courts have taken a beating over the past week. Articles and editorials have appeared in the Daily Democrat, Davis Enterprise, and the Sacramento Bee.
Today Hudson Sangree has this piece in the Sacramento Bee about the history of Yolo County on this issue.
Doug Paul Davis even got in on the act with this post on Friday and then followed with this post on Saturday.
At this point I would think that anything further would be piling on. Here is why: Judge David Rosenberg.
I realize that Rosenberg is a Judge now and no longer a member of the Board of Supervisors. It doesn't matter. This is a guy that does not like negative press. Hates it. He will smash this fly with the largest sledgehammer ever.
We are likely to end up with simulcast court hearings broadcast on monitors in local barbershops after this is over. Arco Arena may soon be used as overflow seating for Yolo Courts. I typed this in jest as an extreme but now that I look at it I am not so sure this isn't possible.
Clearly a mistake was made by someone. I am not sure who. I really don't care.
I am confident in two things. Rosenberg knocking heads to prevent this from ever happening again and Sheriff Prieto training his deputies to handle the situation better in the future. I also think it is important that Prieto didn't throw his deputies under the bus. He took the heat and that is appropriate leadership.
The Enterprise and the Democrat put this incident in the context of historical events. That to me is a little more appropriate than the Sacramento Bee editorial that just made a big deal out of this one incident. Of course, Sangree one-uped everyone with his piece today on the historical issues. I am writing a letter to the Bee editors to take issue with parts of their editorial.
What happened this past week was wrong. It appears to me that it was also wrong in the Anderson case and Stevens case yet I don't remember anyone mentioning a problem back then. Why not?
We don't hire our deputies in Yolo County to deal with the press and we surely don't want reporters or editors in charge of security in the Court House. In this case the press is right on the broader issue but I think people really are just piling on. There is no doubt in my mind that this issue will be more than handled.
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Best Show on Tracks -- pretty cool
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
0 Comments
So yesterday I took Abbie and Adam out to the Best Show on Tracks.
We waited too long. We should have gone out first thing in the morning. It was way too hot for my kids.
We got there, got in the stroller and headed out to look at the stuff. Adam was thrilled. This was perfect for him. He likes trucks, trains, and things like that. Tractors are cool with him too.
After about 30 minutes my kids were melting from the heat -- at 22 months and 4 years old they just weren't going to be able to hang.
We were on our way out the door when we saw the Woodland Fire Trucks. Of course we had to stop and see those. The seats were too hot for them to sit on without burning their legs so they just stood on the rails.
Twenty minutes after this picture was taken we were sitting in Savory ordering pancakes.
I am going to try and get back out there this afternoon without the kids. They certainly are doing a good job with the logistics.
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Board Meeting on Tuesday --June 24th
Sunday, June 22, 2008 ::
0 Comments
We have quite a few agenda items that are important on Tuesday.
I just finished reading my agenda package. Here are some things that will include some discussion on Tuesday.
Tuesday is my annual opportunity to vote against the "Pride Resolution". I would imagine I will have four opportunities to do this while serving on the Board.
The consent calendar includes accepting the report on the relocation of the Fairgrounds.
We are going to talk about the plans for the Yolo County Cultural and History Center.
In the afternoon we have a resolution about the Delta. People won't care much about this now -- but it is really important for Yolo County.
The afternoon also involves a discussion of SAFCA being involved with the Knaggs Ranch purchase. I have very mixed feelings about this whole thing.
Finally, we have a proposed ordinance about a county process to deal with requests for alcoholic beverages. I need to read this whole thing more closely but will probably be casting a NO vote. We pass out needles for drug use in Woodland parks without a thought but heaven forbid someone in Zamora has someplace close by where they can get a beer.
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Gibson House Last Night
Friday, June 20, 2008 ::
0 Comments
Last night I went to the Gibson House for an annual event where we celebrate the work of the Friend of the Yolo Archives, the Gibson House Museum Board, and the Yolo County Historical Society.
It was a good event with lots of nice people that are dedicated to Yolo County. Almost everyone there is a long time volunteer.
