Amador County – Both candidates for State Assembly in District 10 squared off last Tuesday in a debate hosted by the Amador Child Care Council. Speaking before a packed chamber at the County Administrative Building, Democratic incumbent Alyson Huber and her opponent, Republican Jack Sieglock, made clear their similarities and differences.

Sieglock repeatedly stated that a vote for Huber means a vote for the leadership that drove California into a fiscal crisis. “If you want the same old business as usual, you can vote for my opponent,” said Sieglock. “But if you want a new direction and new leadership, I’d appreciate your vote.”

For her part, Huber declared that she is also opposed to the way state government does business. She said she “makes decisions based on the needs of those in my district, not party lines.”

Both candidates pointed out their recent endorsements. Sieglock said he was proud to be endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association because he has “balanced 16 budgets without raising taxes.” Huber said she has received bipartisan support, including an endorsement earlier that day from Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan.

During public comment, both candidates were asked their views on taxes and whether they support Propositions 23 and 26, which deal with eliminating three business tax breaks and giving voters permission before any new taxes can be imposed.

Huber did not answer directly, but said “we have got to stop legislating by propositions; that is ballot box legislation.” Sieglock said the tax increases we face today were put in place “by the leadership that Alyson supports.”

Sieglock believes the budget gap can be closed without any new fees and without raising taxes. “The problem in Sacramento is that (our legislature) really isn’t drilling down,” he said.

Huber insisted “the $40 billion (budget deficit) was too big to do on cuts alone without closing all our schools…and prisons.” She said she “is doing what is fiscally prudent.”

“Do I like everything that was in the budget, no. Did I do the responsible thing, yes,” she said.

This is the second time Huber and Sieglock have vied for this seat. In 2008, Huber beat Sieglock by a scant 474 votes districtwide.

The forum also included candidates for Sutter Creek City Council and a representative speaking on behalf of 3rd District Congressional candidate Dr. Ami Bera.

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Amador County - Amador County recently received its own state law allowing it to experiment with small electric cars on roads within and between neighborhoods.

AB584 was signed by the Governor on September 29th, allowing the County of Amador and the cities of Jackson and Sutter Creek flexibility in designing rules and routes for Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs).

This law originated as a project put forth by Amador Citizens for Transportation Options (ACTO), a local nonprofit group that solicited the help of Assemblywoman Alyson Huber a year and a half earlier. The law made its way through numerous Committee hearings, finally passing the Assembly 67-0 and the Senate 34-0.

Bob Devlin, a Director of ACTO, credits Huber and her staff for guiding this bill through the maze of legislative challenges, resulting in the final success. “We did have some opposition,” Devlin comments, “and needed to persuade legislators that this was a worthwhile project. We are delighted with the outcome.”

AB584 will give CHP, Caltrans and other government regulators more flexibility in the design of facilities and routing for NEVs in Amador that otherwise would be prohibited by law.

ACTO engineer, Rod Schuler, “believes the Bill is essential to allow Amador to solve our small-town traffic problems.” Schuler has prepared detailed cost estimates, including a new concept of special NEV/Bike turnouts which will allow NEVs to move off the main traffic flow and let faster-moving vehicles go by.

Because NEVs can only travel up to 25 mph and utilize existing roads that have speeds posted 35 mph or less, they can be manufactured from cheaper and lighter material and do not require the expensive and heavy armor of other cars.

Sharon Hewitt, another Director of ACTO and Jackson resident, cites statistics showing that most trips we take are short and can be done efficiently in an NEV, saving fuel, maintenance costs, air pollution and reducing our reliance on foreign sources of oil. “Plus”, says Sharon, “they are fun to drive.”

Mike and Sharon Hewitt are waiting to purchase an NEV once they can legally get from their home on Scottsville Boulevard in Jackson to Sutter Creek and Amador City.

Devlin states, “We still must convince the authorities that our proposals are safe for NEVs so they will allow us to try out our ideas.”

ACTO will be working closely with CHP, Caltrans, and local governments to obtain approval of their NEV Transportation Plan.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors voted 3-0 Thursday to have its general manager look into a new agency employee and management structuring plan that would remove one manager and four total positions. 

Director Terence Moore said they need to analyze the reorganization and see if the structure could run the agency.

General Manager Gene Mancebo was directed to talk with department heads on the organization plan, and get suggestions on how it may work.

Employees commented on the plan, including John Griffin, representing the management bargaining unit, submitted a letter asking “how the reorganization will affect the agency.”

In public comment, Liam Bailey said “rates need to go up. It costs a lot to live up here.” He asked the board to raise his rates. He said people are leaving the agency to better jobs and benefits, and the board “will not hold on to staff by giving them less money and benefits.”

Bailey said in-house engineers cost $78 an hour, but if they are gone, a consultant might need to be employed at $130 an hour, and would “need up-front hours to get up to speed.”

Mike DuBois, an agency electrical technician, said certified agency people are looking for new jobs, and “ready to go right now.”

Vice President Debbie Dunn said the reorganization schematic had no numbers, no way for them to make a decision, and no time frame to meet that number.

Mancebo said the number to cut from the budget to ease cash flow issues is $300,000, and no time frame has been incorporated yet, but talks continue with employee representatives.

