Amador County – Incumbents in four of five races lost bids for reelection Tuesday in the 2010 Amador County general election, with Sutter Creek City Councilwoman Linda Rianda the only incumbent to keep her seat in a contested race.

Rianda does join the list of first-time elected officials, as she was running for office for the first time after being appointed last year to replace Mayor Pro Tempore Bill Hepworth, who stepped down for health concerns.

Rianda led all vote-getters with 411 votes. Second was Jim Swift, with 401 votes. They defeated third place finisher Bart Weatherly (who had 304 votes) and Ed Arata (who had 241). Election officials reported at 10 p.m. Tuesday that Sutter Creek had 1,368 ballots cast.

In other races Tuesday, Ione City Council members Lee Ard and Jim Ulm finished in a near tie for fourth place, both missing reelection. Three new council members took the three-seat race, led by Ron Smylie with 629 votes. Lloyd Oneto had 518 votes, and Daniel Epperson had 453. Ulm had 370, Ard had 369, and Jerry Sherman had 219 votes.

Two other incumbents, Amador Water Agency President Bill Condrashoff and Vice President Debbie Dunn both fell to their opponents. District 1 challenger Paul Molinelli Senior defeated Condrashoff with 63 percent of the vote, and 1,479 votes, to the incumbent’s 860. The race had 2,347 votes cast, including 178 “undervotes” that did not pick either candidate.

Robert Manassero took just over 60 percent of the vote in District 4, getting 1,332 votes to Dunn’s 865. Dunn’s loss leaves the agency with the need to appoint a new president, as Dunn was on track to be the next president.

In District 5, Arthur Toy won the seat with 887 votes, defeating John Asmus (who had 574 votes) and Dale Turner (who had 234). Toy will take over the Plymouth-area district for retiring Director Terence Moore, who leaves office after three terms.

In Plymouth, the top vote-getter was Sean McGinness, who moved out of town before the election. Peter Amoruso had 64 votes to win the second open seat, and Sandy Kyles had 41 votes. The city council must make an appointment to fill McGinness’ position, which becomes vacant after his win.

Also in Plymouth, the Measure O initiative to raise the Transient Occupancy Tax did not pass. Late Tuesday, Plymouth voters had cast 66 “no” votes and 64 people voted “yes.”

The election office still must count provisional and mail ballots, with several hundred estimated to have come in from all over the county.

Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Amador County – An announcement Monday by CAL FIRE means the number of unemployed in Amador County has increased, at least temporarily.

101 seasonal fire fighters in the Amador-El Dorado-Sacramento-Alpine Unit (AEU) were laid off in three stages throughout the month of November as the department transitions into its “winter preparedness” level of staffing. Some outlying fire stations will also be closed.

AEU’s Chief Bill Holmes said that “in this challenging economic period, down staffing is prudent based on the current and forecasted weather conditions. We need to manage our resources to the best of our ability and administer our budget responsibly.”

But according to Teri Mizuhara, CAL FIRE Fire Prevention Specialist, these layoffs are usually anticipated by those who choose to serve as firefighters. “We do have some year-round staff, but typically our seasonal firefighters are younger men and women,” she said. “Some do firefighting seasonally or as a career, and many go back to college or school in the off-season.”

She said the competition for these coveted positions is tough. Her department received approximately 2,000 applications last season. Of those, 700 applicants were interviewed and approximately 20 new hires were offered jobs. 81 others were rehires.

Mizuhara said they typically hire and layoff in three stages. An equal but opposite hiring process will take place next year in preparation for the peak of fire season during the summer months. In a typical fire season they generally start hiring at the end of May to early June, she said.

Story by Alex Lane. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Amador County – The majority of Californian voters ignored a rolling GOP tide Tuesday by backing Jerry Brown for Governor and Barbara Boxer for U.S.Senate.

Incumbent Boxer will retain her seat while Brown will return to lead the state for a third term after more than 20 years away.

In both cases, Golden State voters bucked the national trend against political insiders and voted for longtime politicians over wealthy female billionaires who were both former heads of major corporations.

California will be one of the few states to remain blue, with Democrats in both U.S. Senate seats, the governor’s office and in majority control of the legislature. Despite voter frustration over government dysfunction and a state deficit of more than $19 billion, Californians opted for seasoned politicians.

Analysts say the state’s blue trend can be credited to a number of factors. Barbara O’Connor, director of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at Sacramento State, told the Christian Science Monitor that California will serve as a bellwether for the rest of the country in the future. “Women won’t just (automatically) vote for women. Personal wealth won’t buy elections, and the tea party values on social issues don’t appeal to our one-quarter independents. We already had a likeable outsider (in Governor Schwarzenegger) and aren’t willing to try it again,” she said.