You can see Dr. Cleve Baker right in front of where I took this picture. He was the musical warm up.
Two stories you need to know.
First, the people at my table told a great story about how Dotty tipped a table over. It had me rolling.
The other is that even though my 99-year old grandmother spent years working at the museum, and my wedding reception was there -- I still think of it as the place I went to a haunted house when I was about 6 ye. My Dad and I walked through the front door and turned to our right.
There wee two college-aged girls there stirring a large smoking pot of something. They told me it was a pot of little boy tongue stew. It scared me to death. Now, some 35 years later that is still what I think about when I drive down Gibson Road.
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Flag Day with Abbie
Friday, June 20, 2008 ::
0 Comments
I took Abbie to the Flag Day event yesterday. Mike McGowan did a great job speaking..even if he is from the old Corps.
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Statement of the Vote
Friday, June 20, 2008 ::
0 Comments
Freddie Oakley and I disagree on same-sex marriage but I sure do like the way her office presents election information.
Today I got my Statement of the Vote from the June 3rd election.
Here is some of the things I found interesting in the report.
In the breakdown of the Woodland City Council election between Absentee and Election Day voters --
Art Pimentel went from 25.1% of absentees to 27.20% of the election day voters. Many of these votes must have come at the expense of Dote and Monroe. They actually both got 2% less of the vote on election day than in the absentees.
7,798 ballots were cast in the City of Woodland for a turn out of 32%.
So with 7,798 ballots we had 23,394 potential votes to cast for City Council. Only 19,161 were cast. 4,233 votes were not cast for City Council. This could be bullet voting or people that just thought to vote for one or none.
For Assembly --- Yamada did about the same on election day (52.12%) as she did with absentee voters (51.24%).
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Focus Groups in Woodland
Thursday, June 19, 2008 ::
1 Comments
I got a call last night from Nicholas Research looking for members of a focus group. I got thrown out because I work in the business and am an elected official.
It is pretty clear to me it is something about the Rumsey Tribe and the University since those were two of the other items that disqualified potential focus group members.
They are next Monday and Tuesday at the Heidrick Ag History Center. Anyone else get the same call?
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Where do they come from?
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 ::
0 Comments
My referrals to this site are always interesting.
Here are the top ones over the last 24 hours ...
Woodland Journal 26
Google of "rexroad" 9
Att.net yahoo 6
Google "Matt Rexroad" 5
Google reader 5
This ratio is usually about where it stays unless this blog gets mentioned someplace when I get an influx of traffic from a site. Most people just come right here.
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I like Jeff Morris -- running for Congress
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 ::
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Jeff Morris is a Supervisor in Trinity County. He is a friend.
I really like this guy.
He is now a candidate for Congress against Wally Herger. I don't think I can endorse Jeff but he is a great guy. Unfortunately he is not running for re-election to the Board of Supervisors in order to make this Congressional bid.
Here is his website for his campaign.
He used to live in Woodland.
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Who still has signs up?
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 ::
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One of the tough parts about a campaign is getting all those signs down when it is over.
Duane Chamberlain and [I forget the name of that guy that ran against him] got theirs down right away.
Harris, Dote, Lopez, Monroe, and Sieferman's signs all came down right away or never went up. I saw one Pimentel sign this weekend in the southeast area. What I still see are quite a few Fall signs as well as numerous ones for Cabaldon and Yamada. Gateway must have had 15 Cabaldon signs all over the place. Yamada unfortunately had an Independent Expenditure put signs up all over creation so how is she supposed to know where they are?
It has been two weeks. Let's get rid of those signs.
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Redistricting Ballot Measure
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 ::
0 Comments
Doug Paul Davis has an interesting post today on the upcoming redistricting ballot measure.
As can be expected from time to time, we have different views on this measure. I support it and will be working on it professionally.
You can see the website for the organization I am working with here.
Redistricting reform needs to happen. This is the best tool to make it happen.
