Outlook 2015

Outlook February 22, 2015

Special Section

The Record

trends Health Care

Wine Trends

Water Conservation

Small Business Nonprofits

Education Banking

Port of Stockton

success

Mom-and-pop stores have big impact

CSU-Stockton?

Move is afoot

Stockton’s ship coming in

Water remains a key issue

From the vine: high praise

Dining options becoming more varied

Small businesses continue to be an essential part of a Stockton-area economy that is on the rebound. PAGE 2

While at the formative stages, a new push to bring a California State University campus to Stockton is beginning to gain momentum.

The Port of Stockton, often a barometer for the local economy as a whole, is seeing an uptick in ship traffic — a good sign. PAGE 14

The region is in the midst of a very serious drought, and the water shortage woes could continue this year. A look at five key factors related to water moving forward. PAGE 16

Many misconceptions about Lodi-area wines are being debunked as industry experts and journalists heap praise on a growing wine region. PAGE 23

Stockton’s restaurant scene is beginning to thrive, with new and popular eateries springing up to complement many longstanding dining establishments. PAGE 23

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RETAIL

Upswing in stores and online

By Reed Fujii Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON — Retail business is on the rebound in San Joaquin County.

Leading area shopping centers have filled in many of the vacant spaces that signaled the Great Recession, and retail employment is on the rebound.

From a prerecession high in 2007 of an annual average 27,200 retail workers in San Joaquin County, employment in area shops and stores tumbled to a low average of 23,700 in 2009 and 2010. It has since recovered by more than half, hitting an average of 25,700 retail workers in 2014, according to state employment figures.

But many of the departed stores are being replaced by retailers with new or different business models, shopping center owners are seeking a different mix of tenants to compete with online retailers, and those cloud-based peddlers, including behemoth Amazon, are putting their own stamp on San Joaquin County’s economy.

For example, Amazon opened a 1 million-square-foot distribution center in Tracy in 2013 and employs 1,500 people there in the handling, packing and shipping of hundreds of thousands of online orders.

“San Joaquin County is becoming a hub of those kinds of jobs,” said Jeffrey Michael, director of the Business Forecasting Center at University of the Pacific. “Change in retailing nationwide is having positive impacts on the economy in this county.

“The change in the landscape is probably as dramatic here as anywhere because you see both sides of the changes.”

Change for traditional retailers means adapting to rapidly shifting consumer preferences, said John Godi, president of Stone Brothers Management, which owns Sherwood Mall and Stonecreek Village in Stockton among many Northern California commercial holdings.

“You’re starting to see more shopping centers that … provide more social, entertainment content that you can’t necessarily get online,” he said.

Brick-and-mortar retailers certainly aren’t going away. In fact, Amazon is looking at opening its own storefronts, Godi said. Recent

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news of RadioShack’s shutdown included reports that Amazon had negotiated to take over some of the ailing retailer’s locations.

“Amazon is not looking for just one avenue to reach the customer,” Godi said.

Tom Cleveland, manager of Weberstown Mall, said he and other executives of WP Glimcher, the real estate investment trust that owns Weberstown as well as nearly 120 enclosed malls and shopping centers nationwide, look to change their retail mix.

“Bricks and mortar, like shopping centers and malls, have to start providing more than just a complement of stores to buy things,” he said. “The emphasis now is to provide experiences such as restaurants, gyms and salons.”

Of course, it helps to bring in hot retail formats, such as fast-fashion stores H&M and Charlotte Russe, which both opened at Weberstown in 2014.

After dealing with vacant space through much of the recession, Cleveland said his mall recently reached 100 percent occupancy, not counting satellite buildings under separate ownership.

Stone Bros., too, is seeing improvements it its retail occupancy, Godi said.

“We’ve seen our rents go up about 2.5 percent over the last year, both in renewals and new tenants,” he said. “Here we are in the new year and it’s starting to pick up momentum. We’ve got three potential deals in one of our Modesto centers.”

Other factors working in retailers’ favor are low oil and gasoline prices and increasing U.S. consumer confidence.

“We’re hoping that translates into commercial real estate demand or retail sales, especially here in the Central Valley,” Godi said.

Cleveland also expressed optimism about the future of traditional retailing. Having recently attended a WP Glimcher corporate gathering, he cited Chief Executive Michael Glimcher’s observation of an archetype shopper: “She can’t go out and have a glass of wine and a salad online.”

Automated “pods” carry merchandise around Amazon’s newest fulfillment center on Chrisman Road in Tracy.

CLIFFORD OTO/THE RECORD

Kendra Banks, 13, checks the price on a shoe during back to school shopping at Weberstown Mall in Stockton. CALIXTRO ROMIAS/THE RECORD

— Contact reporter Reed Fujii at (209) 546-8253 or rfujii@recordnet.com. Follow him on Twitter @ReedBiznews.

SMALL BUSINESS

Optimism is in the air

By Jennie Rodriguez-Moore Record Staff Writer

Bake shops, boutiques and new restaurants suddenly are springing up.

And long-standing small enterprises, which had to weather the storm of declining sales during the recession, are bouncing back.

Optimism certainly is in the air amid the business community as the economic climate changes in San Joaquin County, say local observers.

In the southern part of the county, Tracy’s downtown commercial district recently has seen a boon in new storefronts. One of them is Mia Bella, a boutique on 10th Street that carries fashion jewelry, home décor and other items.

A sweet fragrance from burning candles welcomes customers to the store that features elegant displays of women’s scarves, Brighten jewelry, high-end candle holders and imported home goods.

Owner Anna Craig opened the boutique about a year and a half ago to fulfill a dream.

The recession was just tapering off when she finally quit her corporate job and said,

“I’m doing it.”

“And I never looked back,” Craig, 55, said. “I just believed things were going to turn around."

They did. Craig has done so well, in fact, that she was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Tracy Chamber of Commerce in late January.

While the big box stores create jobs and have a wide range of products for consumers, said Doug Wilhoit, executive director of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, “the local business is personal service, people you know and a lot of times they have specialty items, high quality items that big box stores don’t’ have.”

There always will be a need for the small mom and pop shop, he said.

Craig agrees.

“When you come in for the Mia Bella experience, you’re going to smell it, feel it, touch it and you’re going to know you made the right choice,” she said.

Craig is planning to open an Italian gelateria this spring called Aldo's.

Small businesses generally account for 60 to 80 percent of a community’s commerce makeup.

In Stockton, Wilhoit said, new business is on the rise in comparison to three and four years ago, when stores were closing down. Examples include Code Three, a law enforcement uniform store that opened at the Lincoln Center; the Market Tavern restaurant; and Nothing Bundt Cakes bakery.

Existing local businesses that survived the tough economic times are making strides — some slowly and others more quickly.

For GG & G Cabinets, a family-owned cabinet contractor in Stockton, getting through the recession “was extremely difficult,” said Jose Gutierrez, who took over operations when his father semi-retired in December 2010.

Gutierrez’s father, Gustavo Gutierrez, established the business in 1998, and the operation grew rapidly with the rising housing market.

But when the recession hit, they were forced to change strategy.

Jose Gutierrez, a young husband and father of a 1-year-old daughter and another child on the way, tapped into the higher-end market, where customers

Gustavo Gutierrez, left, and Jose Gutierrez work on cabinets at GG & G Cabinets in Stockton.

CALIXTRO ROMIAS/THE RECORD

were willing to pay for quality. He forged partnerships with interior designers and rental home investors, and he spread into the Bay Area. He also decided to take on commercial projects and even smaller residential jobs.

“We had to diversify and take on different types of projects,” Gutierrez said.

The change in direction kept them afloat and helped propel the business when the economy started

picking up.

It was a learning experience.

“We were advised by people in business it wouldn’t always be good and tough times would come,” Gutierrez said.

So, now, they can prepare for a storm.

Wilhoit said that with Stockton’s bankruptcy process coming to a close, small businesses are feeling more optimistic about the city’s future.

“Businesses usually do

better when there is high optimism and people feel good,” Wilhoit said.

While the county isn’t yet back in the heydays of the 2007-09 economic boon, all signs point to an ongoing recovery.

— Contact reporter Jennie Rodriguez-Moore at (209) 943-8564 or jrodriguez@recordnet.com.

Follow her at recordnet.com/ courtsblog or on Twitter @ TheRecordCourts.

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REAL ESTATE

‘Exciting things happening in the downtown’

By Roger Phillips Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON — The latter half of 2014 may well be remembered as the moment when the moribund patient that has been downtown Stockton began showing faint signs of a pulse.

Two affordable-housing developments gained city approval. There are plans for a downtown supermarket in one of them.

Restaurants opened. A Filipino historical museum is on its way, right next to a soonto-open daycare center. The frame of a new courthouse began to rise.

