Volume XXXV No. 4 • 19 February, 2015
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West Coast Port Shutdown Has Ripple Effect Joseph Oldenbourg The news out of San Francisco on Friday, February 6 was not auspicious for oceangoing commerce. Nor was it good for the lengthy inland chain of producers, manufacturers, packers and truckers who send goods of all kinds to market at the nation’s West Coast ports. The Pacific Maritime Association announced that the weekend’s vessel loading and unloading operations would be temporarily suspended, with yard, rail and gate operations continuing at terminal operators’ discretion. On behalf of 72 companies among the world’s leading shipping lines and terminal operators, the PMA negotiates and administers maritime labor agreements with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union including a coast-
wide contract covering roughly 13,600 longshore, clerk and foreman workers at 29 ports along the West Coast. These ports drive nearly half of all maritime trade in the United States, including more than 70% of all imports from Asia. PMA stated that because ongoing union slowdowns had brought ports up and down the coast almost to a standstill, PMA member companies concluded that they would no longer continue to compensate workers at “premium pay for diminished productivity.” “After three months of union slowdowns, it makes no sense to pay extra for less work,” said PMA spokesman Wade Gates, “especially if there is no end in sight to the union’s actions which needlessly brought West Coast ports to the brink of gridlock.”
Exeter Police Officer Mourned Staff Reports The late Exeter police officer Daniel Green, 31, was laid to rest Tuesday, February 17, following a funeral service at the First Assembly of God Church in Visalia filled to capacity with family members, fellow officers, friends and those who just wanted to pay their respect. The funeral procession lined
with hundreds of motorcycles and cars including law enforcement officers from all around the state, the Patriot Guard Riders and American Legion Riders, made its way from Visalia through the town of Exeter, where Green served in law enforcement for the past 11 years. Green’s body was found Friday, February 6 in his Goshen home
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SeaPort employees Gustavo Mora, Tabitha Boese (station manager) and Yendis Sanchez work at the airline’s new Visalia counter. Photo by Nancy Vigran.
SeaPort Takes Flight in Visalia Nancy Vigran The much anticipated SeaPort Airlines had its first flights arrive and takeoff from Visalia on February 9, with planes nearly full. The new airline service ties the South Valley with direct flights to Burbank and Sacramento, seven days per week. Flights are available four times a day, weekdays, with one flight to each destination on weekends. During a ribbon-cutting ceremo-
ny on the inaugural day, Visalia Airport Manager Mario Cifuentez said, “We haven’t had four flights a day since 2001, when we had flights to LAX (Los Angeles International Airport).” The Portland-based airlines flies nineseat, single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan turboprop airplanes to other destinations along the West Coast and in the midSouth. The one-hour-15-minute flight
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Export Totals From California Alone (In $ U.S. millions) 2014 Trade Statistics are available through the International Trade Administration’s “Trade Stats Express.” Source: US Department of Commerce, CalChamber
On average, union dock workers earn a salary average of $147,000 per year and would see their wages climb about 3 percent under a proposal, along with fully-paid health care costs of about
$35,000 per year per union member. Pension costs would also rise under a proposal, according to the PMA.
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Commission Updates City Council The Visalia City Council and the Visalia Planning Commission held a joint meeting on February 3 at the Convention Center to update the city council members about major planning issues. Josh McDonnell, city planner, presented an update on the increase in building permits, progress on the general plan and the city’s sign ordinance that, after four years of being discussed and dissected, has yet to be completed. McDonnell also explained the one piece of the general plan that is a state mandate, the Housing Element. General Plan On October 14, 2014, the Visalia City Council adopted the general plan, which will manage the city’s growth through at least 2030, and likely beyond. The plan builds on the 1991 General Plan, emphasizing growth in all four of the City’s quadrants. It also establishes Downtown Visalia as the central core of the city and Mooney Boulevard as the regional retail hub of Tulare and Kings Counties. Adopting a general plan is just one step in a multi-year process. Several parts of the document are designed to be implemented over the coming decade. The General Plan devotes chapter 9 to describing items to be implemented in coming years, and can be accessed at the following website, http://www.visaliageneralplanupdate.com The immediate priority is revising the Zoning Ordinance and the Subdivision Ordinance to establish consistency with the General Plan. These code changes are critical in implementing the new plan, so staff is working diligently to get this process underway.
Catherine Doe The updated General Plan includes new land use designations and associated densities that will require revisions to their accompanying zoning designations, design districts, and development standards. Given the technical nature of the Zoning Ordinance, staff’s recommendation will be to rely on the Planning Commission to serve as the Technical Advisory Committee for reviewing and commenting on proposed zoning and subdivision changes. After the city council passed the General Plan, a business associated with real estate development challenged the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), alleging that the document insufficiently analyzes the potential impacts that the city’s blueprint may have on the environment. A settlement meeting was held in January of this year and the city is waiting for materials from the petitioner regarding a potential settlement proposal. The name of the litigant is Visalia Retail, LP, a real estate affiliated company out of Fresno founded by developers Michael and Jon Thomason. The two developers successfully requested zone changes in Fresno’s general plan in 2008 and filed suit in Redding in 2010 over paying developer fees, a case in which they lost. It is not known whether a settlement can be reached. If a mutually agreeable settlement is not identified, the case will continue to hearing within the next four to eight months.
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