Drawing inspiration from Suisun Marsh, artist's work featured on state hunting license

From Daily Republic // Monday, Sept. 5, 2005
By Barry Eberling

SUISUN CITY - Rich Radigonda finds inspiration for his creative side amid the solitude of remote Suisun Marsh wetlands.

The 67-year-old sold his Walnut Creek auto repair business seven years ago and became a full-time artist. His studio is on his Suisun Marsh duck club - in a second-story room overlooking Grizzly Bay, wetlands and tules. As many as 200 egrets sometimes flock to a nearby canal.

Otters live in the waterways.

"This is why I had to have this place," he said. "The view was everything. It's definitely a place to work."

Every duck hunter in California will see one of his most recent works. He won the contest for the soon-to-be-issued 2005 state duck stamp.

Duck hunters must buy the stamp from the state Department of Fish and Game for $13.50 and put it on their hunting licenses. Collectors also buy them. Money goes toward wetlands programs. Radigonda said the state sells about 75,000 stamps overall.

His winning duck stamp painting depicts a pintail drake taking flight, its legs kicking up the water near a clump of the plant called Swamp Timothy. Three other ducks fly against a blue sky with white clouds.

It's a scene out of Suisun Marsh - or is it? The foothills in the background could be either the nearby Mount Diablo range or the Sutter Buttes in far-away Colusa County. The eucalyptus and oak trees fit in with lots of places. This is no particular duck hunting ground and a little bit of all of them.

"Since it was for California, I tried to make it fit more than one area," said Radigonda, who lives in Benicia.

So Suisun Marsh provided the atmosphere for painting, not the particulars of Radigonda's duck stamp entry.

Radigonda has long been interested in both waterfowl and art. As an 8-year-old growing up in San Francisco, he built a raft to get a closer look at the ducks on the bay at Hunters Point. He wanted to draw them.

He and a friend ended up a quarter-mile from shore and unable to return. A passing boater rescued them.

His father introduced him to duck hunting, as well took him to auto races and air shows. Ducks, planes and race cars are three of Radigonda's main painting topics.

Radigonda has hunted on Suisun Marsh for decades. He can remember when people crossed Montezuma Slough on a slow-moving ferry powered by a Ford Model A motor, long before a bridge got built there. In 1998, he bought a 56-acre duck club amid this 115,000-acre, state-protected area.

Like all Suisun Marsh duck clubs, Radigonda's land is behind levees. He floods and drains the land at certain times of the year, growing brass buttons, fat hen and other plants that waterfowl like to eat.

It's a big job for one man. Unlike most duck club owners, Radigonda isn't motivated primarily by hunting.

"I don't shoot a lot of ducks out here," he said. "It's really used more for my artwork."
He first tried to win a duck stamp contest in 1984, but placed fourth for the Nevada stamp. He's tried about 10 times overall, tying for first for the California stamp in 1993, but ultimately losing.

"You strive for something, you wonder if it is ever going to happen," Radigonda said.

Now he's got the winner.

He's moving on to his next painting. The inspiration comes from his days with the U.S. Navy during the 1950s, when he worked on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga.

Radigonda helped with the catapults that allow jet planes to take off on the short runways. Steam-powered pistons pulled the planes across the decks to hasten their acceleration. The plane accelerated from 0 mph to 130 mph in two seconds.

This painting of the airplane catapult will be almost a self-portrait, Radigonda said. He won't be recognizable in it, but it's a scene from his past.

People can view and purchase Radigonda's work at his Web site at radigonda.com.

Radigonda has wanted to draw and do artwork since he was a child. But his high school didn't offer much art instruction. As an adult, his creative urges often took a back seat to the need to earn a living. Retirement changed that.

"I'm free to create what I want to and create whenever I want to," Radigonda said.

And Suisun Marsh provides the atmosphere.

Reach Barry Eberling at 425-4646 Ext. 232 or beberling@dailyrepublic.net.

Controversy surfacing over redevelopment of Suisun City waterfront

From Daily Republic // Monday, Sept. 5, 2005
By Ian Thompson

SUISUN CITY - A proposal to expand Adams Marine's boatyard into an adjacent parcel is still Suisun City's favored plan for one of the waterfront's last undeveloped parcels.

