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• Visalia property owners OK storm fee

  Visalia property owners OK storm fee

  Visalia property owners voted to keep a monthly fee and apply it to maintaining the city's storm-water drainage system, officials said Wednesday.

• 'Voodoo' garbage economics

  'Voodoo' garbage economics

  Can somebody explain how privatizing garbage collection in Fresno is suppose to be a good deal?

  I understand that the city is planning to receive franchise fees from the vendor, but $2.5 million a year doesn't seem enough to cover the cost of the city-owned trucks that will be given to the vendor. This transfer of taxpayer-owned assets doesn't seem to be taken into account in the city's "voodoo" economics.

  I'd would like to see in print the value of these trucks before I decide how to vote on this proposal.

• Read the city charter

  Read the city charter

  I find it so interesting that so many people using "representative government" as an argument against a vote of the people on privatizing trash have been up in arms over talk of Congress passing any gun-control legislation.

  What hypocrites. They immediately start quoting the Second Amendment of our Constitution. Maybe they should take another look at Section 1218 of the Fresno City Charter, which is the constitution for the city of Fresno: "No municipally owned utility shall be operated for the benefit of other municipal functions nor be used directly or indirectly as a general revenue-producing agency for the City." And yet the only argument by the city to justify privatizing residential trash is the need for general fund revenue to pay for public safety.

  The mayor and four council members have made a decision that clearly violates the intent of Charter Section 1218. Privatizing solid waste is designed to produce at least $4 million of new general fund revenue for other municipal functions. Fifteen percent

• Wants fire fee help

  Wants fire fee help

  In response to the Feb. 27 letter from Jeffrey W. Eisinger calling for an additional sales tax so that the city of Fresno can keeps its current trash service: It didn't take long for Fresno customers who receive Fresno trash service to come up with the idea of requiring everyone to pay for it.

  I live in Auberry, where we were recently assessed a new yearly fire fee of $135 per dwelling. Can we reduce that fee and increase the sales tax to cover the difference? I'm sure you would be against that.

  Then again, we don't have a strong union or the votes up here to get that, do we? Come to think of it, why not a new sales tax in Fresno, to help subsidize our trash service in the foothills while you're at it?

• Griswold: Tulare optimistic over proposed cheese plant

  Griswold: Tulare optimistic over proposed cheese plant

  The mood at Tulare City Hall is one of cautious optimism these days because a group of food industry veterans is proposing to build a cheese processing plant that would employ 220 people at good wages.