Wind and heavy snow knocked down trees, some of which are entangled in power lines and across roads. PG&E crews had to be called off for a time due to the numerous downed (and live) power lines. They are out in force now.

Restoring power in Tuolumne County is a #1 priority for PG&E. Some communities (Twain Harte and communities above in the Hwy 108 corridor) have been without power for several days.

PG&E has assigned 8-10 crews (of 4-5 people each) to remove trees that are entangled in power lines in District 3.

Public Works crews are working on snowplowing District 3 County roads that do not have downed trees and/or electric lines across them. But Public Works can’t move in to take care of some impacted roads until PG&E has finished its work.

If your power is out, it’s likely you won’t be able to read this but if you can, please try to be patient until PG&E and Public Works get to your area. If you have an emergency, by all means call 9-1-1.

And if you do get out, you should check on your neighbors and make sure you and they have food, water, and anything else you might need for a few more days. 

Here’s hoping the next storm won’t be quite so ferocious.

Before I go into bad news, I have to say that you are amazing! I’ve been working with leaders of the local safety net programs to make sure that critically important basic needs programs continue to feed, clothe, and house the increasing number of people impacted by the depressed economy. The Sonora Area Foundation came to one of our meetings and based on what they heard, put together half a million dollars (including $250,000 in matching funds). These went directly to some key providers to supplement their strained budgets. Now that’s more like it!

Back to ballet slippers. As I write, ATCAA is scrambling to put together a grant application for major stimulus bucks to provide computers, training, and jobs in our county. A major broadband grant was awarded to a local internet service provider. In addition, a project I have been trying to get funded since elected is on the ATCAA list likely to be funded by the federal government: live streaming video of Board of Supervisors meetings AND software that will make it possible for you to download staff memos and attachments to Board agenda items. Before meetings you will be able to read everything the Board has in front of them and afterwards, you will be able to listen and replay exactly what is said and done by every supervisor and every staff member. This will be a great advance of transparency in county government.

Meanwhile back in the soup kitchen, we approved a draft budget in June – that was good, but it wasn’t all good. In order to do that, significant cuts were made in some existing services. As the economy fell, we reduced the budget accordingly. By the end of June, we had cut over 100 positions (in the last year, both vacant and filled, including privatized services like Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice). That’s a lot of local jobs and services and we’re still not down to where we will have to be to maintain a balanced budget when the state passes its budget. After we learn the extent to which the state will take local revenues, we’ll be able to adjust again and adopt a final budget. The news from Sacramento is not good. We anticipate a raid on your tax dollars that now go to Roads and other general fund departments, not to mention reductions in all the Health and Human Services departments.

The Library Department in District 3 alone took a huge hit. The Pinecrest and Mi-Wuk Village library branches have closed and it is only due to the commitment and generosity of community members that Mi-Wuk will re-open their building on a limited basis as a community center/private lending library for the next year. For now, the Tuolumne and Twain Harte libraries are safe. The WOW bookmobile’s time on the road has been cut and its regular driver’s position eliminated. We are looking into reinstating her ½ time as a result of interest from several service clubs in keeping that service going. Amazing! Our draft budget keeps Recreation programs functioning until the end of September. We’re figuring out how to keep youth centers open beyond then and reopen pools next summer. Talks are proceeding in Tuolumne and Twain Harte with community members and groups who are interested in helping that happen. That’s amazing too.

The Board is mindful of the priorities many of you expressed in my Listening Sessions: Public Safety and Roads. We haven’t cut a single filled Sheriff’s Deputy position and hopefully will not. Fire services are intact at last year’s level now, but as you know that isn’t saying a whole lot. Solving the Fire coverage issue is on our list of serious issues to address when we get the budget approved. Public Works’ Road budget is at risk to be raided by the state, perhaps by as much as $1.5 million a year. If that happens, the funds the state takes are the ones available to fix potholes and do snow plowing. Not good.

On the bright side, as the state is taking away money, the federal government made stimulus funds available (no matching dollar requirements) for us to purchase two new transit buses. These trolley buses, purchased with the federal government’s money, were looked at by some as a very frivolous expenditure in the present economy, but they were actually a better deal than regular buses. They cost slightly less than regular buses, cost the same to maintain, and will replace two of our aging fleet that needed to be retired. All that and tourists are supposed to like them better too! Ballet slippers again.

Incredibly, the state government at the time of writing, has not approved a budget. We’ve reduced the county budget significantly in anticipation, cutting whatever we can in advance and steeling ourselves for what is inevitably to come. From everything I have heard, “local government” will bear the burden of most of the cuts. I beg to differ. Local government will survive – it’s real people who will suffer. And that’s a pity.

Please call if you have questions or comments about the necessary budget cuts we will be making. You can contact me at 533-5525. I may not have a lot of good news for you, but if you’d like to meet with me in your community, my District Office Hours are:

August

• Weds., Aug. 5, 2009, 10:00 – 11:30, Tuolumne Museum, Carter Street, Tuolumne
• Weds., Aug. 12, 2009, 10:00 – 11:30, Twain Harte Community Service District, Twain Harte Drive, Twain Harte
• Weds., Aug. 19, 2009, 1:00 – 2:30, Mi-Wuk Village Community Center and Private Lending Library, next to the Post Office

September

• Weds., Sept. 2, 2009, 10: 00 – 11:30, Tuolumne Museum, Carter Street, Tuolumne
• Weds., Sept. 9, 2009, 10:00 – 11:30, Twain Harte Community Service District, Twain Harte Drive, Twain Harte
• Weds., Sept. 16, 2009, 1:00 – 2:30, Mi-Wuk Village Community Center and Private Lending Library, next to the Post Office

Like you the county is dancing in new ballet slippers, but still hungry. That’s just wrong.