According to downtown developer Zac Cort, more is on the way — soon. That barely detectable pulse is gaining strength.

“There are exciting things happening in the downtown,” Cort said earlier this month. “You can expect to have a market-rate residential project happening in 2015.”

Downtown has languished for years, with developers focusing instead on projects far from the city’s core while aging downtown architectural gems sat underused or rotting.

But an array of factors — including the city’s financial ruin, the Great Recession and the climate-change-mandated call to reduce vehicular mileage — appears destined to restore downtown’s heartbeat.

Leading the effort since late last year has been Cindi Fargo, who came aboard in November as the chief executive officer of the Downtown Stockton Alliance.

Fargo exuded energy and hopefulness recently as she shared a vision of branding opportunities for places where others might see only dilapidation or stagnation.

The north side of the Deep Water Channel?

Fargo says someday she envisions a hopping nightlife district known as NoCha. Using the same mindset, she foresees the train stations on downtown’s east edge as the anchor to a lively “Depot District.” And someday, she said, the government buildings in the heart of downtown could be known as the “People’s District.”

“I envision a beautiful waterfront development that has a very natural, native, cannery-packing-house-warehouse feel to it,” Fargo said of NoCha. “And inside is filled with restaurants, businesses and working places.”

Fargo, a recent San Diego transplant, admits

Visionary Home Builders and the Cort Co. are combining efforts on a proposed 100-unit affordable housing complex, complete with a grocery store and cafe on the ground floor, in downtown Stockton. COURTESY

her optimism may invite skepticism, especially from some longtime Stocktonians who would wearily say they have heard this all before.

“I think there are people out there who absolutely would roll their eyes, and I don’t blame them,” she said. “I don’t mind skeptics. My job is to take the resources we have — buildings and investment potential — and help people move the agenda forward. A good dose of skepticism doesn’t hurt an optimistic project.”

Adding to the optimism is the city’s ongoing work, begun last year, to amend Stockton’s General Plan to reflect the focus on downtown — a shift away from the sprawl-friendly

document that has been in effect since 2009.

But challenges linger. Blight, graffiti and vandalism mar some downtown streets that redevelopment efforts have not yet reached.

Ironically, some of the bigger eyesores downtown are owned by the city itself, and the ultimate sale, renovation or demolition of those buildings will be a key aspect of the long-range revival of Stockton’s heart.

Still, downtown’s direction seemed to shift positively in 2014, and Zac Cort’s father, developer Dan Cort, said he is eager to see what progress will be made in the coming year.

“Next year I want to be able to say, ‘Guess

what? Some of our dreams have come true,’ ” he said.

What dreams?

Said Cort: “That people are feeling comfortable enough to live in downtown Stockton, that we are doing good planning and that we practice what we preach, that we’ve stopped sprawl and that we’ve created new jobs in retail and some new housing developed by a number of people.”

— Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com.

Follow him at recordnet.com/phillipsblog and on Twitter @rphillipsblog.

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HIGHER EDUCATION

While leaders try to get a new state university placed in Stockton, the role San Joaquin Delta College plays continues to be vital. THE RECORD

Lawmaker’s goal: A state college in Stockton

By Scott Linesburgh Record Staff Writer

The “Tiger Roar” ceremony welcomes University of the Pacific students to campus each fall. CLIFFORD OTO/THE RECORD

Rep. Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, is pushing for a CSU campus in Stockton. RECORD FILE

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STOCKTON — Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman wants to increase higher educational choices in Stockton.

If her plan succeeds, it could have a profound effect on local colleges and students.

Eggman, D-Stockton, is working toward what she called “Stockton State” and is planning to propose Assembly Bill 38 to fund a study to consider the feasibility of putting a state college in Stockton.

Stockton currently has San Joaquin Delta Community College and private schools such as the University of the Pacific and Humphreys College, among other options. California State University, Stanislaus, which is based in Turlock, has a satellite campus in Stockton, “Stockton is the largest city in California without a public university campus,” Eggman said. “The demand for higher education is only going to get bigger, and this would give our students another opportunity to pursue their educations in Stockton.”

Eggman said the study, which would be conducted by the Legislative Analyst's Office, could cost an estimated $1 million.

Educators have differing opinions on how a local CSU would affect their respective institutions. Delta College would certainly see some impact on its student body, according to Dr. Matt Wetstein, the assistant superintendent and vice president of instruction. He said many communities have public universities, community colleges and sometimes private colleges as well and believes all could prosper in this area.

“If it’s a campus of some kind bigger than the satellite Stanislaus has right now, the likely pool of students is going to be from our population more than a school such as Pacific," Wetstein said. "Our bread and butter is first-generation students, those

who are the first in their families to attend college. And it would be a great opportunity for students to have those choices.”

“A strong public four-year institution in San Joaquin County would give many more people in our region an opportunity to pursue a higher education," Pacific president Pamela A. Eibeck said in a statement. "Everyone would benefit.”

Pacific draws 30 percent of its student body from San Joaquin, Sacramento and Calaveras counties.

The recent upswing in the economy affected different colleges in different ways. During tough times, some people will return to school to pursue degrees or attend classes to change careers.

According to Dr. Robert Humphreys Jr., the provost at Humphreys College, attendance at the school jumped during the downturn and has come down a bit as the economy has improved. The school has approximately 750 to 800 students, up from five years ago.

“I don’t know how prevalent this is, but for us, as a non-traditional institution, education is a bit countercicular,” Humphreys said. When the economy is doing well, people tend to be employed at higher levels. When the economy is not doing well, they tend to seek out education for retraining or retrenchment.”

Enrollment at Delta and Pacific has not been noticeably changed by the economy, officials said.

“Our incoming classes have been very steady in recent years despite the ups and downs of the economy,” said Richard Rojo, Pacific’s associate vice president of communications. “And we want to make sure that we continue to offer a high quality educational experience.”

— Contact reporter Scott Linesburgh at (209) 546-8281 or slinesburgh@ recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/sportsblog and on Twitter @ScottLinesburgh.

EDUCATION

Whole-child approach becoming great equalizer

By Elizabeth Roberts Record Staff Writer

The day after Manteca Unified launched its historic initiative to equip every student from the youngest kindergartner on up with a digital device in January, a mother gratefully approached Superintendent Jason Messer.

In a school where nearly all of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, She couldn’t afford to buy her children computers, the

French Camp Elementary School parent told him. Now, a lease option and discounted Internet access enabled her to provide, for $20 a month, all three of her children with the cutting-edge technology.

Another girl, Messer recalls, wrote to her teacher, “This is the first email I ever sent!”

Ambitious initiatives such as Manteca’s Going Digital and Stockton Unified’s $114 million Measure E, technology continues to fundamentally reshape the landscape of

education. It’s also giving more historically disadvantaged kids something many may have never had had before: a much more level playing field.

“I think it is absolutely a game changer, but more important to me, it’s an equalizer,” Messer said.

“Those stories — this was not something they had access to.

Those equalizers in our district, that’s what I’m excited about.”

From technological to academic to emotional, health

and social supports, school districts are finding that a whole-child approach to education is fast becoming the great equalizer in a rapidly changing, increasingly diverse world. Addressing a students’ holistic needs — Did they eat this morning? Do they speak the language? Are they being abused at home, Do they suffer an allergy or disease that requires the care of a school nurse? — costs less in the long run. Factor in the

intangible costs to society of a child who never makes it to graduation and the duty to give every student an equal shot at success becomes all the more imperative.

Technology and workplace readiness With the county’s 14 school districts at different stages of development in their tech plans, that progress may not look the same from classroom to classroom. But in many ways, the 21st-century

focus on digital learning is a new variation on something almost as old as the Industrial Revolution itself: Vocational education. Only now, instead of funneling students through an outdated tracking system designed to feed skilled laborers into factories, today’s students, Messer notes, are being equipped with the digital tools they need to excel in a new age — the Information Revolution.

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HEALTH CARE

Changes help San Joaquin County residents

By Zachary K. Johnson Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON — As the Affordable Care Act has changed the nation's health care system, San Joaquin County has seen tens of thousands of people gain new access to health care, an increase that health care officials think will continue as the local health-care landscape continues to shift.

The sweeping changes stemming from what is best known as Obamacare have pushed people toward obtaining health insurance by charging a penalty to those who don’t have it, but also expanding ways for people to obtain it.

San Joaquin County has seen its ranks of the insured grow through the Covered California insurance exchange and the expansion of the Medi-Cal system to provide health insurance for the poor. It provides a potential path to allow people to get the preventative or regular medical care that can help combat chronic medical conditions, health officials said, but it hasn’t fixed a problem the county shares with the region — a shortage of physicians.

But the changes that have happened will help people living in the county.

