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Bernie Sanders rouses thousands with message of revolution
Democratic presidential candidate rallies supporters in Modesto ahead of Election Day
BernieSanders5
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaks to the thousands of supporters of his campaign to win the Democratic nomination for president during his rally held in Modesto Thursday. - photo by CANDY PADILLA/The Journal
Frankie Tovar
Updated: Jun 2, 2016, 10:37 PM
Published: Jun 2, 2016, 10:40 PM

With Election Day in California less than a week away and the general election for the United States presidency looming closer, Senator Bernie Sanders pushed his campaign into overdrive, hosting a last-minute rally in Modesto on Thursday in a growing trend of added campaign stops designed to help close the gap between himself and fellow Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Rarely a factor in Presidential primary campaigns, California has become a battleground for the Vermont Senator and former Secretary of State. With a lead of 268 pledged delegates, Clinton is hoping to ride out the rest of the primary to become the presumptive democratic nominee. Sanders, on the other hand, is aiming to take a large chunk of California’s 475 delegates and generate enough momentum in the remaining eight primaries to pull off an upset win over Clinton.

“We began this campaign a little over a year ago, and when we began this campaign we were considered to be a fringe candidacy. Not to be taken seriously,” Sanders said during his rally speech. “It has been a long up-and-down campaign, but as we stand right now we have won – to everybody’s shock and surprise – we have won the primaries and caucuses in 20 states in this country.”

More than 2,600 supporters filled into the Modesto Center Plaza Thursday morning,  with hundreds more forced to wait outside for the “A Future to Believe in Modesto Rally” to voice their advocacy for Sanders’ mission

“I just flipped,” recent Pitman High graduate Zoey Fleenor said. “We woke up so early this morning to come. We’re really pumped.”

“I’m looking forward to hearing everything he has to say,” Vanessa Hernandez, also a recent graduate of Pitman High, said. “Bernie, I feel, is the only one that is really looking out for the younger generation and actually has faith in our futures, so that’s why I’m out here today supporting him.”

Attendees began lining up as early as 6 a.m. to enter the rally. By 8 a.m. the line snaked from K street down 11th Street and around to L Street. Much of the crowd was made up of high school and college students – dubbed Bernie’s base of support – but there were also older supporters in the crowd like William Flower who were equally enthused to see Sanders in person.

“Bernie is somebody that basically speaks the truth. What’s always impressed me with Bernie’s is right from the start, 20 to 30 years along, he’s always been saying the same thing,” the Turlock resident said. “Back when I was young and inexperienced I was voting for Reagan. I’m 62 now and I’m voting for Bernie, because I’ve had some experience about who’s actually talking turkey and who’s not.”

Another former Reagan voter, self-described independent voter Hans Webber, expressed a similar sentiment.

“I think he is on the right track. Supporting Main Street vs Wall Street,” the Escalon resident said. “He’s unique. He has good ideas and I hope he makes it.”

Sanders spoke for an hour following introductory speeches from musician Sarah Lee Guthrie, activist Motecuzoma Sanchez and actress Suzan Sarandon, touching on the policies that have given rise to so many supporters of is platform. The pharmaceutical industry, criminal justice and campaign finance systems and corporate interests were all criticized, as was income, race and gender inequality and the establishment’s failure to address issues of mental health, drug addiction and climate change.

With each attack on the status quo Sanders received cheers, highlighting the popularity of what he calls a political revolution.

“What this campaign has shown very clearly is that millions of Americans are sick and tired of seeing the big money interests continue to destroy the economy of this country,” Sanders said.

It was exactly the type of talk many in attendance were looking forward to.

“I believe the balance has shifted so much, the concentration of wealth in the upper end, that it’s hard for people on Main Street to make it,” Webber said.

“I think he’s been advocating for the rights and he’s been fighting for minorities his entire life, and you can’t say that about a lot of other candidates,” 15-year-old Sarah Siegel of Turlock said. “He’s ran an honest campaign; he’s an honest man. I think he really would be great for our country.”