The City Council is expected to further that relationship Tuesday night when it votes to formally negotiate with Adams Marine owner Bill Adams should his proposal be approved by the city's Redevelopment Agency.

That does not sit well with three other local developers who want to put eight live-work homes on the parcel and said the city led them on for almost a year before news about the Adams Marine development surfaced publicly.

"We submitted our proposal three weeks before Adams did," said Shane Ballman, one of the developers.

Adams said he has been trying to buy that land from the city for seven years and has been angling to expand his business there long before Ballman, James Jensen and Jim Pitcher showed up.

Both sides have already had one showdown in June before the City Council and Ballman, Jensen and Pitcher are still trying to push the city to give them an equal shot.

"That is all we ask," Jensen said.

It is something that Suisun City's downtown area has not seen for some time - two groups of developers vying against each other for the right to develop one piece of waterfront land.

Suisun City officials have put the proposal by Adams in the front seat on the contention that he already has an existing business adjacent to the parcel in question.

While saying he is interested in any proposal for the land, Mayor Jim Spering had said he would not do so at the expense of an existing business such as Adams Marine.

Adams contends his project would generate sales tax revenue that city leaders say they badly need.

Ballman and Jensen say the city has been showing Adams favoritism despite promises to them by then-Redevelopment Director Randy Starbuck that they would get equal time.

They pointed out that Suisun City's Redevelopment Agency holds a mortgage on land owned by Adams in Lake County. The mortgage was sold to the redevelopment agency by another lender in 2000, according to the Lake County Assessor's Office.

Adams' business has been a retail money maker for the town, according to the city, some years being its single biggest source of sales tax revenue.

For Suisun City, whose revenues have been flat for years while costs of running the town have steadily risen, bringing in projects that generate more sales tax is a top priority.

Adams said he is also working to buy the land Adams Marine sits on which is presently leased to him by the city's Redevelopment Agency.

If the city goes with Adams proposed expansion, Ballman and Jensen promised to take legal action and demand that the city's dealings with Adams be investigated.

Jensen and Ballman said they have been talking with Suisun City's Redevelopment Agency since early 2004 about their live-work housing project.

They had also shown Suisun City business groups a variation of their proposed development that has a lighthouse which would have a bait shop and private residence.

The two argue that putting their lighthouse on part of the parcel would be doing the city a favor by allowing it to save money by not having to build a lighthouse at the head of the slough.

A proposal to build a restaurant, kayak rental store and office space on the waterside land that Adams doesn't use has not moved forward since it was announced earlier this year by Fairfield real estate investor John Scaff.

Scaff could not be reached for comment on where his proposal now stands.

Adams wants to expand his business another 85 feet, adding 5,600 square feet with an upstairs office and more service bays. He is also looking at putting another marine-related business in the building.

"The harbor is going to expand eventually, and we want to be a part of that," Adams said.

Adams said his business will bring in more sales tax revenue and create more jobs. The project is expected to cost $1.7 million, both buying the land and building on it.

As for the competing developers, he said their proposal is not compatible at all for land that is located next to his existing business. Once his business fires up boat engines for testing, the homeowners will "fire up the complaints."

The Suisun City Council and Redevelopment Agency meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Suisun City Council chamber at 701 Civic Center Blvd.

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.

Who: Suisun City Council
What: Approving a developer selection process for several city-owned parcels including one proposed for an expansion of Adams Marine.
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Suisun City Council chambers, Suisun City Hall, 701 Civic Center Blvd.
Info: 421-7300

Suisun City Council to seek solutions to officer shortage

From Daily Republic // Sept. 2, 2005

By Ian Thompson
SUISUN CITY - Suisun City's thin blue line has never been more fragile.

Due to a mix of retirements, officers leaving for other jobs, an injury and pregnancies, the department that had 22 sworn officers is putting three officers on the street each of the two shifts the department pulls.

Some officers have worked 14 days at a time and some pulled 20 hours on duty, according to Suisun City Police Chief Ron Forsythe.

Replacements are still in training and Forsythe has called in two retired officers from other departments to help run the department's operations and investigations.