“I think increased access to health care should improve the health of individuals in San Joaquin County,” said Mike Miller, director of the county Human Ser vices Agency. Many of the newly insured will, for the first time, be encouraged to meet with a primary-care physician,

he said. “That means they’re going to get those routine checkups.”

The agency runs the local Medi-Cal system. It is California’s version of federally funded Medicaid. Before the act, eligibility rules mainly covered poor children, young people and women. But the reform loosened eligibility, opening it up to childless adults and people with assets and higher incomes.

In September 2013, the last month before the expansion, there were 57,374 households in the county receiving Medi-Cal. By December, that number has grown to 101,080, and Miller expects that number to rise.

“We’re doing a lot of outreach through nonprofits and community-based organizations to get the word out,” he said.

Those still not eligible for Medi-Cal have been able to sign up through Covered California, the state-operated insurance exchange, whether or not they are eligible for subsidies.

We definitely see a lot more Covered California patients,” said Eric Hill, who manages HT Family Physicians in Stockton. “In general, it’s been a positive for both us and the patients.”

There is a learning curve on both sides, too, he said. He said some of the new patients have only known “episodic” health care. That's when people seek medical attention only when problems become serious.

“They can get more coordinated care if they select a regular primary-care

Seniors walk in with lab coats draped over their arms in the first White Coat Ceremony at Health Careers Academy in Stockton Unified. CALIXTRO ROMIAS/THE RECORD

physician,” he said.

Health care providers have had mixed experiences with the changes from Obamacare, including on the timeliness of reimbursement payments through the new system, said Lisa Richmond, executive director of the San Joaquin Medical Society. “Half are saying it’s going really well, and half are saying there’s a lot of hardship.”

And it hasn’t improved an existing shor tage of

physicians, particularly specialists, she said. “Now we have a shortage of physicians, and more patients to see. And therein lies the problem.”

Demand is outstripping capacity, said county Health Services Director Greg Diederich, director of San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency. "Just having an insurance card does not get you access.” It can be hard to recruit physicians to come to the county. There could

be loan-forgiveness options available through a system of federally-reimbursed county clinics, though, he said.

Separately, the community board overseeing those clinics is interested in looking at ways to expand — geographically — to bring health care to more places in the county, too, he said.

But a large part of the solution to the shortage of physicians and other health care workers could be found

within the county borders, he said. He pointed out Health Careers Academy in Stockton Unified School District as a bright point in that regard.

The solution, he said, could be found in “home-grown” health workers.

— Contact reporter Zachary K. Johnson at (209) 546-8258 or zjohnson@recordnet.com.

Follow him at recordnet.com/ johnsonblog and on Twitter @zacharykjohnson.

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NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

‘A hand up, not a hand out’

By Lori Gilbert Record Staff Writer

Wayne MacDonald, a volunteer with the Saturday Breakfast Club, ladles up some oatmeal to serve to the homeless near the Stockton Shelter for the Homeless on Harrison Street. CLIFFORD OTO/THE RECORD

Second Harvest Food Bank CEO Mike Mallory, far left, watches as workers load a van with boxes of food destined for the food bank at LifeSong Church in Stockton. The food will be distributed to needy families throughout the parish. Last year, church officials said they assisted close to 5,000 families. COURTESY DENISE ELLEN RIZZO

Adam Chesire took over as Chief Executive Officer of Stockton’s Shelter for the Homeless in September and had just started to settle in when the holiday spirit kicked in.

Turkeys, potatoes and other donations piled up. Volunteers wanted to help.

Then the holidays ended and Chesire, whose facility exceeds normal capacity in the winter months, experienced the same post-holiday blues as most other nonprofits.

The dropoff does not have him down, though.

“Every single day I am filled with hope when I meet people we’ve helped or are here choosing to find a place of safety for themselves and their families instead of being on the streets,” Chesire said. “We’re here, our doors are open, clients can come 24 hours a day and find a place to sleep.

That, more than anything, makes me hopeful. I see people here, talk to them and tell them, ‘You came to the right place. You made the right decision. We’ll do everything we can to help you.’ ” The shelter houses about 350 people a night, but in the cold winter months, it puts out extra mattresses to take care of another 50 to 100 people a night.

Operating on a $1.6 million annual budget, the shelter is supported by state, county and city funds, proceeds from two thrift shops it operates, grants and donations.

“I am grateful for the generosity of this community,” Chesire said.

Some donate goods or money. Others volunteer their time and skills.

Likewise, at the Second Harvest Food Bank, donations of funds, goods or volunteers have helped meet the needs of thousands of food insecure residents.

“If people can’t give money, they can give you time when they volunteer, and that’s a value they bring to us,” said Mike Mallory, chief executive officer of Second Harvest.

“Volunteers in our communities are very important to us.”

It’s not just folks who show up at Second Harvest’s Manteca headquarters to help bag

food, but also those who help at 30 to 40 distribution sites in the two Central Valley counties and others in the Sierra foothills.

Collectively, they help distribute 13 to 15 million pounds of food a year, up from nine million pounds three or four years ago.

“For five or six years the economy suffered, but we’re starting to see a little hope on the horizon," Mallory said. "The unemployment rate keeps dropping.”

San Joaquin County, at 11.1 percent, and Stanislaus County, at 11.4 percent, have some of the highest rates of unemployment in California, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But Second Harvest, in collaboration with other nonprofit agencies in the region, manages to feed 35,000 individuals a month.

“There’s a need out there,” Mallory said.”We’re fortunate. As people, it’s our time to pay it forward. The ones who are fortunate today could feel that need one day. You never know when it could happen to you. The face of hunger is not the homeless person today. It’s the person next door, a friend, a family member.”

Feeding America, with which Second Harvest Food Bank is affiliated, reports 49.1 million Americans were food insecure in 2013, including 15.8 million children.

Mallory, who has led the local Second Harvest Food Bank for seven years, remains optimistic about the work his organization continues to do.

“We give a hand up, not a hand out,” Mallory said. “We get people up and running and better equipped to handle the difficulties they’re facing. We have a great staff, great board, great communities, corporate donors. It’s a great team that stuck together through the tough times. If you can make it through the bad times, you can soar through the good times.”

The need for the basics — food and shelter — seemingly always will be there.

Chesire and Mallory have embraced the challenge to meet it, and have faith in the communities they serve to help them succeed.

— Contact reporter Lori Gilbert at (209) 546-8284 or lgilbert@recordnet.com.

Follow her on Twitter @lorigrecord.

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IMPROVING ECONOMY

Banking is strong because of agriculture

By Joe Goldeen Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON — You can’t talk about San Joaquin County’s home-grown financial institutions without making reference to the county’s continually evolving $3 billion agriculture industry.

“Ag lending has been a great business for them as long as the outlook remains strong,” said economist Jeffrey Michael, director of the Business Forecasting Center at University of the Pacific.

In recent separate interviews, two of the county’s leading bankers used the same words to describe the agriculture sector as “the shining star” of the region’s economy, and that's not expected to change anytime soon.

“Our bank had another record year in 2014, primarily due to the strength of agriculture in San Joaquin County and the region,” said Kent Steinwert, president and CEO of L odi-based Farmers & Merchants Bank of Central California.

Douglass Eberhardt, president and CEO of the Bank of Stockton, said, “All segments of the ag industry have done very well. They’ve all done well, but it’s tough to make it on a one-legged economy.”

Eberhardt was referring to the nagging recession that still is being felt in the Valley. “ The Central Valley is always the first one in and the last one out of a recession,” said Thomas Shaffer, executive vice president of the Bank of Stockton, who has seen it before. As an industry, the banking sector is tightly connected to its community’s economic ups and downs.

Both Shaffer and his boss agree that San Joaquin County’s economy, while improving, is doing so at a considerably slower pace than elsewhere.

“It’s not as robust as the rest of California,” Eberhardt said.

Steinwert mirrored that sentiment when he said, “Other industries outside of agriculture continue to have a very slow recovery from the long and very deep recession that affected our communities.”

Looking forward, Steinwert said he’s focusing his bank on redevelopment projects, including low- to moderateincome housing and new commercial development in places like downtown Stockton. “ The key is to provide financial support, encourage business, create more affordable housing and support businesses that create new jobs,” Steinwert said.

“Increasing nonpublic-sector jobs will help to bring about economic prosperity which is the greatest challenge for all of us in San Joaquin County.”

All the banking leaders were pleased that the city of Stockton now can put its bankruptcy behind it. Now they would like to see the city focus on an incentive program to attract more job creation.

Another financial leader, Michael Duffy, president and CEO of Stockton’s Financial Center Credit Union, said he was “more bullish now on San Joaquin County than I have been in awhile.” He based that on the steadily declining unemployment rate, Stockton dropping off the “top 10 foreclosure list” and other positive signs.

