It was a slow news day on cable channels today during my lunch break. My choices were Wolf Blitzer, or 3 other channels of what Savage calls "leg crossers." So, just to see what was new on the floor of the Assembly, I tuned into the California channel 75, and watched a litany of gasbags try to defend another attempt on the part of the State to trample local government. The bill being "discussed" would block a new dairy that the local government worked on for 8 years to ensure its environmental impact to the community was as minimal as possible with current technology, and that the community had more than ample time for input. And just when the community was in agreement, Democrats in the Assembly decided they knew better. Nicole Parra, the Assemblywoman representing the area in question, had 8 years to interject herself in the public process of the dairy’s placement, but waited until the 11th hour to circumvent local government with the help of her Orwellian buddies in Sacramento.
Democrats came at the issue in a two prong attack: first, that the dairy was bad for the environment (which Assemblyman LaMalfa debunked when he spoke knowledgeably on the EIR’s of the project); and second, that the dairy’s placement was racist, because it was 2.5 miles away from a state historical park dedicated to African American culture. Assemblyman LaMalfa made an excellent point…so the State can come in and usurp local government when they want to put in something we don’t like? What’s next? No truck stops, no auto dealers within a nebulous perimeter around state-owned land. He made the point very intelligently…this is a very slippery slope.
I couldn’t bear to watch the rest of the latest version of the Big Brother machine at work, but I applaud Doug LaMalfa for sticking up for local governments, small businesses, the Ag community, and common sense.
June 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
So you and Rep. LaMalfa wouldn’t want a 12,000 cow mega-dairy next to your house if your county supervisors said it was ok? Somehow I don’t think so.
The EIR currently is in ligitation by the Attorney General. Obviously putting 12,000 cows on a patch of land has several impacts on water quality, nevermind the stench.
If the developer was really interested in working with the community, he would have talked with his neighbors in Allenstown. He didn’t. Assemblymember Parra was right when she called the mega-dairy developers out on that.
Incidentally, the bill allows other agricultural uses for the property.
June 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Speaking of stench…
Steve, I’m not sure what is more insulting – your arrogance in thinking you know better than local government folks who have to run into their constituents everyday around town, when you have the luxury of being far out of that community’s reach…
Or, the incredible arrogance it takes for someone like you who is being paid good money by taxpayers, supposedly to help your boss help the people of CA, to sit around and play on your computer…blogging on taxpayers’ dime and time. At least have the couth to spew your idiocy when you’re off the clock.
And I don’t think anyone is impressed or fooled by the fact that the EIR is under litigation by a Democratic AG.
BTW…you’re not talking to one of your city slicker friends, ‘Lil Mav. I’m a country girl who grew up around ranches, farms, soybean mills, corn fields and dairies. You may not get the connection as to where the steamed milk for your latte comes from, but I do. Instead of being lobbied by the hand-wringing methane-paranoid crowd, how about some smart money spent to capture the methane from dairies that can be converted into alternative energy sources. The technology exists, smarty pants, so do your homework before you ramrod local government.
June 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Oh, Jill. Puh-leez. Your blog item stinks as much as the proposed mega-dairy.
This is a legislative bill being debated in the Assembly. That’s why I’m writing about it on the “taxpayer dime.”
And since your post was filled with errors (the mega-dairy would be located less than 1,500 feet from the state park, not 2.5 miles, I thought that Flash readers would be better informed with the facts.
P.S. — I don’t drink lattes. And having lived in New Hampshire for most of my life (including downwind from a dairy), I know a thing or too about agriculture myself.
June 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
This “Fresno Bee” story of May 30th says Jill Buck has the facts right on the distances
involved, based on wording of the bill, AB 576, and statements by opponents:
“AB 576 would ban dairies within 2.5 miles of the park, a monument to
Col. Allen Allensworth, the Civil War veteran who founded the Allensworth
colony in 1908 as a haven for blacks.
Black leaders fear that two dairies planned about a mile and a half from the
park would bring flies and odors, deterring park visitors. Opponents, includ-
ing Assembly Member Bill Maze, R-Visalia, say the bill would undermine
local land use decisions.” Fresno Bee, May 30, 2007
And that’s no Bull !
June 4th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Thank you, Jim, my friend!
Steve, you had an answer for almost everything, except for the most important question that goes to the heart of local control:
Why are Assembly Democrats sticking their noses in someone else’s manure?
June 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Yeah, because everything you read in the newspaper is true. How about reading the EIR?
It’s not “someone else’s manure.” The 12,000 cow mega-dairy will become all of our manure’s because of its impact on a state-owned resource (a park of historical significance, no less). Perhaps, Jill, you can take your family to a picnic 1,500 ft. away from a 12,000 cow mega-dairy and tell us how much you enjoyed it.
It is not uncommon for the state to regulate land use when it affects a state resource. And that’s exactly the case here.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
LOL! Ah, Steve, you’re killin’ me! (:
Did it really take you all night to come up with that cow patty of a response, or are you just overly accustomed to having the last word…no matter how ridiculous it is?
You don’t mind if I let the Fresno Bee know you’re calling them liars, do you? I’m sure your boss will never have a reason to make nice-nice with them, will he?
I know you’re just trying to save face, but you should quit before you’re neck deep in doo doo.