The primary sponsors are ---
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Campaign Co-Chair
Steve Westly, Campaign Co-Chair & Fmr. State Controller
AARP
California Common Cause
LA Area Chamber of Commerce
League of Women Voters of California
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Phone Call
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 ::
4 Comments
Me: Hello. This is Matt.
Caller: Hi. This is [name removed]. I read your letter to the editor today. It seems pretty easy to send a letter as opposed to speaking out publicly.
Me: I wrote a letter to the editor of our local newspaper and signed my name. You then called me at home about it. How much more public can I get?
Caller: Yeah, but you just sit at your keyboard and type it out. You don't actually have to defend yourself in person.
Me: Oh yes I will. Tell me where to go.
Caller: You would not show up.
Me: Tell you what, let's have the event at my house. That will make it easy.
Caller: You wouldn't do that. You are just making things up.
Me: 711 College. Come on over. How about next Monday?
Caller: You are going to be really embarrassed when that report comes out.
Me: No I won't. Someone needs to defend the Woodland Police Department from this nonsense. I am happy to do it.
Caller: That is not a smart thing to do as a politician.
Me: You are not getting this -- I really don't care.
Caller: You are not on the City Council anymore.
Me: You are right but I may get back there some day.
Caller: You don't know what happened.
Me: Neither do you.
Caller: I know a lot more than you do.
Me: That may be true. Why don't you fill me in?
Caller: You don't know what you don't know.
Me: Right.
Caller: This is a waste of time. You are not interested in listening to me.
Me: This conversation is not going well for either of us.
Caller: Well even though we don't agree I want to thank you for taking my call.
Me: Call anytime.
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Today as a Supervisor
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 ::
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So today started off great and just went bad the longer the day went on.
At 0800 I interviewed Cpl Jeff Ware of Woodland. Cpl Ware is a warrior that has 18 days of leave between 9 month deployment in Baghdad with the 101st Airborne. What a great guy. Look for the interview on the WAVE.
Then at 0900 our Board meeting started. We had a moment of silence for Deputy Diaz. Then we started the budget hearings. Pat Leary did a great job presenting things but our fiscal situation is not good. Our budget is a disaster. When Duane Chamberlain said he wasn't voting for it after a full day of hearings and asking just a few questions I almost lost it. That did not make me happy.
I really dislike that needle exchange program. It is wrong for so many reasons.
Tonight I went out to the Yolo Airport Advisory Committee meeting. It was OK. Nothing thrilling.
Then I had to speak with Art Pimentel. That is a bad way to finish any day.
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The Delta -- fascinating
Monday, June 16, 2008 ::
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I really like the issues involved in the Delta. The more I get into it the more I like it.
Really good stuff, billions of dollars, land use, environmental issues galore, Woodland water supply, and possibly the future of Yolo County farming. Good stuff.
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Josef Braun - Letter to the Editor
Sunday, June 15, 2008 ::
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I read a letter to the editor that did not make me happy today. This morning after church I wrote a response and just sent it in to the editor of the Daily Democrat to consider for publication.
From my view, I wanted other people to step forward on this issue. I am not a member of the Woodland City Council anymore.
However, the letter today by Braun was way over the line. So far over the line that I could not let it stand unchallenged. It seems that some people have gone into their holes on defending the Woodland Police Department.
Well, I love the Woodland Police Department.
I should have said something last Tuesday at our Board of Supervisors meeting during the public comment section of the meeting.
If people want to discuss this issue -- fine. If they make unfounded accusations against Woodland Police officers then I they are picking a fight with me.
If we need to have a fight let's have it but this letter was the last straw for me. These officers can't step up and engage in this public debate right now -- but I can and will.
Clicking on the title of this post will show my letter below.
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Every once in a while you find someone different
Sunday, June 15, 2008 ::
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It took more than a month but I finally found someone that libes in unincorporated Yolo County that likes the proposed County water ordinance. This person went on to say that he even encouraged the use of .......(drum roll please) .........water meters.
The reasoning by this one person is that we have such a huge waste of groundwater that some governmental regulation might do some good.
I completely disagree but it was interesting to find someone that held this opinion. For those of you keeping score at home that is about 600 to one.
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