“If you look at the new investment downtown and the pioneers coming in, those are great economic indicators,” Duffy said.

And Duffy’s own credit

union is making a bold statement by investing $2 million in a new branch office on Airport Way, only the second financial institution to serve the roughly 100,000 residents of south Stockton.

Once completed in May, it will be the county’s first newly constructed bank or credit union branch in many years.

One of the reasons the county’s oldest banking institution has survived is that its longtime leaders recognize change is inevitable.

“The banking industry will change. It has to,” said Eberhardt, a banker since 1955.

“Our function is to help the economy and help the communities we operate in.”

Added Shaffer: “ That’s been our philosophy for 147 years, and that’s not going to change.”

— Contact reporter Joe Goldeen at (209) 546-8278 or jgoldeen@recordnet.com.

Follow him at recordnet.com/ goldeenblog and on Twitter @JoeGoldeen.

Financial Center Credit Union is confident enough in the future to invest $2 million in a new branch office on Airport Way, the second financial institution to serve roughly 100,000 residents in south Stockton. It will open later this year. RECORD FILE 2014

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PORT OF STOCKTON

Increased vessel traffic is good sign

By Kevin W. Hecteman Record Staff Writer

Stockton’s ship came in last year.

About 230 times.

That’s how many commercial vessels tied up at the Port of Stockton in 2014, according to director Richard Aschieris. Aschieris can get a good read on the economy by looking at the traffic at the port he’s led since 2000.

“What it tells me is that things are coming back,” Aschieris said. “And usually, ports are at the forefront of an economic recovery or an economic decline. Things happen here first, whether it’s good or bad.

“The good news is, things are better here,” Aschieris said. “We’re starting to see construction-oriented materials … for the first time in quite a while. Our steel is increasing significantly. In December 2014, we had the first cement imports that the port’s seen in five years.”

Also arriving: 480-foot-long lengths of rail from Japan. These are destined

MORE ONLINE Visit recordnet.com for video from the Port of Stockton.

for a new welded-rail plant being built at the port by Union Pacific, the largest freight railroad in the U.S. and one of two connecting to the Port of Stockton.

The other is the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

Last August, the port took the first steps toward adding 4.5 miles of new track. At the time, the Central California Traction Co., which handles switching at the port, reported running beyond capacity.

"We’d like to improve our rail facilities here," Aschieris said. "In my opinion, rail is just as important to a port as a dock."

The presence of a deepwater port in Stockton still comes as news to some.

SEE PORT, S15

The Pacific Harmony is escorted by two tugs down the Stockton Deep Water Channel on Oct. 30. RECORD FILE 2014

| Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015

The Edward F Esch tugboat moves slowly up the Stockton Deep Water Channel with the large cranes in the background at the Port of Stockton and is shrouded in the morning fog Jan. 22.

CALIXTRO ROMIAS/RECORD FILE 2015

PORT From Page S14

“It’s the best-kept secret not only locally, but also state and nationally,” said Douglass Wilhoit Jr., CEO of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce. The chamber holds the annual State of the City event at the port.

“It’s really a showcase to showcase the port,” Wilhoit said of State of the City, which combines a trade show, a luncheon and reports from the Stockton mayor, the chairman of the Port Commission and the city manager and police chief. “And there’s a lot of people in this town, this city and this region that have no idea what’s out there at the Port of Stockton. This gives them an opportunity … to go out there and see what it is. One person sees it, and they may spread it out to five, 10, 15, 20 people.”

Wilhoit estimates 15 to 20 percent of the chamber’s member businesses have ties to the port.

Another trend at the port: finding new ways to connect with people in and around Stockton.

“We’ve also moved into social media, too, which seems to be the next wave as far as marketing, as far as exposure,” Aschieris said. “It’s kind of a dual positive for us because it’s also a way for us to connect with our host community.”

The port is active on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The port’s website is home to webcams installed in several barn owl boxes and a webcam allowing visitors to watch shipping activity. Free boat tours have been offered the past several summers. The port also runs an ad campaign called Port Proud, Stockton Proud, which tells the stories of men and women who work there.

There’s one trend that the port, among others, would like to see vanish: water hyacinth.

“We’ve been involved since the very beginning on that,” Wilhoit said. His office in the Waterfront Warehouse looks out on the channel; when he sees hyacinth, he calls the offices of Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton; Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton; and the Department of Boating and Waterways.

“I got great response from the senator’s office, great response from Assemblywoman Eggman’s office, (and) zero response from Cal Boating and Waterways,” Wilhoit said. “Nothing but excuses.

“The port stepped up to the plate because of the negative impact it has on shipping.”

A ship’s radar cannot distinguish between a mat of hyacinth and land, Aschieris said, which prevents ships from reaching the port at night. Hyacinth also can be bad news for a ship’s engines.

Rather than wait for the state, the port hired Haywardbased Aquatic Harvesting to clear the channel.

More help to control the infestation will be coming from space.

“We’re actually getting satellite images that are provided to us by NASA, trying to figure out where these nurseries are — where does the hyacinth first go?” Aschieris said. “We hoping if we can get good information, that we can send the contractors we’ve hired to those areas and try to knock this down before it gets too big.”

Unwanted vegetation aside, Aschieris sees the port’s — and Stockton’s — fortunes trending upward.

“We want to build off of the previous years,” he said. “In the previous few years, the private sector has invested about $2.3 billion in projects in the port and brought about 2,300 new jobs to our community.”

— Contact reporter Kevin W. Hecteman at (209) 943-8573 or khecteman@recordnet.com.

PORT OF STOCKTON Established: 1933 Imported commodities: fertilizer, steel products, cement, molasses, cottonseed, food grade edible oils. Port director Richard Aschieris said 90 percent of fertilizer used in the San Joaquin Valley comes in through the port.

Exported commodities: bagged rice, sulfur, iron ore, bulk corn, carbon products.

Businesses: As of 2013, the Port of Stockton hosted 131 business partners and 4,500 jobs.

Connecting railroads: Union Pacific; Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway; Central California Traction Co. Website: portofstockton. com Facebook: facebook.com/ portofstockton Twitter: twitter.com/PortOfStockton Pinterest: pinterest.com/ portofstockton

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Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 |

S16

Outlook

WATER FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR AS CALIFORNIA DEALS WITH YET ANOTHER DRY YEAR

Drought lingers, perhaps intensifies in 2015

By Alex Breitler | Record Staff Writer

We’re in a drought. That shouldn’t be surprising, if you’ve lived in California long enough. But maybe you haven’t seen one quite like this.

2015 ushers in the fourth year of drought here. We’ve really had only one wet year since 2005-06. And while December’s rains helped bump up some reservoirs, others — including the two most critical to Stockton — have dropped even lower.

Jeff Shields, general manager of the Manteca-based South San Joaquin Irrigation District, recently called New Melones Lake an “absolute mess.”

He raised concerns that there won’t be enough water to supply farmers, city dwellers and wildlife. In this region, at least, the situation is even worse than last year, Shields said.

Yet recent statewide polling shows concern about water has declined somewhat from record-high levels last fall. “I hope people don’t think this drought’s over,” Shields said. “The sad part of it, but maybe a silver lining, is that the driest January in history will probably trigger some news reports” and keep the issue in the public eye.

Here are five things to watch this year as the drought continues to play out:

1

Farmers are likely to bear the brunt.

San Joaquin County agriculture is a $3 billion industry; less water can translate into reduced revenue, which impacts not only farmers but the entire county’s economy.

The Stockton East Water District is warning that some farmers east of Stockton might not receive water this year. Some might be able to take more water from our fragile underground “savings account,” but others could be forced to plant lower-value forage crops.

In early February, New Hogan Lake was 16 percent full and 36 percent of normal. Much larger New Melones wasn’t much better.

Delta farmers have their own concerns. Dry years bring little flow through the estuary. That allows saltier water to creep in from the west. Salt can build up in the soil and harm crop yields. State officials once again are considering installing three barriers to keep salty water out of the Delta, but the barriers are controversial in and of themselves.

State officials also are sending letters to thousands of water-right holders, warning them that their right to divert water this year might be preempted.

2

What will you be required to do at home?

Like the rest of California,

communities in San Joaquin and Calaveras counties have been asked to meet a 20 percent water conservation goal set by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Success so far has been mixed, though overall local communities have saved somewhere north of 3 billion gallons.

2015 is likely to bring a continuation of some kind of emergency water conservation rules. Right now, rules set to expire in April are backed by fines that can total $500.

Stockton is more fortunate than some places. The city has a diverse supply, with the potential for tapping four separate rivers most years.

In all likelihood, less river water will be available this year and the city will be forced to pump at least some groundwater — a scenario that is not ideal.

