The carport issue certainly has drawn interest from both sides of the issue.

Carports have not been allowed for decades in Ceres yet they are up at some houses. Those folks didn’t walk down to or call City Hall to see about a permit. If they had they would have been told, “Sorry, carports are not allowed.”

So those who invested money to have them installed or built on their own have put themselves in a predicament. After Code Enforcement began citing folks, some squawked to the city council to change the muni code. The council decided to not amend the code.

Rules are made for a reason. Carports, in my opinion, are unsightly. Are other things unsightly too? Of course, but using that as an excuse not to tackle another eyesore is not good policy either.

Some of the carports I’ve seen are junk-all places and used for storage. A whole neighborhood can suffer at the blight of one neighbor who could care less.

The carports are encroaching on the Public Utility Easement where you can’t put structures.

Social media allows people to post knee-jerk comments without having the facts. So let me address some of the things that some people left on our Facebook page.

EM Jay said this: “people worried bout a freakin carport..how bout yall worry bout why all us Ceres folk are getting charged so much for our City Bill!!”

I don’t believe it’s called “worrying” when you address code enforcement problems but the funny thing is that with the cost of everything going up, why would people NOT expect their city utility bills to go up? After all, employee costs go up every year and so does the cost of products and contracts – all which gets passed onto residents.

Lori Ramsdell said: “This is just crazy. Those carports are really nice for extra covered parking.”

Carports are for covering vehicles – most of which don’t fit in the garage because there’s too much crap in the garage.

Cali Kel Perez said: “Wish they’d do something about my neighbors 6 garbage cans and truck parts all thier (sic) front yard.”

Complain to the city. Sounds like it’s a real eyesore and you have a legitimate complaint. The city’s code enforcement program is largely driven by complaints.

I, too, wish everybody would abide by local law that requires your trash containers to be out of public view when it’s not collection time.

Angela Cowell posted: “The article says there over 800 homes with these, yet only 4 people received a notice? Looks like a personal attack on certain citizens of Ceres. Ridiculous.”

Hold one. The article quoted one carport owner who claimed there are over 840 carports but everybody suspects that’s more outright fabrication than fact. 

Why do people, when caught violating the law, claim it’s a personal attack?

Also, had Angela had read the entire article she would have noted the part about how the city is formulating a way to cite EVERYBODY with a carport!

Amy Claus wrote: “That’s wrong they should be able to Have Them.”

And if a person wanted to build a 20-foot fence around his or her property, should the city allow that? My point: when you live next door to people in a city, rules are in place to not create eyesores and block out sunlight and create visual obstructions when backing out of driveways.

Les Brenner wrote: “It sounds like more people want them and the Council don’t, so out it on the ballot next time.”

No, the loudest objections are coming from the carport owners. And FYI, municipal code is not determined by ballot measures; it is determined by the City Council you elect.

And if you’d elect nothing but councilmembers who like the idea of carports, in time you’d have more blight because the next step would be to rescind the rule about putting away garbage cans six days a week.

Irene C Gurierrez wrote: “Of course they don’t want them. If they actually build a port they need a permit which the city will make money off of.”

Irene, the city cannot “profit” from building permit fees, only recover the cost of city staff time to review and process them. The city does not run like a for-profit business.

* * * * *

I find it rather ironic that the state of California can demand that cities must create “X” amount of houses every year for every strata of society while said state of California has enacted the most unfriendly development policies that make it VERY difficult to build anything.

Ceres is expected to see the construction of 3,361 units for its part in meeting regional housing demand. Ceres had two building permits last year!

There is plenty of land that has been set aside for building in Ceres but you don’t just flip on a switch and see development happen overnight.

People are already struggling to afford living in our country, thanks in part to government actions during COVID and the massive drunken sailor spending of Congress and the president. Inflation is eating up paychecks. Things like mandating solar only drive up the cost of houses by another $10,000 or more.

Regulations make building in California take too long and more expensive.

So, it’s time that state officials look in the mirror to see why new housing starts are not happening the way they want it to.

* * * * *

There was a lot of exaggeration among Facebook users in response to our post regarding “Consultant hired to explore water, sewer rate hikes.”

As I said earlier, how can residents expect utility bills to remain flat when costs are going up everywhere around us?

