My comments to the Salida Fire Protection District on October 17, 2026:
"After the September board meeting, I grew very angry. Not just from the way that David (the SFD attorney) treated Debby which my bone to pick there is that if your board allows a public member to ask a question, then don't try to shut them down or backpedal. My impression is that David doesn't know Robert's Rules of Order very well. Not only did I serve on Salida MAC but I also served on the Stanislaus County Planning Commission and those two boards follow Robert's Rules. Most boards do. A board does NOT have to answer questions or respond to public questions unless a member chooses to. It does not have to do with the Brown Act, just with the way a meeting is conducted. The public can ask to comment on any agenda item and in some cases, pull agenda items for discussion. So after every agenda item, the chair should ask the board first if they have questions or comments, and then ask the public. But what I am really upset about is how far our fire district has fallen and the options presented, are quite frankly, unacceptable. At the last meeting, Director Dignan said, “Modesto has us over a barrel” and I have heard that phrase once before – in 2014 during MRFA, the former Modesto City Manager, Greg Nyhoff said, “We have Salida over a barrel”. “We have control of their water and their fire department.” I can't tell you how much Modesto's shady tactics anger me! They have no right to string Salida along and not give us the same treatment they gave Ceres when they needed financial help. They have no right to try to displace our sheriff substation because they are remodeling one of theirs. They have no right to sell Salida's equipment; not a tank or anything else. But more than anything, they have no right to gouge us into the ground with the threat of closing Station 12. If Station 12 closes, people will die and lose their homes to fire and that will be on you if you don't fight to prevent that. I gave you a number of options and I expect to see this board act. I also ask that you stop looking at annexation as the answer. I don't know why Oakdale Rural contracted with Modesto Fire when it costs them more than it does with Stanislaus Consolidated, but I expect you to get a bid from Consolidated. And again, the Salida Community is against losing their assets in an annexation. We Salida residents paid for all three stations and I can tell you that we are not on board for losing them or our equipment to annexation into another district. As I mentioned at the last meeting, we are so close to new development which will bring those badly needed funds in. Lastly, I want this board to move forward. Stop bringing up the past trying to lay blame, it can't be undone so let it lie. I also want you to stop referring to the old board as a “Good 'Ol Boys” Club because one thing they did have that was a benefit to Salida, was they were a majority of Salida residents and hell would have froze over before they ever entertained the thought of Salida not having any open fire stations. If you truly represent the Salida Fire Protection District no matter where you reside, then I expect you to do everything in your power to keep Station 12 open, keep our assets in this district, and keep our Sheriff Substation right where it is. I am also furious that our one Salida resident board member is in danger of losing her seat. I was chatting with my neighbor, about the school district and she mentioned she did not have an opponent in our district. That got me thinking as to why does the school district have districts and not the fire district? And that is when I learned about the California Voting Rights Act. So this letter is a request to implement it and you can save $30,000 in legal fees by implementing it on your own. No district, and not even the City of Modesto has ever won a legal fight against the California Voting Rights Act. There are whole law firms that specialize in the CVRA and one call from myself or any other Salida resident will create legal fees for our strapped fire district."
SFD at Pelandale & Sisk
My comments to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, October 20, 2026:
"Remember that time the Goodwin Study was leaked to the Alliance in 2013? That is the angriest I have ever been in my entire life! On a scale of 1 to 10, that was a 12, and I'm now at about a level 8 over Salida Fire. I have been attending the Salida Fire Protection District meetings for the past several months, and there is always something I hear there that makes me angry. I emailed you about some of it but did not hear back so in case you didn't receive my email, I will recap it for you – Modesto Fire is running Salida's revenues into the ground where Salida will run out of funding in June. And, what is even more galling, is that Modesto Fire wants to displace the sheriff in Station 12 because one of their fire stations is being remodeled. And shockingly, Salida's fire board, which only has one Salida resident on it and her seat is vulnerable in this election, is actually considering that! And they are considering only using Modesto stations which would double the response times and plummet our ISO ratings, But the worst of it is, it could cost people their lives and homes. I mentioned in my email they could apply to you for a bridge loan because we are this close to the PEIR being completed, but they are doing things like exploring annexations to other fire districts. Salida will lose all three stations and equipment if we annex into another district and all three stations were paid for solely by Salida, the most recent one built with Salida Mello Roos funds. So look, I'd be glad if Stanislaus Consolidated could be our new contract entity because judging by Oakdale Rural's bids, Consolidated was less, and I'd hope that Consolidated wouldn't have the goal of running us into the ground or displacing our sheriff. Plus, Modesto charges the most (again, judging by Oakdale Rural) and they do the least. They are not even doing maintenance things in Salida that Salida Fire used to do like fire hydrant maintenance. They have not offered Salida a break like they did to Ceres, which I have learned that Ceres provided more coverage to Modesto so I have a records act request in to Chief Shanon Evans, which he has not replied to yet, for that contract and Salida's stats. Station 12 covers City of Modesto too so I want to know how much are they benefiting from Salida while bankrupting Salida? So we really need your help – you five are the stewards of Salida – even if you are not our Supervisor, you still make key decisions that affect us. Like I'm sure Buck knows why Salida is not getting ERAF and perhaps you can rectify that and or with Prop 172 funds. Oakdale Rural gets ERAF so why doesn't Salida?"