“We’re confident we’re not going to be in panic mode,” said Bob Granberg, assistant director of the city’s Municipal Utilities Department.

3

Will Delta species disappear forever?

Not to be forgotten is the stress that drought puts on wildlife, in particular vulnerable fish species.

Last year, the Delta smelt — the canary in the coal mine of the Delta’s dying ecosystem — sank to its lowest level on record. Continuation of the drought in 2015 could further imperil that species.

Salmon, too, struggle to migrate to and from the ocean when river flows are low. Last year, 95 percent of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon eggs and baby fish were

New Hogan Lake levels fell to 16 percent full and 36 percent of normal in early February. RECORD FILE 2014

killed.

In January, officials proposed making emergency changes to Delta water-quality rules, allowing more water to be held back in reservoirs now, to be used for fish and people later in the season. Similar requests occurred with some regularity last year and are expected to continue into 2015. But these decisions are trade-offs; holding back water for later can also hurt fish right now.

4

What action will Congress take?

Not all of the drought story will unfold on California’s reservoirs and rivers this year. Some of it might not even unfold in California.

Criticized last year for negotiating in private with south San Joaquin Valley interests, Sen.

Dianne Feinstein met recently with Northern California representatives, including Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, to try to find common ground on a political response to the drought.

South Valley lawmakers have tried repeatedly in recent years to bypass the Endangered Species Act and send more water south to the farms and cities hit hardest by the drought. So far they have not been successful, but you can expect 2015 to bring more action in the Beltway, particularly with Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate.

would argue that the tunnels won’t help with future droughts, either.But politically, a serious drought can fan the flames for large water projects, and the tunnels are no exception.

Portions of the immense $24.5 billion plan are expected to be released for a second time in March or April, for more public comment.

The revised plan moves large pumps from the northern end to the southern end of the tunnels, and makes other changes which state officials say are intended to make the project less disruptive to Delta residents.

The controversy, however, has not diminished.

5

— Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@ recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/breitlerblog and on Twitter @alexbreitler.

Twin tunnels redux.

Brown’s proposed twin tunnels beneath the Delta won’t be built in time to bail anyone out of the current drought, and skeptics

In order to meet a 20 percent water conservation goal set by Gov. Jerry Brown, residents can expect a continuation of the emergency water conservation rules that are set to expire in April. The rules, in part, limit the watering of lawns and plants.

CALIXTRO ROMIAS/ RECORD FILE 2014

| Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015

Outlook

‘FEEDING THE WORLD’

Walnuts travel down a conveyor belt at the Linden Nut Company in Linden. CLIFFORD OTO/ THE RECORD

San Joaquin Ag: blessings & innovation

By Michael Fitzgerald Record Staff Writer

San Joaquin is an amazing farming county: feeding America from here to Massachusetts, putting olive oil in the kitchens of Europe and almonds on the tables of Beijing.

“We’re feeding the world here,” said Bruce Blodgett, executive director of the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau Federation.

The gross value of ag production in 2013 hit an all-time high, just shy of $3 billion.

That makes San Joaquin County the seventh biggest farming county in California.

But numbers hardly do justice to an evolving, quick-on-its-feet industry that sometimes changes its methods and crops within the same year, based on shifting availability of land and water, and new opportunities.

Olives are a good example. Local farmers saw unsatisfied demand for olive oil in Europe. Taking a bold step, they planted 4,440 acres of olive orchards.

But they did it San Joaquin style, with innovation.

Instead of planting traditional orchards, they strung olive trees along wires, like line grapes in vineyards, only taller. Modifying grape harvesters, they one-upped competition with the efficiency of mechanical harvesting.

Will it work out, longterm? No one knows.

But San Joaquin farmers are willing to give it a go.

And for their initial efforts they were rewarded with almost $12 million gross in 2013.

“They thought this thing forward,” Blodgettt said. "Hopefully this is a vibrant industry for us for the next 10 years. But you just never know in ag.”

Blodgett reviewed San Joaquin’s top 10 crops.

• Grapes ($496 million): “Just a fantastic industry. We’ve seen such growth. To be blunt, we probably were known a little bit more for quantity in the past. Now we’re getting known for quality.”

• Almonds ($468 million): “We’re in a unique situation, where you can grow something you just can’t grow anywhere. You have to have a Mediterranean climate. That’s our Valley here.”

• Walnuts ($443 million): “Long history in San Joaquin County. Growing markets.”

• Milk ($429 million): “Dairy is the canary in the coal mine for agriculture. You’ve seen them drop from (holding) the historic No. 1 spot just about every year. But they’re the ones that are facing the regulations. From the water quality side, from the air quality side, dairy faces it first. It’s not surprising that they went down, given the challenges they have — not by Mother Nature but by agencies.”

• Cherries ($144 million): “The one industry entirely dependent on Mother Nature: 'chill hours,' rain at the wrong time. A great industry, great production, great product.

But the weather has a habit of defying us in that industry.”

• Tomatoes ($102 million): “The price on the contract is good. Demand. Think about it. It’s everything from pasta sauce to fresh market and everything in between.”

• Hay ($90 million), cattle and calves ($67 million) silage corn ($72 million) and grain corn ($70 million): “You realize the importance of the dairy and livestock industries here. Those commodities are in direct relation.”

Of cattle and calves, Blodgett added, “On the east side (of the county) and far west side there’s a lot of conversion of grass to protein.

A great opportunity to produce some amazing animals here that help feed people locally and regionally.”

It’s worth mentioning how blessed San Joaquin is, too. The fertile soil and great climate are no-brainers. But water, especially during this drought, is a major advantage.

Compare the west side of the lower Valley, the so-called Westlands and other areas.

Parched, farmers are fallowing thousands of acres.

But the west side of San Joaquin County is Delta. There, in a crossroads of rivers, longestablished farms hold solid water rights.

Water seeps into these island farms, so “They pump more water off those islands than in,” said Blodgett.

“But boy,” he added, “I’ll tell you, if we don’t start getting some rainfall I don’t know who’s not going to be impacted.”

— Contact columnist Michael Fitzgerald at (209) 546-8270 or michaelf@recordnet. com. Follow him at recordnet.com/fitzgeraldblog and on Twitter @Stocktonopolis.

Olives are becoming a more important part of San Joaquin County’s agriculture value.

RECORD FILE

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S18

Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 |

EDUCATION From Page S4

“There are 40,000 coding jobs in the state of California; we’re currently graduating 4,000,” Messer said. “That means 36,000 jobs are going somewhere else. Now we’re preparing our students for their global future while they’re residing right here in the Central Valley.”

For decades out of favor, the pendulum has been swinging back toward Career Technical Education for the past few years, said James Mousalimas, new superintendent of the San Joaquin County Office of Education, landing squarely on the 2014-15 budget Gov. Jerry Brown proposed in January that directs hundreds of millions into the kinds of CTE programs and regional partnerships the county office has been developing for years.

“For the first time in many years the state has made vocational education a priority, and that presents some great opportunities for us at the local level. We have outstanding examples of these programs already in San Joaquin County," said Mousalimas, pointing to the San Joaquin Regional Conservation Corps and the San Joaquin Building Futures

Academy as prime examples already in place.

A major focus for the county office will be expanding the programs and partnerships that train youth, both in job skills and soft skills such as punctuality, attitude, dress, then actually provide them with work. Not only does this better serve area employers, he said, it also offers a path out of poverty that in many cases can reach back generations. “That’s a priority of mine,” Mousalimas says.

Whole-child support With everything from restorative justice to peer mentoring to health support, “I think the trend is really going back to treating the kids holistically,” said Julie Penn, interim superintendent of Stockton Unified. The county’s largest district has been at the forefront of putting programs in place that address those needs, a proactive move that’s paying dividends in the form of plunging expulsion and dropout rates and a graduation rate of 85 percent last year that marked its biggest success in decades.

A somewhat surprising spike in the number of students with food allergies and insulin-dependent diabetes this year prompted the district to beef up its nursing staff, Penn said

Manteca students try out the Panasonic 3E tablet devices. Every student in the district will receive a device as part of MUSD’s Going Digital 2015 project. COURTESY MANTECA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

— making specialty schools such as Health Careers Academy that much more critical in equipping students to meet the burgeoning demand for skilled health workers.

“That’s just tip of the iceberg,” said Mark Hagemann, assistant superintendent of educational services for the district. “We’re going to be seeing more need for public health because of the global society.”

Literacy A connection between literacy and public health may not always be obvious, but research increasingly shows that those who don’t learn the tools for literacy in early childhood are left with repercussions that last a lifetime.

Even more critical is literacy with a capital L, says Lynn Beck, dean of the Glady L. Benerd School of Education at University of the Pacific,

nationally recognized for its Beyond our Gates Reading by Third initiative — “not just reading and decoding but understanding and using language to communicate, to solve problems, to create, to make sense of things.”

