Modesto Police Officers' Association Questionaire

By John Lane Gunderson

This question and answer paper has been helpful in airing my views on some important topics.

The police department is one of the pillars of any city. Citizens look to the police for safety, continuity, a general feeling of security and common sense. It would be normal for any candidate for public office to want a favorable opinion from public employee associations that have a stake in the region that concerns that office. Municipalities and other entities that serve the public are not allowed to make any endorsements. Public employee associations enjoy a generalized respect from the community as public employees are part of the community and are believed to be well informed. Today's climate is testing many perceptions and in my opinion there is some harm starting to accumulate.

-What are your top three priorities if elected as a member of Modesto City Council?

We need jobs. With an official unemployment rate around 18% and likely higher, there needs to be a continuous effort to attract new business/jobs. We should try to help those who have good business models but face obstacles. I know of one individual who can and has cut swimming pool energy costs by 70% but cannot get the utilities or the PUC to listen to him. If his model could be approved for energy rebates it would be a plus for the entire state in a number of ways. Businesses like that need to be listened to and perhaps a resolution of support from City Council could help him move forward.

We need to employ more of our youth in ways that will help them develop work skills/ethics (I feel this is crucial). Many of our youth are languishing and need ways to teach them that honest hard work is the best road. Too many are not getting that message or the experience to embrace that message. Many of our high school graduates (including the dropouts) have too few options. Many are not up to speed yet (motivated) for higher education, there must be alternatives for the obvious reasons (some community leaders find it difficult to recognize this reality and discuss it properly). And of course resources are limited.

We must see if we can engage our homeless in a way that makes them feel useful and hopefully gets their lives back on track. Perhaps some kind of work could be found for them in exchange for services, makes sense to me. Might be wishful thinking. Either go this route or make Modesto such a miserable place for them, that they avoid it. Politically charged topic but the status quo is inadequate for a society said to be advanced.

I want to say more but you asked for three only... I do have interest in retirement agreements, there's a need to work some issues there.

-How will you leverage your position as a council member to advance the interests of the citizens of Modesto?

A council member is assigned to committees. Through the ones I am assigned to, discussion in greater detail than what would be likely at a council meeting would provide opportunity to work on issues. Attracting employers to our area would certainly be something I would like to work on through a committee or other venue. We have few Federal jobs here, some effort should be made to make some gains there.

I would very likely be having conversations with our County, State and Federal representatives and their staff on various issues. My goal is not to be a maverick, however establishing relationships would be prudent.

Very important is having conversations with the people of Modesto. I would like to listen to their concerns, ideas and proposals. If something presented to me should be brought to council through committee or otherwise, I would encourage, assist or even champion.

-Impending prisoner release:

This is an overload issue, meaning that it would be very likely that Modesto will experience an uptick in property and other crimes. We are short about 54 sworn police personnel and I cringe along with everyone else at the thought of what is to come if the Fed gets their way.

There are things that could mitigate this problem and probably the best solution is jobs. Hopefully those released have shown that they would like to avoid recidivism. To keep that spirit going they must be kept busy, somehow. This is really a bad time to have this going on.

In a very real sense this is another unfunded/underfunded mandate. It would probably be a good idea to look into legal remedies, grants, chastisement and help from the community.

I'm a fan of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ. His outdoor portion of the jail facility has many talking. Perhaps Stanislaus County could have a similar arrangement, provides incentive to avoid reoffending. Pink underwear, bedtime stories, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the heat and the cold... something to consider. What's legal in California and reasonably humane all has to be considered. Jail was never meant to be pleasant.

-What are your plans to promote job creation in Modesto and Stanislaus County?

There is a Federal wildlife refuge west of Modesto (Hwy 132). It's part of the San Luis Wildlife Refuge and is a new extension. I can foresee a program where some of our challenged youth work there on facility improvement/maintenance. This is a must do and to not try to take advantage of this opportunity would be neglectful. They do have a YCC program there but I am thinking in terms of "at risk" youth who generally are not included in the YCC program. Surely something could be put together. Busy, tired kids tend to stay out of trouble.

