After Deadline: A little more from Keating and O'Bryant

" DEVELOPERS ARE LIKE CITY EMPLOYEE'S " and here I thought it was the other way around.

Developers were the driving theme at the time, guess what Will they still are.........they are the ones forcing foreclosures and out bidding first time home buyers.

So glad they are leaving, I won't miss the phoney politics.

No thats not true , sorry Adam I have first hand knowledge the building and properties were donated.

If your speaking of the Homeless shelter on the corner of 9th & D

That was donated by the Bavarian Nut Company to the Salvation Army, so how is that an accomplishment by Keating.?

I would like to see more of this transcript, this is interesting it gives a window into their minds and what they were thinking when they voted in giving that tax-break to the Oil Compaies

It's time people realized that developers are just quick buck artists.  In it only for themselves.

lead the fight for that homeless shelter. She is the driving force behind the donation of the lot, the refurbishing of the building and the establishment of the services that was, eventually, handed over to Salvation Army for the day to day operation.

And while I am not wild about out-of-town developers, they do have the right to be heard before a governing body. What people here have to remember is we missed the boat with the TYPE of development...we went outward with sprawl rather than concentrating on building up areas that needed refurbishing. We could have a much more diverse and vibrant downtown if we had worked on downtown housing and combing that with business parks.

well, you know....he is a Dodger fan.

We need to stop the annexation to the north of Modesto and bring the County Islands into Modesto so they will receive sewers and sidewalks.

I am for annexing the County Islands, but who is going to pay for the improvements necessary to bring them up to City standard? 

LSK49ers, you make a great point about the TYPE of development our City Council has permitted these last few years.  Unfortunately, most of the development that occured was consistent with Modesto's General Plan (even through amendments).  Maybe it is time to do a comprehensive update to the General Plan????

So the will of the people will prevail.

The ratepayers of Modesto and we won't get our money back.

That's not entirely true, TS.  New development will be required to fund a substantial portion of that new infrastructure needed to serve these areas. 

I invite you to look at the Tivoli Financing Master Plan.  You can find language in there that suggests or states ratepayers or existing residents fund the new infrastructure, please post it.  I've looked and I have yet to find any language that suggests such a thing. 

What about the County Islands though?  Who is going to pay for it?  Existing Ratepayers?  According to your position, this would be out of the question.

have to spend is too much money in my book.

the County to place their tax receipts from these areas toward paying off the costs of the necessary improvements.

Well, ok, your book is your book, and I am not trying to change that.  What I am trying to do is invite you to review the Tivoli Financing Master Plan and see if there is language in there that supports your claim.  Based on my review of the document, I haven't seen such language.  So have at it hoss.  Let's compare facts and discuss....

I completely agree the County Islands should be annexed into the City.  My concern is how the Improvements are funded.  Talks have taken place between the County and the City, and I think the City Council has given pretty clear direction to Staff to get these areas annexed and find a solution to the financing portion, but I have yet to hear if any solid agreements have been made.

Is that a subsidiary of the Bavarian Motor Company?

I believe it is Haig and Isabel Berbarian who donated the warehouse facility to the Salvation Army for purposes of constructing facilities to serve the homeless. 

Council Member Keating is indeed the driving force behind the construction of the shelter.  Keating mustered media and community support to construct the shelter and she continues to serve on the advisory committee to the shelter.

Because that's what I'm hearing.

I gave the wrong name so what ! I know the building was donated to the salvation army first, then plans were made later to turn part of it into a homeless shelter and this all transpired over the last two to three years.

It was a stroke of luck for Keating it was not something she built, this was a multi-agency project by hundreds of people.

 Keating is a carpet bagger for claiming credit which was not hers.

GOOD RIDDENCE KEATING ....NO MORE PHONEYS!

I didn't comment on the Keating/Homeless Shelter.  Are you sure your comment is directed to me?

Im losing my eyesight so sometimes I get the names crossed.

No problem, Wayne. 

Hope you're enjoying this cooler weather we have today.

If Keating was behind getting the Berbarian's to donate the building and property...........then why didn't she just get them to donate it to the city for the purpose of a homeless shelter?

"she (keating) let the salvation do the day to day operations "

First off, the salvation army was going to make half the building a homeless shelter, and the other half their food pantry.  I still do not see where Keatig was involved unless it was money to help with the refurbishing.

Dave Bowman the radio host would know for sure he was the salvation army's accountant at the time.  Dave Thomas might know for sure, if you dont wish to take my word for it.

LSKers, I believe the Catholic-Charities rep for this area would know also. So please no more hyperbole.

Let us see what Council wonam has done for the City of Modesto

•Oversaw 1010 Tenth Street Plaza at cost of over $80 million that is costing the City annually $3 million in debt service.