That overarching focus dovetails perfectly with the broad-based goals of the new Common Core curriculum standards.

Best of all, in many ways, it’s a low-tech, simple solution. Teaching caregivers to immerse their children in language-rich environments is as easy as getting them to understand and embrace the critical importance of talking, singing, counting and playing with the child right from birth and even before, Beck said.

“It’s basically a no-cost intervention that would have such an enormous payoff in our community,” she said. “Our community has embraced literacy as a goal. It’s to our credit that we’re not letting up.

If we can really do this in a serious fashion, we’re laying a foundation that we can build on in the years ahead.”

— Contact reporter Elizabeth Roberts at (209) 546-8268 or eroberts@recordnet.com. Follow her on Twitter @eroberts209.

| Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015

Outlook

S19

WATER-SAVING TIPS

How to help state deal with the drought

By Alex Breitler Record Staff Writer

Yes, this drought is a disaster.

But not also is it an opportunity to change our wasteful ways, it’s an opportunity to develop new and better habits.

And for Georgia Eaves, a Realtor, it’s an opportunity to tear out that old crabgrass (it was always brown anyway) and install a new pea gravel front yard with a “creek” made of stones, orange-flowering aloe vera plants and a drip irrigation system that provides a thrifty 1 gallon an hour.

“This has been on my mind for a long time,” Eaves said Friday, standing in front of the midtown home she has owned for seven years. “I thought, ‘You know what? This is the perfect time to do it.’ “ Whether you’re willing to tear out that sacrosanct turf and rebuild your front yard or whether you’re more comfortable sticking with cheap and easy tricks like pouring cold bath water on houseplants, everyone can play a part in helping California through its worst drought on record.

Stocktonians use about 180 gallons of water per day.

Imagine one of those big lobster tanks you see in restaurants - that’s your daily water consumption.

Usually, more than half of the water people use is for outdoor landscaping.

But first, let’s take a look inside the home: • Get a bucket. Collect the cold water that falls while you wait for your shower or bath to warm up.

Use that water to fill pet bowls or water houseplants. (Oh, and while you’re at it, how about cutting those 10-minute showers in half? That’ll save 25 gallons right there.)

• Installing a high-efficiency toilet could save you 19 gallons a day, depending on the model you’re replacing (and how often you flush, but we won’t go there). Speaking of toilets, the ol’ brick-in-the-toilet trick is so 1977. Eroding bricks can actually damage your plumbing, so fill a small container with water and try that instead.

• Speaking of upgrades, highefficiency clothes washers use up to 50 percent less water than older brands, and $150 rebates are available for California Water Service Co. customers. You

can also get faucet aerators and low-flow shower heads for free from Cal Water and from the city’s Municipal Utilities Department.

• Dirty dishes? Don’t do them by hand. Newer-model dishwashers are actually more efficient, the state Department of Water Resources says. They’re also pretty thorough at removing food, so you don’t have to rinse your plates so much.

• Fix those leaks. It’s actually a violation of city code to ignore leaks in your house. Put some food coloring in your toilet tank; if it seeps into the bowl, you’ve got a leak.

• Here’s one people don’t think of often: If you don’t want to waste water, then don’t waste food. Not included in your 180 gallons a day is the 700 gallons it took to make that cheeseburger.

Eighty percent of the water used by humans in California goes to agriculture. If you don’t want it to be wasted, finish your dinner.

There are countless ways to help, some of which probably haven’t been dreamed up yet.”People are creative, and we’d like to hear what they’re coming up with that we haven’t thought of,” said Bob Granberg of Municipal Utilities.

It’s all about your lawn.

“Just look at what your irrigation system is doing,” Stockton landscape architect Jeff Gamboni said. “A lot of people don’t adjust clocks. They have it set at night, and so they don’t even realize there’s water just pouring down the street. I see it all the time.”

Just because it’s been dry like June doesn’t mean you should be watering like it’s June. Grass, after all, is like a freeloading cousin. It will take all the water you’ve got, and it still wants more.

Right now, San Joaquin Delta College horticulture instructor Mike Toscano suggests running the water a couple of times, then turning it off and then running it again a few weeks down the road. This will ensure the soil is

holding at least some moisture if the drought gets even worse.

Be conservative.

It’s winter, and your grass simply doesn’t need much water.

Later this spring, when the need increases, take a screwdriver and see if you can easily push it 6 inches into the soil. That’s a good way to determine if there’s enough moisture in the ground.

Add mulch in your flower beds, which will protect the soil from the heat and keep it moist.

And yes, check your alignment to make sure your sprinklers aren’t watering the sidewalk.

“Think of your water as the gas pump and you’re putting gas in your car,” Toscano said. “If we had little meters on our faucets that went ‘Click, click, click,’ we would be using our water very differently.”

— Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@ recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/breitlerblog and on Twitter @alexbreitler. This story is reprinted from 2014.

S20

Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 |

Outlook

PUBLIC SAFETY

More officers could lead to more community interaction

By Jason Anderson Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON — Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones has laid out his vision for the future many times in recent years while working to rebuild a department that was decimated by staff reductions as the city spiraled into bankruptcy.

Jones wants to see more police officers patrolling the streets and fewer criminals committing violent crimes that cause residents to live in fear. In the coming year, he wants to improve response times, reduce blight and repair relationships with a small but vocal group of community members who have voiced their distrust of police officers following a series of officer-involved shootings.

“Most important, and this goes into our goals of both reducing crime and improving police-community trust, is a return to a true community policing philosophy,” Jones said.

“That means putting more officers into patrol so they’re not just going call to call.

“They will be responsible for smaller geographic areas and have the time to get out of those patrol cars and have positive interactions with the community. That’s the primary goal of my strategic plan — having enough officers on patrol to return to that core community policing philosophy, which is relationship-based policing.”

Hiring enough officers will be the key to Jones’ plan, he said. He has stated that his goal is to have 405 sworn officers by June 30 and 485 by June 30, 2017, up from 374 at the start of February.

The department has struggled to bolster its numbers despite the passage of Measure A, a public-safety sales tax approved by voters in 2013. The sales-tax money will allow the city to hire 120 officers over a three-year period, but increasing the department’s numbers has proved difficult due to retirements and attrition.

“Frankly, retention and recruitment is still a concern, but it does appear that we’re making some progress with hiring,” Jones said. “To get to the numbers we want and keep the

Swearing-in ceremonies for new officers and trainees have become regular events for Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones. RECORD PHOTO

experience we need, we still need to recognize that retention and recruitment is an issue.”

Jones said increased pay for officers could help him achieve his goals, adding that market-rate studies have shown compensation in Stockton is below average. He said that issue must be addressed through collective bargaining between the city and the Stockton Police Officers’ Association.

“That does not even take into account their

workload and the violent crime rate and things like that,” Jones said. “We’re talking about agencies that have a higher total compensation with a much lower workload.”

Jones envisions a safer Stockton patrolled by more police officers with improved community trust, but his plan hinges on increasing the number of officers in his department.

“The only way to do that effectively is to have enough staff to give them smaller geographic

responsibility areas and enough time to have positive interactions with kids at the park, kids at the schools, the shop owners; to get out of their cars and talk to people in the neighborhoods,” Jones said. “That will help us reduce crime and improve trust at the same time.”

— Contact reporter Jason Anderson at (209) 546-8279 or janderson@recordnet.com.

Follow him at recordnet.com/crimeblog and on Twitter @Stockton911.

| Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015

Outlook

S21

SPORTS

Ports’ left-hander Chris Lamb pitches to Visalia’s Ryan Gebhardt during the first inning of a first-round playoff game in September at Stockton Ballpark. CALIXTRO ROMIAS/THE RECORD

Nation’s eyes will be on Stockton

By Thomas Lawrence Record Staff Writer

Stockton is no stranger to professional and high-level college sports. Yet, after 2014 and the start of 2015, the growth of in-town athletics still is expanding.

The Stockton Thunder, celebrating its 10th year in 2014-15, will be moving upward to the American Hockey League in the five-team Pacific Division. Now, the Calgary Flames will be the Thunder’s affiliate, in the AHL — one tier below the NHL. At Stockton Ballpark, the Ports celebrated a California League second-half divisional championship in August and may see an uptick in notable rehab assignments this year.

With the Sacramento River Cats becoming the San Francisco Giants Triple-A franchise, the Athletics’ nearest minor league team, by far, is Stockton.

Finally, this autumn, Stockton Arena locked up hosting not just a portion of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament in 2017, but a regional — which will feature teams in the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight.

“The event will bring a large economic impact to the city. It’ll help put Stockton on a map as a great sports community, and it’ll help the future,” said Tim Pasisz, Visit Stockton’s sports development director.