That is with the Solano County Sheriff's Department covering one of those three shifts and recently adding an hour to the time their deputies are on Suisun City's streets.

The City Council will hold a study session on Sept. 8 on what to do about the city's public safety situation and will hear from consultants who have examined the department and the dispatch center.

Forsythe plans to recommend the city fund two more patrol officers to reinforce the thin line of officers he has to keep order in Suisun City.

The police chief called the study session "a critical juncture for the future of public safety in this community" which could turn the department back to 24-hour coverage or contracting out for police services.

"In absence of a long-term funding source, I will ask for interim steps for funding until the community can weigh on the possibility of some kind of tax," Forsythe said.

Forsythe is running a department with a count-the-pennies budget with the hope to someday again cover the streets around the clock instead of handing one shift to the Sheriff's Department.

This is a year after Mayor Jim Spering suggested the city seriously examine the possibility of contracting out Suisun City's police coverage, an idea that struck a raw nerve in a city council election year.

Solano County Sheriff Gary Stanton gladly offered his department's services two years ago to cover Suisun City Police Department's graveyard shift.

While Stanton has said it is hard to argue with the numbers and economies of scale his department offers, he has also repeatedly said he respects the city's desire to keep its department intact. Last summer, Forsythe had said he hoped to have Suisun police back on the job around the clock as soon as this year if finances get better.

Stanton said the situation for Suisun City police is not improving, a stance Forsythe agreed with, but Stanton said any decision over the fate of Suisun City's finest will be made by city officials.

In addition to covering the extra hour for Suisun City police at night, sheriff's deputies are hearing more requests for assistance from Suisun City police.

"They call frequently for backup," Stanton said. "They ask for resources during their normal shift."

The sheriff's office will provide what help it can provided it has sworn or reserve deputies to spare, he said.

The current arrangement can last only so long. At some point, Stanton will have to ask for a long-term commitment in order to hire officers to cover Suisun City, Forsythe said.

Sheriff's deputies have been great to work with, said Suisun City Police Sgt. Doug Riddick. In their small agency, officers handle a number of duties such as code enforcement and community policing, but Riddick doesn't feel overwhelmed.

"I don't think the work load is any different from any other agency," Riddick said. "Officers handle about four to five report calls a night. Some days are busier than others."

With less people on the force, officers may take minutes longer to respond to calls, Riddick said.

"I think anytime staffing is lower, response time is slower," Riddick said. "That creates less desirable conditions for the public."

Morale in the department is down, Riddick said. Officers are leaving for other agencies where their futures are secure. Riddick has never seen the department in this condition in his 28 years on the force.

"The department is at a crossroads," Riddick said. "People don't know which way it's going to go right now. I would like to see it continue. Time will tell if they have they staff and can maintain it."

Suisun City tried unsuccessfully in November 2001 to pass a tax to support public safety. It needed two-thirds of the vote to win, only got 47.1 percent, "and all the things we predicted would happen have come true," Forsythe said.

The police department had floated many of its programs and police officer positions on state and federal grants "but the trouble with grants is that they go away."

The department has lost six positions through budget cuts and has left 22 sworn officers who have bled even more due to retirements, injuries, pregnancies and military call-ups.

"We are now at the point where we are too understaffed to ensure that an in-progress emergency can have two officers respond to it," Forsythe said.

Making these law enforcement ends meet has meant putting officers on long shifts and working up to 14 hours at a time.

The contract with the Sheriff's Department was recently expanded temporarily to bring the deputies on patrol an hour earlier to give Suisun police time it needs to get newly-hired officers trained and on the streets.

"And that will continue," Forsythe said of the change.

Most recently, Forsythe hired on two retired senior officers, Lt. Charlie Heigtz from Hayward who will be the department's operations commander and Larry Profitt, who will head investigations.

Suisun City is old ground for Profitt, who left Suisun City years ago to be Rio Vista's police chief and then city manager.

"This is so I can bring some experience to the organization," Forsythe said of the move.
Forsythe and many officers are dead set against seeing Suisun City's law enforcement contracted out.

"The community is best served by having a department that is part of this community," Forsythe said, "and you don't have that when you contract out."

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.