Spencer Rhoads

Councilmembers just discussed the City’s 4th of July celebration. Councilmembers Kuehne and Chandler expressed their desire to charge entry fees at the gate, while Councilmember Hothi expressed that he would like to keep entry free of charge. Kuehne then pivoted to the idea of charging non-residents and requiring proof of Lodi residency for free entry, and if the city does not charge this year, then definitely start charging next year.

Do you want an Access Center in Lodi? The City of Lodi wants to spend $5 million of the funds it received through the American Rescue Plan on a homeless shelter. The City’s community outreach strategy states that it will seek only 150 online survey respondents to gauge public opinion on this project. For a city of roughly 70,000 residents, gathering responses from only 0.2% of the population is simply inadequate for a project of this size and importance.... Another big issue is transparency. The City will be asking the broad and hypothetical question of Do you support an Access Center in Lodi? but there is not a single location on the City’s mind. The location of this project is ultimately the key factor in this discussion, and without an identified location, the community will be provided with incomplete information about the project. Dedicating staff hours without a location is very much a Putting the Cart before the Horse scenario. First, do you support an Access Center? If so, where are we going to put it?

We haven’t seen gas this expensive since Obama’s first term. To be fair, this is exactly what a majority of our state leaders want. The higher the price of gasoline, the easier it is to push Californians to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), and meet the state target of No new gas-powered vehicle sales by 2035. That plan simply doesn’t work for communities like ours. San Joaquin County is home to many super commuters (those who spend over an hour to commute back-and-forth t...o work), and the electric vehicle infrastructure simply isn’t there. Our residents can’t afford $35,000+ electric vehicles, even with state and federal rebates. $4.00 per gallon gasoline affects our Ag industry, our commuters, and everyday folks in our community. This needs to change, and QUICKLY!