8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS The Monterey County Water Resources Agency is holding a competitive bidding process for a 10-year lease beginning Nov. 1 on five parcels of prime grazing land surrounding the San Antonio and Nacimiento reservoirs. Ten candidates were notified July 27 that they qualified to submit bids on July 29. “We have in total 16,400 acres of rangeland, a mix of open grazing, rolling rangelands, oak and woodlands,” says Jessell Fenley, administrative assistant with the agency. “For the most part, the grazing is used as the management tool to protect the lands: watershed protection, vegetation management, infrastructure stewardship and wildfire fuel reduction.” But the rising cost to rent the land has become a hurdle for smaller ranching operations. The five parcels range from 1,512 acres to 4,485 acres, with minimum bids ranging from $17,784 to $80,712. The amounts were determined through a market lease rent appraisal and “consideration of the agency’s annual fixed cost,” according to a bid packet Q&A fact sheet published by the agency on July 21. “When this came out, I was pretty blown away by the minimum bid requirements for each of the separate allotments—$80,000 is a pretty astounding amount,” says Chris Moon of Lonely Bull Cattle Co. The pricing is based on a per-acre rate, generally viewed as an outdated approach in the industry; Moon says this makes planning difficult as potential bidders don’t know the land’s carrying capacity or how many cattle it can support at a given time. “Over the summer, your green grass goes up, which is a rare commodity here and an extreme benefit,” he says of the desirability of the land. “We have very little irrigated ground available, so that’s a big deal.” Government Grazers High costs deter small ranchers from bidding on leases at Nacimiento and San Antonio. By Katie Rodriguez Local artist Aimee Darby underwent four mammograms at the Mammography Center of Monterey last year, finding out several months after the first test that she had cancer. She had to have a fifth mammogram at Montage Health’s Carol Hatton Breast Care Center, after results from MCM were unreadable. “At some point, you just want to know if you do or you don’t have cancer so you can make arrangements,” Darby says of what was a frustrating and stressful experience. She is well now, after undergoing surgery and treatment. Her experience is one of many indicative of problems at MCM, which led the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office to file a civil suit against the center and owner Randeep “Rod” Singh in February. Investigators found that since February 2025, at least 114 women reported they received test results past the 30 days as required by law. As recently as June, at least eight women had never received the results of mammograms or bone density scans. On July 2, a default judgment was filed against MCM and Singh by Monterey County Superior Court Judge Susan Matcham. It includes over $1 million in penalties and restitution and a permanent injunction against destroying medical records, collecting on past-due bills or sending bills to patients when there is no personnel on staff or a physical address or phone number to respond to inquiries. The door at the former center on Cass Street in Monterey is papered over and the phone number is not working. In bold letters, the judgment states that Singh, an engineer, is prohibited from having ownership in any California mammography center because he is not a licensed physician as required by state law. It is unknown how he was able to purchase the clinic in 2021. One woman, who asked not to be identified for privacy reasons, says her prior experience at MCM over 20 years had been “wonderful.” It turned into a “terrible, terrible experience” when she asked for past records. She called 10 times between January and March, to no avail. She now needs mammograms every six months for two years because her new provider has no baseline records for comparison. Another patient at high risk wound up paying out of pocket for a second mammogram after months of trying to get her results, according to court documents. She finally received results from MCM 112 days after her first mammogram, which is 82 days past the state-mandated deadline. Matcham approved penalties of $2,000 per 114 patients for missing the deadline, plus $50 per day missed, or 1,848 days, among other fines, totaling $1,082,850. Singh resides in Leicester, England, where he was served with court papers on March 23. After receiving no response, the DA pursued the default judgment, notifying him of that direction on May 4. On May 19, Singh asked for a delay, citing personal challenges, only to be told that would require a court order. He claimed he was working to resolve issues and reopen the business. Singh did not respond to emails from the Weekly. Chief Deputy District Attorney Emily Hickok says the DA will take steps to enforce the injunction but with Singh out of the country, it will be a challenge. Heather Lazare of Pacific Grove received her mammogram results 73 days after the test. “To have complete disregard for women’s health is shameful,” she says. Waiting Game The DA secures a $1 million default judgment against the Mammography Center of Monterey. By Pam Marino Land around lakes San Antonio and Nacimiento (shown above) in South County has been leased out for grazing since the 1960s, shortly after the dams were constructed. “At some point, you just want to know.” DANIEL DREIFUSS KAREN LOUTZENHEISER
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