I've criticized the Sun-Star several times for "borrowing" editorials from The Sacramento Bee, The Modesto Bee and The Fresno Bee.
I've found one area where our editors don't share opinions. Each of the papers has taken a position on the high-speed rail project and each is slanted toward its own audience.
The Sacramento Bee's editors haven't taken much of a stand -- they don't have a dog in the race. But their columnists, especially Dan Walters, are very critical of the project, its business plan, its financial estimates and its political prognosis.
To our immediate north, The Modesto Bee is reporting Modesto's desire to have a station on the line. As you would suspect, they'd prefer a downtown station which would require routing via the Union Pacific option.
The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors and the Riverbank City Council are also maneuvering for a station.
The Modesto Bee's editors haven't taken a stand.
To our south, Fresno politicians have already taken their case to Washington, making a presentation at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual winter meeting.
Fresno Bee editors jumped solidly on the bullet train -- with both feet. They want the heavy maintenance facility in Fresno and make no bones about it.
Their editorial of Jan. 23 tossed the gauntlet quite clearly, "It is quite simply the most important economic development project that Fresno County could hope to lure to our community.
"That's why the competition will be stiff, and Fresno County must have a first-class proposal every step of the way. No internal bickering. No local turf battles. We don't need a repeat of Merced getting the University of California campus because Fresno did not have its act together."
Huh? Could it be that Merced did have a better site, a better proposal and was more organized?
I, for one, refuse to think UC Merced is here because Fresno fumbled the ball. Instead, I'd call The Fresno Bee's allegation a huge basket of sour grapes.
Sorry, I got derailed for a second, but I'm back on track now.
The Sun-Star editors also took a strong position supporting high-speed rail.
But it wasn't strong enough for some readers. I've gotten several comments that "wished" our editors took a position "more like Fresno's."
No negatives. No bickering. No turf battles. A strong, united effort.
Some didn't connect the dots saying they don't see how we can compare UC Merced to the heavy maintenance facility. After all, there's "only" 1,500 jobs.
I'll connect the dots for them. Consider a more global picture by including the station.
Once that's in place, the trip from Merced to San Jose is a mere 45 minutes. That's a reasonable commute that many would love.
Workers commute by car from Los Banos to San Jose regularly. I expect driving time is considerably more than 45 minutes.
Overall, the Merced and Los Banos commutes would likely be similar once departure and destination connections are made.
Would housing -- and lots of it -- be required if Merced became another "bedroom community" for the South Bay? Do we really want to become a bedroom for South Bay workers?
Would that spur development? Another real estate bubble perhaps?
Oh, I forgot, no negatives allowed according to some. Keep it positive.
It's an old military saying, "Argue with the boss all you want, until he says 'charge up the hill.' Then shut up and fight."
That's my attitude -- and I hope our editors' attitudes.
Let's consider all aspects of this project, weigh the pros and cons. Let's not play ostrich.
Once we believe the pros outweigh the cons, and I'm sure we will, stop the negatives. Unite. Get our act together. Cover all the bases. Present the best possible case we can.
Then, let's kick Fresno's butt -- and even hope they fumble the ball.
Tom Frazier writes Sun Dog and can be reached at sundog@promessage.com.
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