I’m not ready to recant the way I framed my profile on the civil race between former Sheriff Les Weidman and farmer Vito Chiesa for the District 2 seat on the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors.

But I’m getting a few anonymous tips poking around the candidates for weaknesses. All of the tips are good to note, but they’re not ready for the paper.

For the anti-Chiesa camp, I submit the anonymous letters many reporters at the Bee are receiving containing a flyer advertising a reception Road Dog Cycle owner Robert Holloway held for the candidate on April 29. That would be the Holloway whose motorcycle shop was raided by federal agents on Feb. 1.

Cops and City Council members had some good news and some bad news about a special police unit that tries to deter crime by pressuring owners of problem properties to pay more attention to the suspected criminals renting their houses.

Good news: the city’s Beat Health Unit and Special Multi-Agency Response Team (SMART) are racking up successes in turning properties around. For example, 10 properties that triggered 326 calls to the Police Department last year have caused only 15 this year.

Bad news: The units have shaky funding and it’s not clear how the Police Department will continue to pay for them.

Councilwoman Kristin Olsen raised questions about their funding at Monday’s council Safety and Communities Committee. Her queries kicked off the kind of internal organization discussion you rarely see in public – mainly because she was asking whether the city attorney’s office was hindering the unit. Olsen also wanted to know what happened to a proposal that would have made it easier for police to declare a property a public nuisance if someone is caught using drugs inside even once.

Modesto’s budget isn’t in good shape, but the city has enough cash to give its largest union a raise.

That’s the gist of what a public accountant hired by the Modesto City Employees Association had to say at a crowded meeting in Centre Plaza last week.

Tim Reilly, the accountant, walked about 100 members of the blue collar union through a primer on how Modesto manages its general fund. He reported that the city tends to be conservative in its spending projections, but that its reserve is shrinking because of the region’s economic downturn.

I didn’t really see a smoking gun in Reilly’s report, but he did note the city has more cash than it needs in several accounts.

One of them is the city’s fleet fund, which buys and maintains the city’s 900 vehicles. Modesto had $15.6 million in unrestricted assets in that fund at the end of last year – even though it spent less than $7.5 million from that account. City Council members have asked questions about that fund at recent public meetings. They’re wondering whether the account is over-funded, too.

Last week’s shootings prompted me to thumb through Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour’s 2003 campaign book to see if he had a plan to address gang violence before he ran for political office.

The book, “Modesto Tomorrow,” didn’t have the detail of the goals Ridenour announced in his 2007 state of the city address, when he said he wanted to assemble police, churches and nonprofits in a community gang task force.

But the book did have a tragic description of how random violence has impacted Ridenour’s family.

He lost his 17-year-old adopted son Michael in 1979 after an attempted robbery in Downey Park. Michael was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired by one of three men who tried to rob him.

“Before the loss of our son, I was pretty carefree,” Ridenour wrote. “We had a great life. I guess I took a lot of things for granted. Michael’s death changed me. It made me realize everyone is vulnerable. You never think something terrible will happen to you until it does.”

The former John Muir school house site could be sold by the city.

I’ve been writing that Modesto is preparing for spending cuts of 3 to 10 percent next year, reductions that could take a toll on well-used city services.

Acting City Manager Jim Niskanen on Monday is scheduled to give a preview of what those cutbacks might look like. He’s trying to stave off the sharpest cuts by boosting some fees and other one-time revenue.

That could mean charging $5 for all youth sports activities.

It could require the city to sell some of its property, such as the old John Muir School site on East Morris Avenue, or a recreation area at Coldwell and Virginia avenues.

Donoso in action, circa 2002

Community activist Miguel Donoso on Tuesday got caught up in the spirit of accountability at City Hall.

He called for Police Chief Roy Wasden’s resignation because of a recent spate of gang shootings and the city’s perennial presence on a list that rates communities with high car theft rates.

“Nothing personal,” Donoso said. Wasden’s “very nice. It’s too much for his administration to deal with this issue.”

Donoso issued his call at a City Council meeting in front of the chief.

Awkward.