It’s not the first time the University of the Pacific women’s team has hosted an NCAA Tournament round, except last time, in 2010, it was held in Sacramento. Stockton Arena isn’t big enough for a Final Four — usually those venues have a minimum of 18,000 seats — but Stockton Arena’s 10,500-seat size works for the regional.

Plus, Pasisz’s research has shown cities that host a women’s regional receive an economic boost of between $1 million and $1.5 million.

That, Pasisz said, is because there will be only three games all weekend, and so local hotels, restaurants, bars and the like will benefit.

“There’s going to be plenty of time for people to see things and experience the city,” he said.

The Thunder will have a larger national presence in its introduction to the AHL’s Pacific Division.

Stockton enters the AHL this fall, the equivalent of Major League Baseball’s Triple-A — a step away from the sport’s highest level.

In the past two months, the Thunder has discovered it’ll be changing owners and moving up to the new league. It’s been a whirlwind, but an exciting one.

“In a way, it’s like starting over,” Thunder president Dave Piecuch said. “And so far we’ve seen a ton of excitement to join the AHL next year.”

Stockton is no longer with the New York Islanders, but the Calgary Flames — a Western Conference NHL team.

Tim Pasisz, the sports director of Visit Stockton, has secured many big events for the city and is looking to add more in 2015. CLIFFORD OTO/THE RECORD

“You’ll see guys on our team that maybe on Friday night they’re playing in Stockton and the next night they’re called up to the NHL to play in the big show,” Piecuch said.

The Flames want to keep experienced local staff, he said, and if anything, Thunder’s staff is going to add on to what’s existing, not try and downsize.

“They’re not going to bring in outside people that don’t know anything about the market.

They plan to be involved on the community relations side, working with local charities, helping out the cities, things like that,” Piecuch said of the Flames. “So far so good. We’re planning to grow the staff, not to make a lot of changes.”

Pacific is in the midst of its second year in the West Coast Conference, one of the premiere college sports conferences in the western U.S. The men’s basketball WCC, for example, contains Gonzaga — a top 5 team in the country.

“The transition has been wonderful,” Pacific athletic director Ted Leland said. “In one sense it’s been very easy, in terms of a very comfortable transition administratively. In another way it’s been tough because the quality of the competition in the league is a step up from what we had

in the Big West.”

This year, the Tigers brought back men’s soccer after a 29-year absence, and after the women’s volleyball had a season that nearly ended with an NCAA Tournament bid, coach Greg Gibbons received a four-year contract extension. This preseason, the sand volleyball team is ranked No. 10 in the country.

“It’s been great, we had 2,500 people at one of our games. We did a Hispanic outreach and just had wonderful success,” Leland said of the men’s soccer rebirth. “It’s been greeted very well.

We’ve got to get our new field built, but otherwise we’re doing great.”

Stockton’s first minor league baseball version of the Ports was in 1946. They’ve been the Oakland Athletics affiliate at Stockton Ballpark since 2005.

“The state of our franchise remains very strong, on-and-off the field,” Ports president Pat Filippone said. “Being affiliated with the Oakland A’s generally provides us with a lot of exciting talent on the field.”

However, last year’s riveting-but-disappointing ending — winning a second-half divisional championship but not winning a postseason

game — wasn’t easy to swallow for Filippone and company.

“The ending wasn’t what he had hoped or expected,” he said. “Getting unceremoniously swept in the first round of the playoffs caught us by surprise. That doesn’t minimize our excitement from the product we’ll get in 2015.”

Stockton is now, by far, the closest affiliate to the A’s, after the Sacramento River Cats moved to the San Francisco Giants organization. That could mean recognizable major league players head to Stockton for a rehabilitation assignment instead of straight to a higher level in Sacramento. Geographically, it’s practical.

“I think there’s mixed emotions” about the change, Filippone said. “With the Triple-A affiliate being in Nashville, the odds of them sending a guy to Nashville aren’t great at all unless the big league team is already on the East Coast.

“It’s speculation because we haven’t played a season with the arrangement yet, the odds are ... it will increase (chances) of getting rehabs.”

— Contact reporter Thomas Lawrence at (209) 546-8272 or tlawrence@recordnet. com. Follow him at recordnet.com/sportsblog and on Twitter @RecordPreps.

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Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 |

Outlook

ENTERTAINMENT

There’s lots to do in Stockton

By Tony Sauro Record Staff Writer

STOCKTON — Some pieces are being shifted around, but “entertainment” options should remain essentially the same in Stockton during 2015.

“Things are moving right along,” Tony Noceti said. “We’re making this thing go.”

That’s the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival. After 30 years as the Stockton Asparagus Festival, it moves to the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds on April 17-19.

“This, to me, is the people’s festival,” said Noceti, a life-long farmer whose Noceti Group Inc. operates auto-racing facilities at the fairgrounds and Stockton 99 Speedway. “I have a long relationship with the fairgrounds. That’s why we did it. It’s gonna be a tradition that’s gonna carry on.”

So is the Brubeck Festival, the annual jazz week organized by University of the Pacific’s Brubeck Institute. It’s moving from March to Oct. 15-17, though.

“We wanted to interface with homecoming celebrations,” said Simon Rowe, the Institute’s director. “We considered it carefully, and that seemed a good point at which to do it. We’re certainly looking to couple big artists with smaller regional artists, a symposium and family day.”

Bassist Christian McBride, the institute’s first director, performs March 5 at Take 5 Jazz at the Brew as part of a weekly series that includes vibraphone player Stefon Harris.

Stockton’s Blackwater is back. Operating with a slightly altered name — Blackwater Republic — it informally re-opened on Feb. 16. It’s official on March 1.

Music, a dependable option at the venue for most of its 34 years, returns regularly. Middagh Goodwin, who managed the downtown Plea for Peace Center for five years, is booking the musical acts.

In the Blackwater vacuum, Pacific Avenue’s Miracle Mile has coalesced with regularly scheduled jazz, blues, punk rock, dancing lessons, comedy and theater at Take 5, Whirlow’s Mile Wine Co., Whiskey Barrel Tavern, That’s Show Biz!, the Ave on the Mile, Espresso Cafe and, occasionally, the Empire Theatre.

“I love the Miracle Mile,” said Darin Frazier, a Stockton native who grew up hanging out in the neighborhood and stages regular

Al Jarreau played the Bob Hope Theatre as part of the 2015 Brubeck Festival. CALIXTRO ROMIAS/ THE RECORD

The annual asparagus celebration gets a new name — San Joaquin Asparagus Festival — and a new home — the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds — when it is held April 17-19.

CALIXTRO ROMIAS/ RECORD FILE 2014

comedy-hypnosis shows at Take 5. “There’s a nice variety. It’s absolutely fantastic, really. It’s the best area for different kinds of food, beverage choices, quaint shops and businesses and personalized services.”

Up north on Pacific Avenue, Ed Bonilla’s Get off the Couch series stages its 14th monthly punk rock show when the Remones, who play Ramones songs, return on Feb. 28.

“I’m trying to build a scene over there,” Bonilla said of Rebel’s Whiskeyhouse, where he also has the Memphis Murder Men (Pittsburgh) and San Francisco’s Screaming Bloody

Marys — punk traditionalists — scheduled. “I just wanna hear the music and have some beers with my friends.”

Downtown, it’s comedy, rap-soul and Cirque du Soleil at the Stockton Arena and Bob Hope Theatre.

R. Kelly, the veteran singer, songwriter and producer from Chicago who still is getting nominated for Grammy Awards, performs May 1 at Stockton Arena.

Gabriel Iglesias, the comedian known as “Fluffy,” returns March 26 to the Bob Hope Theatre. A March 27 show might need to be

added because of ticket demand. That’s what comic George Lopez had to do Feb. 14-15.

Cirque du Soleil returns to the arena on April 15-19 with its “Varekai” production.

“We’re excited about these shows and long-term shows,” said Chris Kay, director of marketing and sales for SMG Facilities, which named Kendra Clark general manager of Stockton’s venues in 2014. “We’ve built in Disney for ‘Frozen’ and we’re excited about what’s going on.”

Modesto’s Bill Barr continues producing shows at the Hope, and San Francisco’s Richter Entertainment, said Billy Cohen, plans to remain active. That’s after they rebuild the summer season — to seven or eight shows — at Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys and “iron out” the venue’s access so bigger bands can be booked.

The Stockton Symphony and Stockton Chorale still endure, slowly recovering from San Joaquin County’s economic difficulties along with the Friends of Chamber Music. University of the Pacific’s Conservatory schedules a steady series of student, faculty and guest performances as does San Joaquin Delta College.

Stockton Civic Theatre has been joined by smaller troupes in Linden and Tracy. Pacific and Delta complement them.