Do you feel strongly about this county service (in support or otherwise)? Would you like to be heard by the Board? I’ve spoken out, now it’s your turn.

Unless there is a low snow, snowplowing is largely a District 3 concern.  Your testimony will help the Board better understand how it impacts you.  

The item is on the agenda again tomorrow and will be discussed between 9 am and noon in the Board Chambers on the 4th floor at 2 South Green Street in Sonora.

District Office Hours

Every month I hold office hours out in the District. Please stop by and say hello.

• Thurs., Feb. 12 at the Twain Harte Community Services District from 10-11:30,
• Fri., Feb. 20 at the Mi-Wuk Village Library from 1-2:30 pm, and
• Weds., Mar. 4 at the Tuolumne Memorial Museum from 10-11:30.

District office hours are a great opportunity to sit down and talk about your concerns in an unhurried and local setting.

I’ve been getting some emails after Tuesday’s Board discussion on snowplowing that indicate there’s a good bit of confusion out there about who said what and what my position is on hiring a law enforcement officer to ticket cars parked in the right of way during snowplowing operations (see below).

The paper’s account did not contain all that was said by me or by staff. If you’d like to know what was said, you can contact me like the constituent whose email appears below, watch it on Channel 8 this Saturday morning, or you can get a VCR tape of the meeting by calling 928-3263 or emailing kathleen22.

If you are available and want your views to be heard, we will be discussing the issue again at our Board meeting next Tuesday.  It will likely be discussed between 9:30 and 12:00.

I am concerned that some may have the wrong impression of my position based on the newspaper coverage… Please pass this on to your friends and neighbors in District 3. It’s important to set the record straight. Here it is.

I said several times during the meeting, it’s a big job to keep our roads clear. The crews are under significant pressure to get it done, especially when we have low snows. That said, I get numerous complaints every time it snows.

Public Works staff told me last year that much of their problem in getting to all the county-maintained roads in a timely manner was due to obstructions in the roadways. The Director suggested hiring a retired law enforcement officer to ticket cars parked in the right of way would help. I thought he had a great idea, but when it came down to hiring that person, apparently the problem isn’t such a big deal anymore.

The Director now says that there are only a few problem areas and his Roads Supervisor can handle it himself. That’s not what he represented a year ago, not what he agreed to do, and it’s not what I told my constituents the county would do. I have a problem with that.

I may be in the minority on the Board on this one (the vote was 4/1), but will continue to advocate that we investigate current practices and adopt improvements wherever possible – especially with regard to snowplowing. Despite assertions made last Tuesday that those who complain are not native to the area and need to get used to living in the snow or move down lower, the county should listen and be willing to consider that we can do things differently and better.

There’s always room for improvement.

Obviously we can’t satisfy everyone, but if we look for better ways to do things, are attentive to customer service, and drop defensive attitudes, we’ll make some folks happy and get fewer complaints.

****

Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 11:49 AM
To: info
Subject: your snow position

Hi Teri

Regarding the article in the Union Democrat about your snow removal position.

It’s nice you are so worried about the poor folks getting their cars towed but….

There is plenty of warning regarding parked cars already during snow removal operations.

Not only are they (the folks who park their cars in the road) a hazard to the snow removal crews, but they are also a nuisance to their neighbors who have to traverse the road to get home.

One neighbor doesn’t want a snow berm in front of their place so they park their vehicles in the road, so who get’s their berm – me.

These so called libertarians also seem to be the ones with the barking dogs and the junked cars scattered in their yards.

We need less “civil liberties” not more in our neighborhoods in matters that involve their neighbors.

Please reconsider your position.

I wrote back:

Thanks, Mr. ________. I appreciate your concerns. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am concerned about the proliferation of laws enacted on a daily basis in the county, state, and country. But actually I was attempting to compel Public Works to consistently enforce the No Parking ordinance. They steadfastly refused and the Board backed them up.

Please get a hold of a copy of the Board meeting video or tune into the Channel 8 rebroadcast on Saturday morning so that you fully understand what was discussed and my position… I am very glad to continue this conversation once you have heard the whole discussion. My phone number is 533-5521.

He responded:

Thank you for your reply. The proliferation of laws doesn’t seem to be the problem – it’s the lack of enforcement, or maybe the subjective enforcement that bothers me. Unfortunately I’m a satellite subscriber so am unable to view the Board meeting. Again, thanks for the reply and it’s good to hear at least one of the Board members is looking out for the majority, and not the very vocal minority.

To which I replied:

I totally share your concern… My question about how anyone would know if they were parked in a spot that would be ticketed went to the issue of consistency. How can we wink at some areas and expect the other areas to conform? How will people who live up here be able to tell where it’s safe to park and not safe to park? That’s just not right…

****

I dislike whining. I never make a big deal when the paper doesn’t print what I think should have been reported. They’ve got a tough job too and get very little ink to tell a story. But this is a very important issue for us in District 3 – an extremely contentious issue. If I have to take heat for my position, let it be for the right reasons. I want to set the record straight and I want you to hear it from me.

Please feel free to comment online or contact me for more information at 533-5521.