Many cities have an entity that tries to get businesses to relocate and employ its citizens. We have the Economic Development Dept (a part of the city of Modesto) who say they don't have the resources to reach out. Let's make a change there. Surprisingly the Modesto Chamber of Commerce has no mention of such efforts on its website. I think job creation should be a priority for the council and the Chamber of Commerce and any other entities whose mandate is aligned in that direction. Relocation/start ups of large operations are rare but contribute nicely to an employment base. Efforts to attract smaller enterprises could be fruitful and more in line with the current economic situation. Most important thing is, effort must be made.

Stanislaus County has an abundance of agriculture. Used to be US citizens were more willing to do that kind of work, I'd like to see us get back to that. When I was young many high school students would go out and harvest fruit or other work related to farming. It may be labor but it instills work ethics that are sorely lacking these days. Would like to see a serious effort towards this end.

-The state is expected to take action that will reconcile some of its financial challenges by passing some of its obligations on to local government jurisdictions. What should Modesto be doing in anticipation of such realignment of government services?

First off, Modesto needs to find out what may be coming our way. We know there will probably be a prisoner release because the state cannot build/maintain more prisons (not that more prisons would be a positive). There is talk of highway maintenance going to the counties/cities. That could be a complex change of dubious benefit to Modesto/Stanislaus County. On the other hand if it was limited to lightweight duties and funded properly, it could be a boon. I do not have specifics of what may be coming our way but a trend seems to be developing.

Funded properly..... this is the problem. Ideally the state figures it can save money by having city/county entities do more. It's true to a certain extent but there has to be enough funding to the local entities so these transplanted duties function properly. A difficult transition that has been getting a lot of attention of late with Governor Brown saying doing things locally is the way to go. The state and Fed are perceived to be bloated bureaucracies but they are known for underfunding or not funding their mandates. A good example is special education.

Modesto should anticipate what is coming and inform the constituents when information on specifics comes out. Very tough because of the costs versus funding question, could possibly create some jobs though.

-How do you view the future of growth in Modesto?

Currently there is not much in the way of growth. In times like these probably improvements in functionality (infrastructure/services) would be the best way to set the stage for the future. Personally I don't like growth in the form of sprawl and Modesto has a quantity of that. There's ample evidence that planning with prior city and county governments had lax views on how things should be done. The island tracts are a good example, there are plenty of houses in those and former tracts whose construction was less than sound and we suffer for it.

Deal with what we have, fix it, make things nice/better. We have plenty of parcels already approved for development and there are many vacant/distressed properties that need to be taken care of. The residential housing boom is over and the focus must shift to more sustainable industries. Unfortunately we have lost companies such as Campbells, Tri Valley, Hershey and others. Companies such as these form a "base" that feeds other businesses and are needed for continuity. Agriculture is big here and is very much a part of our future.

Modesto as a bedroom community? We are, but it is not pleasant. Until there is a substantive rapid transit system, what Modesto offers is inhumane (Altimont @ 8 AM & 5 PM weekdays). I have doubts that a good transit to the Bay Area is going to happen anytime soon. Disappointing really.

-The state of California is considering efforts to abolish Enterprise Zones and the Redevelopment Agencies as a means to offset its deficit. Where do you stand on such action?

Abolishing Enterprise Zones would seem to be counterproductive. We are supposed to be trying to reduce unemployment not adding to it. Have not heard of many businesses that have benefited from that program in our county, sure there's a few. I know that trying to deal with such an entity can be daunting and the paperwork extreme. Trying to get anything done takes a lot of effort and support. Many say that California has become one of the most difficult states to conduct business in, resulting in a mass exodus of companies. Need to work on that while trying not to lose some of the environmental and other gains. I do favor clean air and water.

Redevelopment Agencies also add dollars to a community in the form of jobs. I have read various opinions on this with some saying that the beneficiaries are often those who have the least need or some projects are too expensive and really do little. Best to get the most benefit for the most people for each dollar. The effort to rehab properties in the Airport District is a good thing if responsible people occupy those properties. I would try to keep something going along the lines of redevelopment within the parameters that the state is going to dictate. There is talk that some funding from such agencies will be given to school districts to make up shortfalls the state is responsible for. Wonder if such monies would be applied to the deferred payments (to schools) tab that the state is racking up ($60 billion~). From the looks of things the dance between the state and local governments over money is going to be complex and involve the courts.

-What do you consider the greatest need in your Modesto City Council District? How do those needs differ from other districts?

