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Orosi, Strathmore schedule recall votes on Nov. 4 ballot
Recall votes will be held in Orosi and Strathmore involving public utilities districts, the Tulare County Elections Office announced Tuesday. Both districts supply drinking water and operate wastewater treatment plants.
The recall elections will be on the Nov. 4 ballot.
In Orosi, board member Mary Ann Galviso, who also goes by Galbiso, faces a recall vote over not paying assessments to the district on property she owns. The district has 1,413 registered voters.
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Top issue for new Reedley council member: growth
Originally published in The Fresno Bee and on FresnoBee.com on September 27, 2006.
The two candidates vying for an open seat on the Reedley City Council are longtime friends, but have contrasting backgrounds and different views on how to help a city that's in a growth bind.
Mary Fast, 51, and Gus Reyes, 75, are seeking the open seat in Council District 2, which is the city's inner core.
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LAFCO urges Fresno to absorb Pinedale districts
Pinedale's water and sewer districts should consider dissolving and be absorbed by the city of Fresno, a countywide agency recommended.
The Local Agency Formation Commission made the recommendation after hearing reports on the future public service needs for the Pinedale area.
Bruce Barnes, a Fresno city planner, told LAFCO's board that the city agrees with the recommendations.
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Downtown property owners urged to OK fees
Several hundred downtown Fresno property owners are being asked whether to start taxing themselves to pay for services ranging from marketing to graffiti removal.
It started Thursday with a meeting to launch a petition drive that may lead to a vote of property owners within the proposed Property-Based Improvement District -- roughly bounded by H, Q, Ventura and Tuolumne streets, plus both sides of Van Ness Avenue as far north as Divisadero Street.
Within that area, property owners would pay assessments based on their location, lot sizes and building sizes, raising almost $750,000 in the district's first year. An owners association would decide how to spend the money.
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Ballots on fire protection fees will be in mail
Many Fresno County property owners will be receiving ballots in the mail next week asking them whether they would pay additional money for enhanced services from the Fresno County Fire Protection District.
The amount people pay would vary based on the amount of land they own and how that property is used.
The owner of a single-family home would be charged an additional $78.62 annually. Those with agricultural parcels would pay $11.22 per parcel.
Tulare County Superior Court Judge Patrick O'Hara issued a temporary restraining order Monday blocking the forced sale of two parcels of farmland in Orosi.
The Orosi Public Utility District sought the tax sale to recover money the district said it is owed for unpaid sewer line assessments.
The property is owned by Mary Jane Galbiso, who has fought a bitter battle over the assessments and won election to the district's board of directors in November.
But the dispute has riled the rural community, and Galbiso now faces a possible recall election.
The sale of the property was scheduled today. A new date must be set because of the court order, said Michael Lampe, attorney for the district. O'Hara also set a hearing for July 24 to decide if the sale can go ahead.
The property, just under 20 acres, was put on the auction block as the first step toward recovering $126,700, which Lampe said is Galbiso's share of installing a sewer line to the area. Galbiso said Monday that the sewer line does not serve her property, which has a farm building, but no homes. Plans by a previous owner to build homes never panned out, she added.
Galbiso is suing the district to get the assessments withdrawn. The case could go to trial.
Also Monday, the Tulare County Elections Division gave proponents of the proposed recall election permission to circulate a petition against Galbiso. Proponents have 60 days to collect 331 signatures of the district's 1,300 registered voters.
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