Aside from a temporary delay due to an interruption from a small group of animal rights activists, Sanders’ message was business as usual. Though he is currently embroiled in a primary campaign, Sanders rarely mentioned Clinton and instead saved his attacks for the Republican nominee Donald Trump, much to the delight of the crowd.

“Donald Trump has a strategy that says if he can divide us up, if he can get us to hate Mexicans and Latinos and Muslims, if we think it is ok to be insulting women and veterans and African Americans – that’s his strategy to divide us up,” Sanders said. “But you know what, it ain’t going to work. We are coming together.”

Still, many Sanders supporters took the opportunity to boo Clinton when her name was mentioned, showcasing what many perceive to be a growing rift within the Democratic Party.

“She’s not who I want to be as a woman, or someone I would like to follow or follow her morals and standards. Regardless if Bernie’s a male, I still follow his standards,” 18-year-old Penelope Dubuisson of Turlock said.

“You can tell when he speaks that he’s more passionate than Hillary. I get that it would be great to have a woman president, but you can’t just vote for someone because they’re a woman,” Siegel said. “I would love to see a woman president, but I don’t know if I’d love to see Hillary in the White House. I’d love to see Bernie because he really stands up for what I believe in more than Hillary does. He’s more honest. He’s been fighting for the same things his whole life and you can’t really say that about her.”

Some Sanders supporters have taken a stance of Bernie-or-Bust, seeing the difference between the two Democratic candidates as too much to bridge, but not all share the same philosophy.

“I am kind of Bernie or Bust because I don’t think Hillary is actually going to change her positions to Bernie’s side. I think she’s actually going to go to the right,” Chris Avalos of Riverbank said.

“I will not be a Bernie-or-Bust person. If Hillary wins I am definitely not going to be voting for Trump,” Flower countered. “I think that throwing my vote away and walking away from the polls is the same thing as voting for Trump.”

As far as Sanders is concerned, the Bernie-or-Bust movement is a non-starter. Instead, he is focusing on winning votes and entering the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in late July with enough pledged delegates to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and take on Trump in the general election. That plan begins and ends with California.

“If the turnout is high, we’re going to win that primary. If the turnout is very high, we’re going to win with big numbers. If the turnout is low, we’re going to lose,” Sanders said. “Our job together is to make sure that on Tuesday we have the largest voter turnout in Democratic California primary history.”
New subdivision in Hilmar approved despite opposition
Hilmar housing subdivision
A map shows the land parcels where a proposed subdivision, called Shevlin Place, will be built in Hilmar.
Published: Mar 15, 2025, 5:59 AM

BY BRIANNA VACCARI

CV Journalism Collaborative

Despite staunch opposition from residents, the Merced County Board of Supervisors gave the green light for another new subdivision in Hilmar.

The board considered an appeal of a prior planning commission decision on Tuesday during its regular meeting. Ultimately, the board affirmed the planning commission’s approval of the project on a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Lloyd Pareira, who represents Hilmar, casting the lone no vote.

Half a dozen Hilmar residents drove the 30 minutes to Merced to register their opposition to the project. They voiced concerns over traffic, water supply and strategic planning decisions.

For the majority of the supervisors, the issue came down to property rights. 

“I understand the need to make sure we’re planning in a good way and the county is developing in a positive way,” Board Chair Josh Pedrozo said. “Yes, there’s going to be some hiccups, but I think this company who has submitted the plan … has listened to everybody, has taken a lot of time to do it the right way, based upon the county’s recommendation.

“I can’t, in good faith, vote against this project,” he said.

Supervisor Daron McDaniel said he worried that since the developers met all of the county’s requirements, denying the project may expose the county to legal action.

The 136-home project, called Shevlin Place, will include a pocket park, walking trail and drainage basin on about 33 acres of land, south of Hilmar and Irwin high schools and a new elementary school. Homebuilder Mike Wadsworth is behind the project.

