Lodi City Council approves farmers market at Lodi Lake

Bradford Lange was misidentified in a photo caption on Page 5 of Tuesday's Lodi News-Sentinel. Lange is the vineyard general manager for LangeTwins Winery and was inducted into the San Joaquin County Agricultural Hall of Fame this month.

Failed Wallace development site for sale — again

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

Lodi City Council approves farmers market at Lodi Lake

By Maggie Creamer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Thursday, May 7, 2009 6:09 AM PDT

Comments (19 comment(s))

A new farmers' market will open later this month, after the Lodi City Council approved it in a 4 to 1 vote.

The market will operate twice a month on Saturday mornings from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Lodi Lake.

Recreation Commissioner Dave Akin described the market as something that adds to the community spirit.

"People can walk in from all over the city, enjoy the morning, go home and eat their food," Akin said.

The market originally was going to have homemade crafts, but the council decided to ban them after worries that some vendors will not sell just small homemade crafts.

"I don't care what you say," Councilman Bob Johnson said. "You are going to have people sneaking in toe rings."

The council added a stipulation making the market a one-year trial period. The city staff has asked 24 local vendors to participate, Parks and Recreation Director Jim Rodems said.

The council has historically made decisions about what happens at Lodi Lake because residents have objected to too many events at the park, said Councilwoman Susan Hitchcock, who voted against the market.

"It seems to me that we are going to take our park and make it into a commercial venture," she said.

The Parks and Recreation Department has estimated that the market will generate a total of $16,000 in revenue from rent and park entrance fees.

Recreation Commission member Ken Sasaki has spearheaded the idea of a market and worked with Rodems to organize it.

The market will cost nothing except staff time. Rodems said the market proceeds will probably cover that.

In other action

The city will start the process to enter into a partnership with People Assisting Lodi Shelter volunteers to provide more staffing, mail out license renewals, encourage adoptions and do other tasks for the shelter.

Police Chief David Main said when he looks at other cities through the state, the most successful are paired with non-profits. He expects through the agreement that more adoptions will be encouraged and consequently the euthanasia rate will go down.

The council will still have to approve the PALS contract.

When city staff drafts the budget, the fire inspector position will be left vacant and the community development building inspectors will take over fire inspection services for new developments.

Lodi's city staff has agreed to accept a free fire truck from the state, Councilman Bob Johnson said during council's comments. He said the truck is part of a statewide initiative to help cities respond to wildfires throughout the state.

Johnson would like the city to reconsider accepting the fire truck because there are some strings tied to getting the truck that could cost the city money.

"We've got sufficient problems facing us at this budget time," he said.

Johnson said he would like the fire department and the city manager's office to come to back with a report on the benefits and costs of the fire truck.

While he is not opposed to city firefighters responding to statewide fires, he is worried about the costs. In the past, he said there have been problems with Lodi receiving promised state reimbursements for staff time.

Lodi Fire Chief Mike Pretz said he does not expect any additional costs. He said the state pays for maintenance that costs over $100. Also, the department already answers every call from other departments when they need help, so this will prevent them from having to use the department's equipment.

News-Sentinel staff

Contact reporter Maggie Creamer at maggiec@lodinews.com or read her blog City Buzz.

Reader Feedback

Lodian wrote on May 14, 2009 12:14 AM:

" Walmart has a reputation for not living up to their responsibilities with employees, former employees and customers unless it is completely beneficial to Walmart financially. They do not do the right thing and try to get out of doing things they should be doing. So why would they all the sudden do the right thing due to a local grocery issue? "

Report Abuse

lodisafeway wrote on May 10, 2009 2:54 PM:

" For those of you who hate Wal-Mart so much and oppose the building of a supercenter in Lodi, no one can argue that if by chance they sell something harmful to anyone at least they'll be able to cover the damages. Expecting the same level of assurance from people foisting their produce and other goods around Lodi Lake is not unreasonable; or is it? "

Report Abuse

lodisafeway wrote on May 10, 2009 2:41 PM:

" pitbulllawyer and sam: at least grocery stores are responsible and able to answer for any damages that result in contaminated groceries. In Lodi, the majority of our produce suppliers are part of large corporations that carry exceptionally broad-covering insurance. A local Farmer's Market sanctioned by the City itself may very well open the City of Lodi to litigation that we might not be able to endure. Trusting local farmers isn't a bad idea, but why the opposition to learning just how such a problem might be handled in case something goes wrong?