According to a CBS Exit Poll, nearly three out of five women voters supported Boxer, while male voters gave her a slight three point advantage. 56 percent of women voters supported Brown compared to 40 percent for Whitman. 56 percent of women supported Boxer compared to 39 percent for her Republican opponent, Carly Fiorina.

One major deciding factor in California’s races was illegal immigration. Two-thirds of the voters believe undocumented workers should get an opportunity to apply for legal status. A study by the Public Policy Institute of California shows 70 percent of illegal immigrants live with a close family member. Latino activists called it hypocritical for Republican Meg Whitman to denounce illegal immigration while at the same time employing an illegal immigrant for many years. Story by Alex Lane.

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Amador County - Amador Fire Protection District announces a badge and oath ceremony, to be conducted for twelve recently hired fire personnel, at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at the Amador County Administration Center, 810 Court Street in Jackson.

The badge ceremony, originally scheduled for October 12, two days prior to their commencing fire station coverage, was rescheduled due to the memorial service for a fallen comrade held that day.

In collaboration with the Sutter Creek Fire District (SCFPD), the paid personnel, 7 engineers and 5 firefighters, began staffing AFPD Station 122 in Plymouth, AFPD Station 111 in Pioneer, and Sutter Creek Fire Station 141 in Sutter Creek last month. They are providing 24/7 coverage to augment volunteers in providing emergency medical and fire services to our communities.

An additional two applicants have been offered the position of Fire Engineer with the District and, pending the results of medical and background screening, will be joining the others later this month.

The AFPD and SCFPD Boards of Directors, along with all the personnel of each district, said they are excited about the transition to a paid/volunteer department made possible by the voter approved “Measure M” funding.

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Amador County - Jackson Rancheria Casino is encouraging players and employees to shop locally with the new Shop Amador program.

Shop Amador began November 1st and is a follow-up to Shop Jackson, which was done in conjunction with the Jackson Revitalization Committee. The new program is managed entirely by Jackson Rancheria and is open to businesses throughout Amador County.

Local businesses simply agree to offer a discount to Dreamcatcher's Club members and Jackson Rancheria employees to participate in the program. In exchange, and at no cost to the business, they receive a listing in the monthly Arrow magazine and on the JacksonCasino.com website. Club members simply show their club card to take advantage of the discounts offered.

Shop Jackson discounts are also available to Jackson Rancheria employees and are included on their list of community discounts. Employees show their badge to receive the discounts.

“Encouraging our players and employees to visit local businesses has always been important to us,” said Jackson Rancheria CEO Rich Hoffman, “and in these economic times it’s even more critical that we all work together to support our business community and promote Amador County.”

Amador County businesses that would like to participate in Shop Amador can contact Amber Wooldridge at 223-8366, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Amador County – Plymouth Mayor Patricia Fordyce and Vice Mayor Greg Baldwin reported speaking recently with Congressman Dan Lungren about the possibility of a tribal casino coming to Plymouth.

The Ione Band of Miwok Indians filed its Final Environmental Impact Report for the casino with the federal government, and Fordyce said the city and Lungren both asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs for an extension on the comment period. Fordyce said “we were both denied.”

They also found that Washington, D.C. knows nothing of the issue, and she asked to whom the Department of the Interior answers. City Manager Dixon Flynn said the Interior secretary answers to the president.

Fordyce said Lungren told them that the city can do a nexus study for federal land. Lungren said Congress cannot create an earmark for funding unless they have a nexus study, and it must be federal land. The Ione Miwok tribe is seeking a fee-to-trust status for the land, to become home to a tribal gambling casino.

Fordyce and Baldwin reported on their meeting during council reports last week.

The council last week voted 4-0 to accept the completion of a wastewater collection system by Twain Harte Construction company. Flynn said the project came in $22,000 under budget, and there were five change orders during the process that were unanticipated. He said being short of the estimate means the city will not be reimbursed for the $22,000.

Baldwin said he thought the city would try to use the funds on other collection lines, and Finance Director Jeff Gardner said the funds came form the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program, were held to strict use, and could not be applied to another project.

The council also voted 4-0 to approve waiving a first reading of a code enforcement law, which would give the city council final power of approval or denial of appeals of enforcement actions. Baldwin said he did not want to “politicize this” but the council was given power over the final decision of code enforcement.

Flynn said that was his “doing,” because he thought it was best to give the council the last word. He said the city manager has decision power, but if someone is not happy with a decision, they can appeal it to the city council for a final ruling.

Flynn said the appeal is not directly made to the council, as people “must go through the process” of enforcement first. After the decision process, the last resort is the appeal to the city council.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.