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The site of the project, located near the intersection of West Geer and North Lander avenues, previously was an orchard and has been fallow for several years, county documents show. About a half dozen homes, outbuildings and a storage company remain on Geer Avenue directly north of the project site.

The unincorporated town of Hilmar is home to just over 5,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Known locally as a dairy town with deep Portuguese roots, there’s a growing population of Latino residents as well.

 

Traffic and water concerns

Hilmar resident Danny Coder filed the appeal that the board of supervisors weighed Tuesday. 

Public records show Coder lives in one of the homes right by the project location and likely will be directly affected by construction and the resulting neighborhood.

Coder was unable to attend Tuesday’s public hearing because he got called to work, according to another Hilmar resident who spoke on his behalf during the hearing. In his appeal, Coder outlined his concerns with the project as well as possible solutions.

The main concern cited by residents and the supervisors alike is the vehicle traffic the new development will add to an area of town that’s already notorious for traffic congestion.

Outside of Hilmar, Lander Avenue turns into state Highway 165, which is managed by Caltrans. 

The intersection of Lander and Geer avenues  is located near a Hilmar Unified School District compound that includes the newly-opened Hilmar Elementary, Irwin High, Hilmar Middle and Hilmar High schools, Elim Elementary and its associated Head Start program.

During the hearing, Supervisor Pareira said he has seen firsthand the existing traffic congestion at the intersection.

On Lander Avenue, drivers sometimes will use a turn lane as a passing lane to bypass bottlenecked traffic, Pareira said. Other Hilmar residents described the staggered school schedules that create nonstop pickup and dropoff traffic around the various schools.

“What the public comment is saying about the school traffic is – I don’t even think they’re explaining it to the degree that it is,” Pareira said.

“It’s just unreal,” he said, later adding, “It’s a mess out there.”

Although a traffic study was conducted for the project as part of the environmental review process, Coder and others called it flawed and called for a new one to be done that considers school operations within its peak hour analysis.

However, Merced County planning staff said the study did include school drop-off times, and in the end the study found the project met “safe circulation” standards set by Caltrans and county planning.

County staff also confirmed Caltrans is planning to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Lander and Geer avenues around 2028 or 2029. After eventually being called to speak, Wadsworth told the board the traffic signal likely will already be installed by the time the first house goes up for sale, considering permitting and engineering plans may push construction out a year or two still.

Coder in his appeal, along with other Hilmar residents, also voiced concerns about the Hilmar County Water District’s ability to provide water for the new subdivision, citing lack of supply and adequate infrastructure.

Other residents also voiced concerns about the water district’s supply for the several new subdivisions coming to town, saying the district cited supply issues in the past. Residents also mentioned failed wells in the community. 

County staff said the water issue is outside of the county’s jurisdiction, but the small water district signed a “can and will service” letter for the project and a legal acknowledgement that it has capacity for the new community.

If it turns out Hilmar County Water District does not have capacity to serve the new development, “then it doesn’t get built,” said Tiffany Ho, Merced County’s deputy planning director.

 

Residents say they want ‘responsible growth’

Hilmar residents urged the board to carefully consider residents’ concerns before approving the project.

Crystal Casey, an active Hilmar resident who also serves as a member of the Hilmar-Stevinson Municipal Advisory Council (MAC), said nearly everyone in town she’s talked to opposes the project.

“It’s important to note that Hilmar is not against growth. We are advocates for responsible growth,” Casey told the board of supervisors. “We actually have already voted in favor of two subdivisions. …

“The residents of Hilmar are very clear in their vision of the community. They do not want large subdivisions built south of the school,” Casey said.

Casey and other residents criticized the Hilmar community plan – a county planning document that charts future growth – as 20 years old and outdated. She said the Hilmar MAC has requested an updated plan many times.

On the other hand, Wadsworth said that years ago, the community asked for development west of Lander so children wouldn’t have to cross the road to get to school. That’s why the property was zoned as residential, noting it’s taken over three decades for the project to get to this point.

County staff estimate construction on the development will begin around 2028.