Something that is different in my district is the proposed North Corridor (Salida to Oakdale). There is good farmland out there and I would hate to see more subdivisions spreading in that direction. There is talk of assimilating Salida into Modesto (combined fire services thus far) and I can see the pressure building for future housing developments in that area. My mantra is good soil leave to farming, poorer soil gets the houses. I can see the attraction of more properties paying more taxes, however all that needs to be done in a good way. There is nothing wrong with an interchange going through farmland that remains so.

Greatest need is jobs and having people with good jobs purchasing vacant/foreclosed houses (the ones already there) so that vacant storefronts (in my area) can be occupied by businesses providing goods and services. Goods jobs means the ones that are sustainable and preferably offer goods and/or services that are exportable. All these vacancies diminish our community, so we need serious effort to counter that.

-In addition to the city's current level of spending on public safety, would you support a special police services sales tax measure in which all revenue would be dedicated to public safety expenditures? Would you support placing such a measure before the citizens of Modesto? If not, why not?

Since Sacramento has nixed the continuation of the sales tax rate that we have endured for a number of years, now would be a good time to consider a public saftey sales tax. Putting it to the vote would make it easier for me and that seems to be required anyway. Sure I would support a dialog on it and probably be in favor if it was not permanent and renewable as needed. I can see the need to reverse the downsizing of our police services. This aspect of our society is very complex and I think there needs to be serious discussion on intervention. There are many pieces to that puzzle. Without taxes we would not have a civil society.

-Public safety salaries and benefits constitute the largest single portion of costs in the city budget. What are your plans for controlling and reducing these costs while maintaining adequate levels of public safety to serve the city of Modesto?

I've been told that Modesto has been fortunate in that layoffs have been few, mostly due to retirements. However we are not having much in the way of new hires. There are problems with aspects of retirement that include what is called "spiking", the accrual of benefits and using them to increase retirement benefits. There are retired public employees that are prime examples that have been highlighted as a top beneficiaries in California. I favor "use it or lose it" for vacation accruals, accumulate sick leave but not using it for spiking. I also favor being able to donate sick leave to a needful coworker. Retirement benefits should be based on the average of the last three, not the highest earnings year. Overtime should be justified and watched carefully. I have read of some abuses in our county over that. I prefer salary decreases over layoffs, if it comes to that.

I have agonized over such matters as a school board member. I have found it gut wrenching when pink slips are issued and prayed that most if not all are rehired for the following school year. Board members do not participate in the "hard" negotiations (in my district) but we are allowed input in the BAC (budget advisory committee) as well as in the boardroom. BAC meetings are open and I have found that it is a very good way to work on very difficult budgetary problems. The stakeholders, and the public gets a chance to see how bad things really are. Good CBOs are worth their weight in gold, I know this to be true.

Public safety trumps all other services, however public safety may be asked to make sacrifices so as to maintain some semblance of normalcy. Cuts at the top are popular and of course I would want those on the table as well. The little things such as reducing electric consumption can add up. If MID would be more cooperative, Modesto City has roof space suitable for photovoltaics, as do our school districts. There are cost effective ways to do that now.

-Additional comments:

Even before I took office as a board member with Stanislaus Union I looked for ways that could help improve the educational experience for our students. I approached Wayne Brown (our superintendent) with a few items. One of my favorites was introducing school uniforms. After a few chats with Wayne and others I saw that there was little support for uniforms in school. I understand the issues with it and I also understand the benefits. Maybe later.

Another more promising project was the idea for karate instruction for "at risk" students in our after school program. The board balked at first asking "where's the money?" Eventually they approved to try to formulate something and it remains an idea in flux. We have an ATA dohjang owner seemingly willing to work with us but from my point of view things are going too slow. Much has to do with the money.

The plan is to focus on 3rd through 6th graders and get them all the way to black belt 1st degree. We figured that junior high students will be too distracted to make many gains in this fashion. The goal is to help students focus, develop more of a sense of belonging (to something other than a gang), respect for themselves and others and to develop the ability to think before acting among other things. The board agrees that gains could be made and that is why the idea is still kicking around.

I want it to get going and have the program document progress of the students, especially in how it improves grades. I have started a Facebook group that relates to what is being attempted and highlights a couple other programs:

Public Schools Partnering with Martial Arts