RIPON – Stephanie Hobbs had all of her bases covered when it came to raising money to help renovate the aging Stouffer Field complex at Ripon High.

She has taken the private fundraising route similar to what Oakdale did in order to completely redesign their playing surface, track and bleachers – changing it from an outdated complex to one of the best in the area.

She followed the lead of schools in Louisiana and Indiana and applied for grants to help cover the cost of adding a state-of-the-art playing surface and replacing the aging track with something that’s both modern and safe.

She turned to the City of Ripon’s Redevelopment Agency to ask for money to make what has been a dream for a growing number of parents a reality – ultimately getting shot down so that the city could take out a $5 million bond to build four softball diamonds.

But now she’s got bigger problems than five members of a panel that don’t view her project as a pressing issue.

California Governor Jerry Brown announced that he’s targeting the funds of California’s redevelopment agencies to help offset the state’s enormous deficit. That is despite a referendum by voters that was passed to prevent the pilfering of RDA funding because lawmakers were afraid that they’d never see the money again.

If Brown were to get his way, the move could effectively end Hobbs’ attempt at securing RDA funds – just like Turlock did when they retrofitted their aging stadium – and force her to focus more on grants and individual and private donations in order to make the stadium a reality.

“In Oakdale they had businesses that were lining up to help any way they possibly could with that construction,” said Hobbs. “But at that time construction and building were both going very well. We don’t have that today, so we’re left with more of a grassroots campaign, and I hope that we’re going to be able to pick up steam here soon.”

The Ripon Community Athletic Foundation – the non-profit of which Hobbs is president – is looking into hiring a grant writer in order to help the progress along, and as a group are remaining focused on the future rather than the decisions that have been made in the past.

“We’re living right here, right now in the moment,” Hobbs said. “We always have been a grassroots movement, and if one of our options is off the table, we’ll keep pushing for something else.”