•Continued the Centre Plaza debt service of $700,000 annually.

•Voted for over $2 million dollars for the Gallo Center

•Voted to keep developer fees low and expressed shock at the Village One Fiasco.

•Looked on as South and Modesto Continue as blighted community but spent Redevelopment Monies on downtown projects such as the Towers. 

How can Keating and O'Bryant say these things. The California Voting Rights does not violate the 14th Amendment. Is she also a judge and lawyer? That is why the city of Modesto lost because of Neanderthal backward thinkers like Keating and O"Bryant. In their terms of office Modesto continued being the Meth Capital, the Nations #1 car theft community, remained within the top 5 of worst areas to live and a gang infested community.

BEE: Do you regret anything, like fighting a voting rights case to the Supreme Court and having to spend $3 million to settle?

KEATING: I don't regret that. The California Voting Rights Act violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. It removes the requirement to provide evidence to provide discrimination. That's why we fought the lawsuit.

O'BRYANT: There are a lot of attorneys out there who are like ambulance chasers. You see these law firms come along they have to come up with victims to name in the lawsuits.

(The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area filed the lawsuit against Modesto in 2004. It led to voting reforms in 2008 that are intended to lower barriers to minorities winning seats on the City Council.)

City manager Jack Crist tried to make changes but the good Ole boy city network and Keating worked to get him fired; they succeeded. They a good manager, but she got him fired. She has an ego the size of Mt. Everest.

When Keating talked about the legal opinion, I believe she was informed by City Attorney staff of their opinion.

As to the voting reforms, only time will tell if barriers are lowered for minorities and if they are, will that constitute a defacto improvement of anything.  What if the unintended consequences are that we end up with less minorities on the Council? 

questions are just that, hypothetical. She voted to continue the lawsut at a cost of $3 million. Many of us told the city council that they would lose yet they continued. This all started in Gilroy where before district elections there had never been a Latino elected in 100 years. Now 6 of the 7 city council are Latinos after district elections were instituted. And how can we have less, when we only have one right now and before that only one latino in 100 years. The County is 39% Latino and the city is 25%.

Only that she had a reasonable basis for her belief that she was given credible legal advice. 

How is Gilroy faring in all this now that they have Latinos making up 85% of the Council? 

right now!

And AP is there a reason having a 85% Latino make-up on the council should matter?

Should it matter?  Is Gilroy successful?  If so, why?  Because the Latino representation or because their community is thirving and not faced with massive budget issues.  Let's face it, Gilroy doesn't have to contend with the wicked developers that we do, and Muratore only controls 30% of that city.  (Hope you could at least try to smile at that!)

Joe Muratore isn't evil I just think he's the wrong person to represent the voters of district 4

is boring. 

It still surprises me how the council can vote as a group to do something and yet here and in public Kristin Olsen and Janice Keating seem to take all the heat for it.

Keating's summary of the 14th Amendment argument on the voting rights case is what the city contended in court, and judges disagreed. Council members obviously still believe that, and so do some state lawmakers.

I don't know what to say about the complaints about the Salvation Army shelter. Keating was very much involved with it, and she's proud of it. She should be.

The Gallo Center got less than $1 million from Modesto, and that was from the Redevelopment Agency. That was a follow up on a commitment to pay for streets and sidewalk upgrades that was made by the previous council.

This council only raised developer fees, though it has over the past year voted to put off scheduled rate increases because of the recession.

Her comment in the body of this blog that developers are like unions reflects the reality of lobbying public officials. Certainly you'd say the state prison guard union is a special interest, just as you would call developers one.

before she was even elected.

The votes to fund and construct Tenth Street Place took place years prior to her running for office.  The building was constructed prior to her being seated on the Modesto City Council.

Ditto for the vote to lower developer impact fees during a previous recession and housing market plunge. After Keating was elected to office she and the rest of the council were confronted with the fee issues in Village One.  She voted with a council majority to place a moratorium on approving any new homes.  During the morartorium the city refined its flawed finance plan and adjusted the Capital Facilities District taxes for future homes.  Additionally, the city modified and substantially increased development impact fees, which Keating supported.

 I don't know where your first hand knowlege comes from but it is incorrect. If it hadn't been for Jance there would not be a shelter in Modesto. She arranged to rent the building for over a year before it was donated. She was responsible for all or part of everything from getting the beds, to painting, cleaning, unloading furniture, getting laundry services, bedding and food. What I have listed is only a small part. She stayed active with the shelter even after I left. She gave me a tour of the buildng improvements that were done after I left. I advocated for the shelter and Janice saw that it was build. I will forever be grateful to her for it. You should be too.

I really don't care anymore just glad she is leaving, she did help on the homeless shelter, but she did not build it that is what I was trying to say.

I never seen her one time, lift a hammer or use a saw.