Rates were increased recently to help the city pay for participation in the surface water project and delivery system. Thus treated water from the Tuolumne River is being comingled with water pumped from underground aquifers. If anything, water quality has improved and forecast to taste better. So why would Jessica Pittman say, “Don’t we pay enough for water we can’t drink?”

Most of the water that is used by a household is not consumed – it’s used to take baths and showers, flush toilets, wash clothes and water the lawn. If the water doesn’t taste to someone’s liking, do what I do and drink filtered tap water.

Surely folks must understand that the city has to set aside money to fix the water and sewer systems in the future. Those projects are funded by the ratepayers over time.

Things are more complicated than most people realize.

* * * * *

One cannot accuse Ceres Planning Commissioner Dave Johnson of being politically ambitious. Last week he didn’t want any part of being commission chairman or vice chairman.

Johnson nominated freshly appointed Commissioner Ruldip “R.J.” Jammu as vice chairman, even though he has the longest tenure on the commission.

“I guess I’ll take it,” replied Jammu.

When Jammu motioned for Johnson to become commission chairman, Gary Condit reminded him, “You are the senior member.” Johnson replied, “Sure,” but then said “nah, I’m gonna pass on it.”

Condit is now commission chairman and Jammu is vice chairman.

Let’s hope the trend of meeting cancellations for a lack of business we saw in 2024 ends in 2025. But the meeting that was supposed to take place on Monday has also been cancelled.

* * * * *

Those of us who want to restore common sense to leadership at the state level should strongly look into a new candidate that emerged last week. San Bernardino County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced he wants to be the next Republican governor of California.

Bianco announced his candidacy, saying, “I am running for governor because our beautiful state – which I absolutely love – is heading down the wrong track and has been for years. Everyone knows it, except those sitting in the Sacramento echo chamber. For decades the party in complete control of our state government has tried the same failed ideas and implemented the same failed policies. Californians want leadership that actually cares about the cost of living – and leaders who will do something about it. We want homes we can afford. We want air conditioning when it’s hot, not rolling blackouts. We want water for the crops and animals that feed us. We want the opportunity to achieve the California Dream, not be prevented from it because of red tape and regulation from government.

“We want honesty and transparency from our elected officials. We want lower taxes and less government waste. We want sanity restored and common sense to prevail.”

Bianco was one of the California county sheriffs who balked at Newsom’s orders to shut down the state during COVID. In retrospect, wasn’t that the stupidest government overreach ever – and one that we will be paying for over the next decades?

As one who thought Kamala Harris was perhaps the most embarrassing and inept vice president in recent history, I cringe to read reports that pollsters claim she is the favored Democratic candidate in the list of gubernatorial hopefuls. She would be nothing more than a continuation of the failed policies of Gavin Newsom.

Besides Bianco, Democrats are coming out of the woodworks to compete against Harris, namely Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Controller Betty Yee.

In April 2015 I covered Villaraigosa when he visited Mi Pueblo Market on Crows Landing Road in South Modesto on his “listening tour” in exploring a run for governor the fateful year Newsom wormed his way into the state’s highest office to inflict his damage. Villaraigosa was one of the friendliest politicians I have met and seemed very personable. He told me that he supported more water storage facilities in California – something Newsom has failed to do.

There is also talk about former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs running for lieutenant governor, a job that is never important until the governor is taken out.

* * * * *

A gentleman emailed me and passed along a copy of an email he sent to the general manager of KOVR, the CBS affiliate in Sacramento. He claims a story they aired compared what Trump is doing about illegal immigrants to the internment of Japanese-American citizens.

Rob wrote to KOVR: “We were just attacked without a declaration of war by Japan, to suspect that infiltrators had established a foothold on American soil isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. To put them somewhere that their movements could be monitored until the certain safety of all Americans could be insured wasn’t criminal.”

“Trump is clearing out murderers, rapists and sex/drug traffickers plus whatever scum the liberals want to make more important than fellow Americans. Be a good news broadcasting affiliate and tell at least both truths as seen by more than just you. Weak virtue signally and such one-sided story telling is why this country is as messed up as it is.”

At least the liberals are consistent in drawing inaccurate parallels to American history. Remember how they called the Jan. 6 event the worst attack on democracy since Pearl Harbor? Remember how they suggested Trump’s choice to hold a rally at Madison Square Garden was because a 1939 KKK rally took place there?

This brand of dishonesty is in part why Trump won. It was a repudiation of the progressives.

 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