After Deadline: Is Joe Cataline going for George McGovern?

Didn't she vote on a Tiechert Company project for a multi million dollar water tank here in Modesto...what do you know...she took $1,500.00 dollars as a campaign donation from them on 1/11/09.

and then vote to allow multi-family homes to be built by them in a business park by changing the zoning just two or three meetings ago?

He likened her to Nixon.  Nice zinger from Joe! 

so next week should bring even more revelations.

and then voting on their issues...well ....

Just another reason to roll back the tin cup limits to prior levels.

and doesn't share it?

from the same businesses they'll be voting on?

to City Council Committees. Among those being the planning Comission, the districting committee(which set the boundries for council districts), and and the comission that increased the pay for the City Council.

Now could that be all just one person...?

Is the Bee aware of this? I believe so.

Have they mentioned this?

What do you think?

It's fair to question Kristen O's record -- I don't know if City Council members have much to run on. But what choice did they have? You're not going to make many people happy in this political climate. People appear to have this deep-seated mistrust of government at this point, even at the local level about how their tax dollars are being spent.

I do agree with Cataline about the pay raise -- they went from $800 per month to about $2,000 per month. The individual Council members didn't HAVE to take it. Some chose to take it. 

On a side note, it's interesting that Modesto City School Board members make about $725 per month -- and their pay hasn't gone up to $2,000 per month. 

MID board members make about $1,000 month with some sweet benefits. 

Same goes for Turlock Irrigation District and South San Joaquin Irrigation District Board members. Oakdale Irrigation District Board members make in the neighborhood of $500-$750 I believe.

I believe Turlock City Council members make about $500 monthly. 

Stockton City Council members make at least $24,000 annually I believe. 

They have scores of employees who live in Modesto and they contribute to the local economy.  Teichert has a foundation which has provided thousands of dollars to local non-profits.

Teichart is a Stockton Company. And my concern is with council persons taking money from people who's contracts they'll be voting on.

And as I recall there was something unusual that went on during the bidding.

Nice point, sdm.  Sometimes we forget the importance of supporting local companies.

I don't remember where the other company was from.

Yes, I consider Teichert to be local.  I have a few friends that have worked, or are still employed, for Teichert over the last few years.  Each one of them were born and raised in Modesto. 

That's local enough for me. 

Teichert has many different companies working under their umbrella. Each has it's own speciality.  And without going back to see what the name of the other company was I can't compare the two.

As far as I know, Teichert has offices in Stockton and in Turlock. Those offices bid for jobs, but they're under the Sacramento central location. I've interviewed people from the Turlock office about a general bidding climate for the area. That office competes with Modesto's George Reed Construction.

Ross F. Carrol has also been in the mix in bidding for local projects.  To my knowledge they don't construct Water Tanks, but I do know they compete with Companies like Teichert and George Reed on Projects. 

Ross F. Carrol is another local company (based in Oakdale) with a long history in Stanislaus County. 

Either way, I strongly believe local agencies must do all they can to keep the money in Stanislaus County by hiring local Consultants and Constructions companies. 

I've seen their names on project documents for either SJ County, Manteca or elsewhere...forgot where I saw it but yeah, they're based in Oakdale. 

Yep, they are doing work outside of Stanislaus County.  In these times, companies will go ANYWHERE for work. 

A really good friend of mine, who's a Carpenter (Union), has just been told he has the opportunity to go to Seattle on a short-term basis to work on a Project.  He accepted as he has been on and off-work here in the Valley for some time now. 

Unfortunately, this is a reality of the economy we are currently living in.  Hence the need to hire local Consultants and Contractors.  There is nothing worse than to see companies in the Bay Area get jobs here in Valley when we have perfectly qualified companies locally.

So while we'd like to be able to completely exclude local companies for the sake of making the process as fair and transparent as possible, I say support the local economy and evaluate each bid on a case by case basis. 

Or do we just say to hell with local companies, local jobs, local tax revenue and tell them to f off? That's not the way to do it... and I'm surprised some would advocate for that. (not that you're suggesting that, mtber, but I think some do)

In my opinion, the bid process is already pretty fair and transparent, although some would disagree and say it has more to do with the contributions to various Council Members.  And there may be some of this, but qualifications and cost play a HUGE role when Staff selects a Consultant/Contractor. 

To my knowledge, when reviewing Proposals or Cost Estimates, Staff does not look at what, if any, political contributions those particular companies have made.