For me, I have more faith in a well-established grocery chain to supply me with goods than Joe Farmer who shows up once a week around Lodi Lake in such desperate need of income that he'll put anything out on his table to sell. And just who is going to follow-up on these vendors to ensure that their insurance is adequate and doesn't lapse, if even for one day; and what will that cost? Caveat emptor might be appropriate when buying a used car, but not when putting food in the mouths of our children. "

Report Abuse

lodisafeway wrote on May 10, 2009 2:29 PM:

" commonsense1, you might want to try reading an entire post before responding in such a ridiculous way. I asked a question regarding the possibility of tainted produce and how such an event might impact on the City (that's us by the way, the citizens of Lodi) in the event of litigation that would be certain to follow. Clearly, we're all still paying for the groundwater contamination debacle that occurred many years ago. I also think there may be other potential problems with such an endeavor, but anything that would make our citizens sick is at the top of my list of concerns; I would hope others would at least want to make sure that these types of eventualities have at least been considered. Or do you think E. coli isn't a serious issue?

But suggesting that anyone move away simply because of an inquiry regarding a matter that has already happened (and not desiring to have it happen again here) simply makes no sense. It makes me wonder about your screen-name and just why you've chosen to be linked to anything that makes "common sense." "

Report Abuse

dogs4you wrote on May 7, 2009 7:47 PM:

" 4A, recalls cost a ton of money, can you spear a pound or two? Lodi like most cities couldn`t put a down payment on a free lunch. I don`t see a recall, will have to wait till it`s time to vote. "

Report Abuse

dogs4you wrote on May 7, 2009 7:42 PM:

" Most everyone that has posted today wants Susan burned at the stake aka Joan of Arc. At 4-1, she knew she would take some flack, wonder why she choose to go against the tide? "

Report Abuse

Scrutiny wrote on May 7, 2009 7:29 PM:

" They are discussing their options as we speak! "

Report Abuse

Scrutiny wrote on May 7, 2009 7:27 PM:

" We need all the money the city can collect from EVERY available resource since W didnt win! This is only the beginning! Renaming the Grape bowl to the Wal-Mart Bowl ??? Not out of the question folks! "

Report Abuse

sam wrote on May 7, 2009 5:14 PM:

" pitbulllawyer, I agree. I trust local farmers over supermarkerts anyday.

lodisafeway, if you are worried about the local produce, don't buy it and stay away. "

Report Abuse

pitbulllawyer wrote on May 7, 2009 4:53 PM:

" lodisafeway--vendors are required to carry insurance and indenmify the City by agreement. Oh and e-coli dangers? Far more dangerous to buy spinach and loose-leaf vegetables IN THE SUPERMARKET because of large-scale harvesting and processing which spreads contamination exponentally. Nice try though. "

Report Abuse

4AStrongLodi wrote on May 7, 2009 4:47 PM:

" I think it's time to start that recall petition on Hitchcock.

Anybody know what we have to do to get it going? "

Report Abuse

commonsense1 wrote on May 7, 2009 4:07 PM:

" lodisafeway..If you're major concern is over E. coli from a Lodi Farmers Market you need to move away from this "little hamlet". "

Report Abuse

lodisafeway wrote on May 7, 2009 11:37 AM:

" While I also agree that Councilmember Hitchcock's dissention to this matter is a tad silly, I do wonder about the City's exposure to lawsuits that might follow due to problems with tainted produce. Of course, the City already permits the Thursday School Street Farmers Market during the summertime, and I haven't heard of any litigation coming from that venue. But the relatively recent E. coli debacle due to spinach crops could very well result in sick folks here in our own little hamlet. Has this been considered; and is the solution written into the agreements between the vendors and the City?

If Hitchcock had based her opposition on almost anything other than worries about turning a park into a commercial venture, I could follow her line of thought. But clearly the City of Lodi needs the revenue, as well as the good will and neighborly interaction that should logically follow with this type of enterprise. "

Report Abuse

Lodigirl wrote on May 7, 2009 11:23 AM:

" LNS: Please post the full schedule for the market and if possible a list of vendors and/or their offerings. Hope that we will see lots of support "

Report Abuse

johna95242 wrote on May 7, 2009 10:41 AM:

" Susan needs to get out of town more! "

Report Abuse

4AStrongLodi wrote on May 7, 2009 10:11 AM:

" I always knew Susan Witchcock didn't have the slightest clue about how to improve this City, but now I'm beginning to doubt her mental capabilities.

The things she supports and the things she votes against defy good logic and common sense.

I suspect she's got the dedictaed following of the 70+ year olds who want to live like it's still 1950.

Hiding and pretending isn't going to make this City better. PLEASE DON'T RE-ELECT HER NEXT TIME! "

Report Abuse

weezer wrote on May 7, 2009 8:12 AM:

" Somehow, it didn't surprise me to find who gave the lone dissenting vote.
Do we have a perennial non-conformist on the Council? "

Report Abuse

Observer wrote on May 7, 2009 7:19 AM:

" Susan, as a past supporter of yours, I believe it's time for you to consider this your last term on the Council. As time has passed you have become more and more of a micromanager. Let these people do their jobs and if they're not doing their jobs - let them go. You've done your service for the community....it's time to let go. "

Archives

Story Tools

Indexes