Editorial

EDITORIAL – During the last Presidential election Donald Trump claimed he was going to drain the swamp that has flooded the political process with lobbyist and politicians looking to line their pockets with special deals and contracts paid for with taxpayer’s dollars. That swamp is not exclusive to the Federal Government or the California State legislature in Sacramento. There is a swamp bubbling up all around the Madera County Government Center and in the last eight years it has grown both deeper and wider.

Whether it’s called “quid pro quo” or “pay for play”, developers and county vendors have learned that the best way to gain access to county contracts is through donations to Supervisors’ campaign bank accounts and social agendas. No one on the county board has taken more advantage of this than the Supervisor from Chowchilla, David Rogers.

EDITORIAL - When a man as powerful as Tim Jones has a 59^th birthday party the Madera County Board of Supervisors drop everything to help him celebrate. This weekend at the Lodge at Riverstone on Avenue 12 and Highway 41 a celebration for the Fresno Attorney and real estate developer will take place and the Madera supervisors will pay homage to the man who was able to build where no man has been allowed to build before.

While the ink is barely dry on the settlement agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union that resulted from the Madera Supervisors violating the Ralph M Brown Open Meetings Act, a quorum of the board is expected to show up for this private party outside of the view of the public or media. You would have thought the board learned their lesson from the $35K payment they had to make following an illegal closed door meeting with the Madera County Department of Corrections and the District Attorney’s office regarding granting Federal ICE agents access to prisoners in the jail.

EDITORIAL - So it’s official, the papers have been filed for a recall of Madera Mayor Andy Medellin. Next step is for the organizers to gather signatures of 3600 Madera voters who agree with them. Then, the most challenging step - convince a majority of the electorate that the Madera mayor needs to be removed from office to pay for the decisions of the entire city council. And who is going to convince the voters of this? The same group of folks that was not able to get a bond on the ballot to support the local animal shelter or to push for term limits for the Madera County Board of Supervisors?

There are questions to be asked and answered here right up front. The first of which is why this recall effort is focused on one member of the Madera City Council when the entire council is responsible for any decisions.  Is it possible that the organizers of the recall do not understand what form of government the city of Madera operates under? 

EDITORIAL – Last night at the Madera City Council’s closed session meeting City Manager David Tooley offered to take an early retirement and resign from the city. The city council accepted and by the end of the year Tooley will no longer be an employee of the city. Though he has offered to help with the transition to new leadership. Those are the facts.

This is exactly what happened last night and nothing more. Well that is not exactly true a little more happened last night that you might not find on the pages of Saturday’s Madera Tribune. Last night David Tooley showed what kind of man he is and demonstrated extreme leadership in the face of journalistic speculation and innuendo. Last night David Tooley put the city of Madera above his own self interest. I doubt that will ever appear in the Madera Tribune. News like that doesn't sell newspapers.

EDITORIAL - There is a phrase that seems to have gained a lot of popularity over the last few years. It doesn't seem to be limited to any socio-economic group and it is used by people of all ages. I've had it said to me by everyone from cashiers at the local McDonald's to the bank tellers at Wells Fargo.

The phrase can be confusing because it doesn't make sense when taken literally. Yet there isn't a day that goes by that I don't here it at least ten times. “Have a Good One”. What the heck does that mean?

EDITORIAL – Now that the Fourth of July is behind us, maybe the our homes will stop being bombarded with the rocket’s red glare of five pound mortar shells exploding over our wood roofs and dry grass. But if past years are any indicator, the cease fire will more than likely end as soon as the Sun goes down on the Fifth of July.

With fines and criminal penalties going up each year for the possession and use of illegal fireworks, why does it seem that every year the neighborhood displays are more and more competing against the professional shows put on at Grizzlies Stadium or the Madera Speedway?