Valley Voice
Group hopes for Valley university for 2030
Hanford pays consultant $96k for parks plan MARK PRATTER
DAVE ADALIAN
Special to the Voice
dave@ourvalleyvoice.com
JM Williams has a vision for the future of education in the South Valley, and he’s hoping the community will put its support behind it and the aptly-named organization he’s founded--The Vision 4 The Valley. “We want to bring a four-year university to Tulare County by 2030,” Williams said. The effort is in its earliest stages, and the goal appears lofty, but already Williams has what seems to be a solid organizational plan. He and the other founding officers of the newly formed nonprofit intend to gather as much capital as they can, then put that money toward “anything we can do to write grants to right the wrongs in Tulare County.” Brain Drain Ultimately, however, the aim of The Vision 4 The Valley (TV4TV) is to stop what Williams sees as an ongoing exodus of the South Valley’s best and brightest students. “What I’d like to make sure is that Tulare County has anything someone who lives here needs. If they don’t have to leave, wouldn’t that be preferable,” he said. “We want to make it so we can have a choice.” Williams came to a realization that the area had little to offer to keep its native sons and daughters in the area after living in Texas for five years then being obliged to return. “I didn’t want to come back,” he
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Volume XXXIX No. 2 17 January, 2019 ourvalleyvoice.com
An immigrant at a bus station in McAllen shows her ankle monitor. Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune
Migrant numbers falling, for now
MARTIN VELASCO-RAMOS martin@ourvalleyvoice.com
A Special Report to the Valley Voice by Martin Velsaco-Ramos In the wake of the government shutdown and Donald Trump’s demands for a wall to address the “migrant crisis” threatening the U.S. border, I traveled to the border city of El Paso, Texas on New Year’s Eve to witness this crisis first hand. The recent surge of migrants crossing the U.S. border has fallen, according to Ruben Garcia, the director of a migrant shelter in El Paso. He explained in a press conference on January 9 that the drop in migrants crossing is a pattern they’ve seen before and not a response to anything in particular. If the pattern holds true, then there should be another increase in the number of crossings within
the coming months, but the numbers should continue to decrease for now, said Garcia. Conversely, on January 10, Trump broadcasted a more dire narrative from another border city along the Rio Grande, at the Border Patrol Station in McAllen, Texas, where a round table with Trump was held. In the foreground weapons, drugs, and bags of cash seized by border patrol were on display. A woman spoke of her son’s murder at the hands of an illegal. The message was clear: Illegals are coming. And they are drug dealers and killers. During Christmas week news surfaced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was unexpectedly releasing hundreds of migrants at El Paso Greyhound stations and airports. Numbers toMIGRANTS continued on 11 »
Editors Note: The writer of this article has been involved in the efforts to save the 18 acres west of Hidden Valley Park for future park expansion Pros Consulting was hired at a cost of nearly $96,000 to update Hanford’s park master plan. Michael Svetz, lead consultant on the project, told members of the Hanford Parks and Recreation Commission that the firm will identify where Hanford needs future park acreage and pledged to engage diverse members of the community in developing the document. Pros Consulting Inc., based in Indianapolis, has done master plans for cities such as Fresno, West Sacramento, San Clemente and Hayward, said Svetz. In addition, the firm ETC will conduct a statistically valid survey of Hanford residents to determine preferences on future parks needs. But several city residents, who have repeatedly lobbied for better and expanded parks at city council meetings, were not included in initial discussions. Svetz said his role was to give city staff a schedule for public comment periods and it was the staff’s role to identify focus groups within the community. In a January 4 interview, Hanford Parks Director Craig Miller emphasized that the city is “not trying to exclude anybody.” There will be more public participation, he said.
Public Not Given Notice
Svetz said the first round of focus groups on the master plan were con-
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Valero, Townsend sworn in as new Tulare County supervisors JOHN DILLON
john@ourvalleyvoice.com
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors swore in two new members on January 8, Eddie Valero for District 4 and Dennis Townsend for District 5. After taking their oath of office each new supervisor addressed the room. Townsend spoke on his experience on the road to the election. “When I started campaigning about a year and a half ago now, people would ask, ‘What does it feel like?’ and I said, ‘surreal.’ I feel like today is the culmination of that,” he said. During the campaign, Townsend cited his mother, campaign manager, but most of all, his wife Cece, as positive influences and sources of support. Townsend will represent the Porterville, Springville, and Terra Bella communities and replaced Supervisor Mike Ennis, who retired. As an Orosi native, Valero garnered a lot of support from the communities within the district. “My hometown believed in me before I believed in myself.” Valero returned to his hometown
Left: Dennis Townsend takes his oath of office. Right: Eddie Valero takes his oath of office.
from an Ivy League education and a potential university teaching career to help Tulare County. Since his return, he was elected to the Orosi School Board and found himself as president of the board for two years. Valero also began the Young Men’s Initiative which helps develop young men from single or divorced families in the Cutler-Orosi area into leaders. “I realized that service for others is better than service for self,” said Valero. As a supervisor, he wants to fo-
cus on water, public safety, and fiscal responsibility. Valero takes over Supervisor Steve Worthley’s seat. Worthley also retired. His district represents the communities of Dinuba, Cutler, Orosi, and Goshen. Valero beat Kuldip Thusu, then Vice Mayor of Dinuba, in a surprise victory in the June primary. The new supervisors took their spot upon the dais with fellow Supervisors Kuyler Crocker, Pete Vander Poel, and Amy Shuklian. In other business, Supervisor
Crocker was elected chair of the board and Supervisor Vander Poel was elected vice chair. The board then congratulated Tim Ward, Mike Boudreaux, and Tim Hire on their respective election victories for District Attorney, Sheriff, and Superintendent of Schools. Supervisor Shuklian acknowledged the Christmas Day fire in downtown Visalia and said the Workforce Investment Board is working with the displaced employees to find
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