At last week’s Ceres City Council meeting, Ceres Mayor Javier Lopez suggested that the city get a Public Information Officer because apparently he and members of the council do not believe the Ceres Courier and the city’s own social media efforts are doing a good job getting out information.
City staff sporadically informs this local newspaper about events. For example, we were receiving regular City Connections columns about recycling, trash and water issues but that has since stopped.
I firmly believe that you can spoon feed all kinds of information to people, but you can’t make them eat it. Apathy is prevalent in our society and people only pay attention to what interests them. There’s so much information to consume and many folks are unconcerned about what goes on in their own city government, to which a PIO would be a worthless endeavor.
The mayor said such a position would be charged with promoting “positive stories about Ceres and respond quickly to misinformation or media requests.” That’s where the Courier plays a role because we cover both the positive and negative stories and always have.
He feels his request doesn’t necessarily mean committing to a new full-time position but could be farmed out to existing staff or contracted out.
Immediately the mayor’s suggestion was met with a common sense question from Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra: How would the severely financially strapped city pay for such a position. She doesn’t feel a PIO is a high priority given the police hiring freeze and shortages in code enforcement and planning.
Councilman James Casey mentioned how he directed a person to call City Hall to inquire about a matter and they got a recording mentioning staffing shortages and to select a choice only to hear it ring and ring and ring and nobody picking up.
Resident John Warren said staying abreast of the goings on of all departments would be a full-time endeavor and likely would cost $100,000 to $200,000 per year. When Ceres doesn’t even have a planning director (Community Development Director), he said surely the city can’t afford a PIO. He suggested adding PIO duties to those already who have jobs with the city “might be a bit much.”
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Speaking of Javier Lopez, I tried to get in touch with his last known campaign consultant and see if I could get an update about his campaign for the 13th Congressional District seat. I left a message with Duane Dichiara of Axiom Strategies in Sacramento and never received a call back which is unusual given he had eagerly communicated with me when Lopez announced his candidacy in April.
I spoke to one Modesto city official who confidentially told me Lopez doesn’t stand a chance of defeating Adam Gray next year. This individual has worked with Lopez.
The primary election is on June 2, 2026 and the general election is set for the following Nov. 3. So far there doesn’t seem to be a lot of concern coming out of the Adam Gray camp and not a lot of PR coming out of the Lopez for Congress camp. Time will tell.
It’s going to be a tough call for voters of District 13: Go with a Democrat who is fighting tooth-and-nail to preserve Medicaid funding for illegal border jumpers; or go with an unimpressive small city mayor with a disappointing record and who has come under fire for taxpayer funded expenses he incurred during his two-year tenure as president of the Stanislaus Council of Governments (StanCOG) Policy Board.
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Sometimes I read things on social media that I wish I had written, this a piece that a friend reposted on Facebook concerning the silly No Kings Day protests. The folks who engage in these protests are not rooted in realism and suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome.
The piece I want to share now was written by Michael McCune and titled, “Those Protesting ‘Kings’ are Looking in the Wrong Place’:
“Kings are not elected. Presidents are.
“Donald Trump was elected by the American people — to head the Executive Branch and carry out the laws passed by Congress.
“Here’s the part the protesters don’t seem to grasp. Immigration law wasn’t created by Donald Trump. It was written and enacted by Congress — long before he took office. If a president were to refuse to enforce those laws, it would be called dereliction of duty. That’s the very thing the Left loves to accuse him of.
“But what happens when governors decide they don’t have to comply with federal law?
“When they declare their states “sanctuaries” and openly defy the immigration laws of the land?
“They aren’t acting like servants of the Constitution. They’re acting like kings.
“When a governor stands atop his state and says, ‘We will decide which federal laws we obey and which we ignore,’ he’s not protecting democracy — he’s dismantling it.
“So before anyone waves a ‘No Kings’ sign at Donald Trump, maybe take a look at the ones wearing the crowns in California, Illinois, Oregon, and New York — because they’re the ones ruling by decree.
“And the next time you see a protester holding a ‘No Kings’ sign, remember — what they’re really protesting isn’t monarchy at all. They’re protesting lawfulness itself — while kneeling before the true kings of lawlessness.”
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I received an interesting email from a woman named Jaime Reynolds who wanted to let us know that she is forever grateful for the service of Brian Weber. Brian, who was an off-duty police officer at the time, saved her life in 1979 when he gave CPR to the infant who wasn’t breathing. As a baby, Jaime had been brought to the police station at the corner of Third and North streets. Weber was not on duty but at the station and immediately jumped into action to get her breathing again as well as her heart beating. Paramedics arrived later.
Reynolds was thinking about Weber as she returned to the Ceres area on Saturday to pick up cattle. I informed her that Brian retired in 2010 and moved up north.
I, for one, have always appreciated our law enforcement officers. They make a tremendous impact for good in our world. It’s too bad there are so many self-centered, privileged lawless ones who think otherwise.
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I spent last week in glorious Colorado. The snow-dusted Rockies resembled the Alps. The fall colors were exploding around Ouray and Silverton and even in Manitou Springs. What a beautiful wide open and mostly rural state!
Colorado is a blue state, meaning they lean progressive and elect Democrats. The rural parts of the state, where we stayed, were obviously populated by self-made ranchers who dislike government and tend to vote red like the soil and rock itself. But Colorado has the same problem that California does – the large cities outnumber the conservative rural voters.
The difference is that Colorado, as far as I know, does not wage war against oil companies like in Newsom’s California so gas prices were jaw dropping. I saw at least one station at $2.99 per gallon and paid $3.09 to $3.39 in the most out-of-the-way station in Salida, Colo. Conoco in Ridgway charged $3.45 per gallon. Colorado’s gas tax is 29.18 cents per gallon; California’s is 70.9 cents per gallon. That makes a big difference. If you have a 12-gallon tank, that’s $8.48 extra in California taxes; or a 16-gallon tank costs $11.34 in taxes here.
True to the quality of blue states, the Colorado Springs area has a noticable homeless problem.
Elections have consequences; policies and politicians affect our bottom line. When I ordered Taco Bell I had to question the clerk if she got it right because the total was a lot less than California. The total for one taco and two bean burritos came to $6.35 (48 cents of that being tax). On Monday in our county the same three items cost me $8.45 (68 cents being tax). For the math impaired, that’s $2.10 more for a simple meal – no doubt caused by our $20 per hour minimum wage.
That reminds me of how in May 2024 at the Perkin’s Restaurant in Forest Lake, Minnesota I was stunned to hear a waitress explain the minimum wage there was $11 per hour! No wonder small business is getting crushed in California!
And when you hear Gavin Newsom being confronted by the facts about how Californians are getting screwed, he defaults to the “we have the biggest this and that” stump speech. One thing is for sure – we have the biggest tone-deaf egomaniac jerk of a governor the likes of which this state has never seen.
And if you need reminding, don’t fall for his trick or reversing what we voted for over a decade ago when we took district boundary drawing out of the hands of politicians. Vote no on 50.
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