Noceti and wife Carol plan on booking all kinds of entertainment for the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival. There will be no San Joaquin County Fair this year, although San Joaquin AgFest Junior Show and Auction is slated for June 16-20 at the Fairgrounds — the ag portion of the county fair without the entertainment and midway.

The California State Horse Racing Board has assigned Sept. 18-27 dates to Stockton. Kelly Olds, who manages the fairgrounds, said ancillary events “might occur.”

Noceti emphasized the nonprofit aspect of the newly located Asparagus Festival and said 100 vendors have been assembled.

“We’re adding more stuff and more asparagus to it,” said Noceti, 55, who farms hay and walnuts and raises cattle in French Camp. “We don’t need to build a city within a city. Plus, we have so many other events. There are a bazillion things on the calendar. I can’t begin to name all. There’s a boatload.”

— Contact Tony Sauro at (209) 546-8267 or tsauro@recordnet.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsaurorecord.

| Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015

Outlook

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DINING

Football fans watch the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 at Midgley’s Public House restaurant in Lincoln Center. THE RECORD

Restaurant scene tasting success

By Jo Ann Kirby Record Staff Writer

Stockton’s restaurant scene is thriving, with new eateries experiencing steady reservations in Lincoln Center and several grand openings planned for newcomers in other parts of the city.

The year kicked off with Stockton Restaurant Week successful at participating restaurants, where owners said they saw their best January receipts yet. The 10-day event featured fixed-price menu deals.

At some locations, the wait to get it was an hour. That's amazing for January, when business typically is slow, according to business owners.

In Lincoln Center, Stonecreek Village and the Miracle Mile, the “walk, shop, dine” flow is working and creating synergy.

“What’s really great is that the

Outlook

center is almost at 100 percent occupancy, and people can bounce around from one place to another,” said celebrity chef Michael Midgley, who opened Midgley’s Public House in late 2014. “Being here has exceeded all my expectations. It’s going great.”

Midgley said the competition from fellow restaurant owners isn’t a threat, it’s a good thing. That’s because people can have a drink and appetizers at one eatery, dine at another and finish up with dessert somewhere else.

The chef and owner described his cuisine as a mix of chop house with a fun and funky twist. He likes to mix things up by hosting events such as a Super Bowl party featuring a chili and rib cookoff with live music on the patio.

Phil Johnson, president of SimsGrupe Management, said the

opening of Market Tavern in 2013 was a catalyst for Lincoln Center.

“We have about a dozen restaurants plus some smaller places and we try not to overlap,” Johnson said. “Food is clearly driving the market. Not just in Stockton, but up and down the Valley and across the nation. With the economy doing better, people want to treat themselves to a nice dinner.”

In addition to Midgley’s Public House, Market Tavern, Lincoln Cellar and Tio Pepe’s opened in Lincoln Center. And Squeeze Burger, the newest eatery in Lincoln Center, already has a loyal following.

Established restaurants continue to thrive there. Other smaller food purveyors such as Jamba Juice, Noah’s Bagels and the new Nothing Bundt Cakes have a niche, too.

Wes Rhea, who heads up Visit Stockton!, said the Miracle Mile is

doing very well and will be welcoming a Thai restaurant soon. And at Stonecreek Village, Kyodai Sushi is a new option.

The downtown area is a challenge, Rhea admitted, because restaurant owners are constantly having to gauge when customers will be in the area.

“The downtown restaurants can't just depend on the work lunch crowd.

Downtown doesn't have consistent traffic, but if there's an event at the arena or a big movie opens, Misaki and French 25 are packed,” he said.

“The restaurant business is always hard, but French 25 has a good formula. Restaurants are trying to be a little different in how they approach food, and you are starting to see a burgeoning restaurant scene here.”

In 2015, a new restaurant is planned for downtown’s Newbury Building. Papa Urb's is a Filipino

restaurant with a twist. It has an established outlet in Tracy.

“The restaurant business is always hard, but when you have the right formula, it works,” Rhea said. “That’s a nice, clean restaurant that has good food at reasonable prices.”

Customers said they are enjoying trying out the new places.

“I have been to Midgley’s and Market Tavern. I loved them both, but they can be pricey,” said Jennifer Burnett of Stockton, who enjoys dining out with her husband, friends and family. “It’s doable for drinks and (appetizers) with friends. And I like them for a special occasion.”

The variety is good, she said.

Some say it’s the spice of life.

— Contact reporter Jo Ann Kirby at (209) 546-8256 or jkirby@recordnet.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkirbappeal.

WINE

Like summer, Lodi grapes are hot

By Bob Highfill Record Staff Writer

LODI — Wine writers from outside the United States visited Lodi a few years ago.

And what they said came as a surprise to some.

In their general opinion, the best wines coming out of the Lodi American Viticultural Area are white wines, not red wines. This opened some eyes and debunked a long-held perception that Lodi’s climate is conducive only to growing black grape varieties such as zinfandel, which needs plenty of sun to ripen.

Noted wine writer and sommelier Randy Caparoso, who lives in Lodi, said he believes white wine production will be a trend in Lodi.

“One of the observations that some of them made, particularly Oz Clarke, was the best wines are actually not red wines, they’re white wines,” said Caparoso, referring to Clarke, a renowned British wine writer and critic. “He got that from only the few white wines he tasted.

He thought this is a lot better than what we expected.”

There have been a lot of perceptions quashed in Lodi the past decade or so. No longer is it known solely as a growing region supplying massive wineries. Lodi, which has more acreage under vine than Napa and Sonoma combined, now

is recognized as a multi-faceted, sought-after destination producing wines that can stand next to the best in the state, if not the country.

Families with generations of grape growing know-how are opening their own wineries, a trend that that has expanded over the past 10 to 15 years, and continuing to supply high-quality traditional and experimental varieties to other wineries, a practice dating to the mid-tolate 1800s. Most anything labeled California and an ample portion of Napa and Sonoma wines contain Lodi fruit.

“It’s of such a high quality level and caliber that we’re seeing increased interest from those winemakers in the so-called hot parts of the wine producing world,” said Camron King, executive director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission. “Napa, Sonoma, Paso (Robles), they’re coming here to buy their fruit.”

The climate in the Lodi AVA is Mediterranean: dry, warm summers with cool evening breezes off the San Joaquin Delta, and mild winters. These conditions are suitable for growing any number of varieties. Lodi might grow more types of grapes, including whites, than any winemaking region in the country. When white grapes such as chardonnay are in the hands of an experienced, savvy grower and picked early, the grapes retain their

Patio outside the tasting room at Harney Lane Winery. BOB HIGHFILL/THE RECORD

natural acidity and produce clean, crisp wines with bright acidity, minerality and pleasing, not overly ripe, flavors and aromas.

White wines likely never will overtake reds, which Lodi is known for producing. But it is something to watch.

Another trend is growth. Since the early 2000s, dozens of wineries have opened in Lodi. According to King, Lodi had about a dozen wineries 10 to 15 years ago and now has at least 85 — from boutique- to mega-sized operations — with some 65 offering tasting rooms. Jorja and Kyle Lerner, owners of Harney Lane Winery in Lodi, decided to expand their farming business, some fi ve generations in the making, by

bottling their first vintage of estategrown chardonnay and zinfandel in 2006. Their first release was in November 2008. In September 2009, they opened a tasting room on their property. Harney Lane has won numerous awards, and sales already have exceeded their initial 10-year projections, impressive considering they opened their doors in the midst of a dire economy.

“In that time, we’ve grown almost to a 5,000-case annual production, which is not what we had anticipated originally in our 10-year business plan at all,” Kyle Lerner said. “So what the future holds, I see nothing but opportunity.”

Managing the growth will be an ongoing job for Lodi’s residents,

business owners, winegrape growers and wineries. The Lodi Wine Ordinance, adopted about a decade ago and tweaked several times since, generally defines what a winery is and what it can and can’t do. David Lucas said the ordinance allowed him to operate his small winery on Davis Road in Lodi.

“When I started this winery without an ordinance, one of the challenges I faced was they kind of wanted to put me under a large winery format, which I couldn’t afford,” said Lucas, whose wife, Heather, is the winemaker for The Lucas Family Winery. “Just to do that and working with the planning people at the time, we decided to have a winery ordinance. We needed to have a definition of what a winery is. Otherwise, nobody was going to build a small winery.”

Moving forward, the Lerners hope planners balance the potential Lodi has as an agro-tourism destination and the concerns of residents and business owners.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Kyle Lerner said. “There’s no other industry in the county right now that’s really thriving and thrived through really rough times.”

— Contact Record reporter Bob Highfill at (209) 546-8282 or bhighfill@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/fromthevine and on Twitter @bobhighfill.

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Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015 |