Blog note: this article references a grand jury report.
STOCKTON — Scattered throughout south Stockton are decades-old street curbs that are crumbling or rotting away, and Ralph Lee White would like to see the city replace them soon.
“The city has code enforcement in the neighborhood all the time telling people to fix up their homes,” he said. “But they won’t fix up these curbs.”
White, a former city councilman who lives in south Stockton, said there are several redwood curbs along residential streets in his neighborhood rotting away.
The curbs, he said, probably were installed in the late 19th century when Stockton was first incorporated as a city.
Driving down roads such as Sierra Nevada, American, Jackson or Grant streets in the city’s fifth and sixth districts, a motorist might spot a modern, cement curb that span two or three houses.
During that same drive, however, one can see the stretch of modern curb disrupted with a wooden one that spans a couple of houses.
White said when he served on the council in the 1970s and 1980s, he brought fellow city leaders to south Stockton and was able to persuade the city to repair the curbs, sidewalks and streets.
Today, he wonders why city officials are spending funds to repair streets in north Stockton, but not in his district.
In March, the council awarded a $774,554 contract to a construction firm tasked with replacing more than 60 sidewalks throughout Stockton. Only about a dozen in the Stockton’s southern areas are slated for repairs, however, according to a map provided by the city.
“These people pay as much in taxes as everyone else in this city,” White said. “There’s no reason the city shouldn’t fix the oldest neighborhood in Stockton.”
Connie Cochran, the city’s spokeswoman, said the curbs are in an area that was annexed into Stockton in 1870, and any new houses or buildings with modern curbs were built around the existing homes during the first and second world wars.
She said that is why there are stretches of cement curbs flanked by stretches of redwood on some south Stockton streets.
“Unfortunately, there is not a sound funding source currently available for repairing those,” Cochran said. “We are constantly looking for grant opportunities to repair all of our sidewalks, and if we can find a funding source, we can do the curbs as well.”
Councilwoman Christina Fugazi said White brings up a good point, noting the San Joaquin County civil grand jury found the city was not investing enough into the south side of town.
She also acknowledged, however, the city doesn’t have the funding to replace the curbs.
“My hope is that with ‘opportunity zones’ and (Senate Bill 1), we’ll have a funding stream in place to correct some of the things we’ve neglected to correct over the years,” she said.
An opportunity zone, according to the Internal Revenue Service, is an economically distressed area where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Opportunity zones are designed to spur economic development and job creation in distressed communities, the IRS states.
Some of Fugazi’s district, which includes areas south of Harding Way and north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, was designated as a tier two priority opportunity zone in March.
Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, invests $54 billion over the next decade to fix roads, freeways and bridges throughout the state.
Even if with those funding sources, Fugazi said the wooden curbs take low priority for repairs over other safety issues such as potholes and cracked sidewalks.
“I’m not trying to ignore the concern for safety,” she said. “We have a responsibility to fix and repair things, and not just in my district. This is an issue throughout the city. We just do not have the resources to address everything.”
June 20, 2018
Stockton Record
By Wes Bowers
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