Moore said he did not want to do anything without Don Cooper present, and Dunn said she did not know why Cooper missed the special meeting.

President Bill Condrashoff said he did not like the electrical and raw water supervisors each overseeing two people, as shown in the new plan, or a distribution supervisor overseeing three. He said it was inefficient. Dunn agreed, saying “there isn’t a CEO out there who would allow this.”

Human Resources Coordinator Karen Gish said unfilled vacancies caused the small division staffs.

Mancebo said department heads are working supervisors. He said per the plan, a construction superintendent and operations manager can consolidate, but they are working managers. It would effectively push work down to other staff, and “there will be work that does not get done.”

Director Gary Thomas recused himself from the board for discussion of the issue, due to a common law conflict of interest.

Mancebo was directed to discuss the reorganization with staff and meet with the board in a special meeting October 15th.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency sought a new financial plan Thursday toward getting federal financing for the Gravity Supply Line project.

The board voted 4-0 (with Director Don Cooper absent) to have staff create a new financial plan using the agency’s new budget and recent lower construction costs.

Jim Conklin, executive director of the Amador County Business Council, urged the board to pursue the GSL, saying the Business Council was “committed publicly” to helping educate customers on the project. Conklin said the GSL pipeline would help “total community wellness” in Amador County, and the Business Council was working on an investment project to help cities and agencies pay their bills.

He said “you have $13.3 million sitting on your table that you can use to eliminate this problem.” He said it would eliminate a $280,000 annual PG&E bill, and aging equipment on the existing Central Amador Water Project pipeline that will need to be replaced.

Rich Farrington said the Plymouth pipeline came in 28 percent under estimates, and “this could be a $10 million or $9 million project, which translates into lower rates.”

David Evitt, who spearheaded a Proposition 218 protest to block a rate increase said when he went out to talk to people, they said they did not want to spend $4 more a month on top of their $87 bill, calling it a “no brainer.” The increase would have helped secure a USDA loan for the GSL project.

Dunn said she had eight questions about USDA conditions to meet to get a grant and loan, including the costs of insurance and a construction bond, and when those would need to be purchased by the agency.

Engineering Manager Erik Christeson said insurance and the construction bond were both required to be paid by the construction contractor on the project.

Condrashoff asked if the USDA funding would come before a May 2011 due date for a payment on the Amador Transmission Pipeline debt service. He said a Prop 218 period would end within weeks or days of that loan payment being due.

Director Terence Moore said: “I think it’s worse than that,” because “they are not going to give us any money until we award the contract.”

Mancebo said the USDA wants to know if we completed the conditions. He said they cannot incur indebtedness without a CAWP contract.

Finance Manager Mike Lee said the rate notice and workshop would likely take 45 to less than 90 days, and the USDA is pretty quick to wire money.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors discussed an agency reorganization plan Thursday that caught employees off guard when the meeting was agendized last week.

The plan, devised by an ad hoc committee made up of President Bill Condrashoff, Director Terence Moore and General Manager Gene Mancebo, includes combining construction and operations departments under one “Field Operations Manager.” It eliminates a total of four positions, though others are slated to be filled.

Employee representatives submitted letters of disapproval of the handling of the reorganization plan, which the board assigned to an ad hoc committee that no employees knew about. Moore said it would have been nice to be able to have the board meet in closed session to find an approach to budget woes and job reductions.

General Manager Gene Mancebo said at a “bare bones minimum,” they need to cut $300,000. He said the reorganization could not be discussed outside of an open session. But he said negotiations with employee groups on reduction of salaries and benefits made him believe they will be able to achieve that amount in cuts.

Mike Crisman of Camanche recommended the agency do a “time and motion study,” and he wondered about managers he called “the fat five” and what they would face in cuts.

Operations Manager Chris McKeage said the “fat five” had every intention of taking the same cuts as all employees, and had made that clear to Mancebo.

Employee Stacy Lollar read a letter of concern, saying that from research she had done, it appeared the reorganization “committee was created in secrecy,” was unethical, and failed to follow “meet and confer” requirements of the Employee Relations Act.

Condrashoff said he was trying to remember when the committee was formed. Board Clerk Chris Thompson said it was formed sometime after the August 26th board meeting.

Vice President Debbie Dunn said they were looking everywhere to cut money, and wanted to look at positions. Agency attorney Steve Kronick and employee attorney Suzanne Price were consulted.

Dunn said the ad hoc committee on reorganization “was created in closed session, and it was reported out of closed session,” but “sadly, no one was there to hear it.”

Moore said “we had to start it somehow, and the board decided that the best way to do it was with an ad hoc committee.”

Moore said they “needed to discuss reorganization with the general manager, and “there was no easy way to let employees know what was going on,” so they “had to let them know in the agenda.”

The council directed Mancebo to meet with staff on the plan and return to the board October 15th.

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Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors voted 4-0 to get a new cost estimate on the proposed Gravity Supply Line project, in effect tabling the issue until after the November 2nd election.

The board directed Finance Manager Mike Lee to create a new financial plan to back a USDA grant and loan for the project.

Director Gary Thomas suggested showing lower bids and the effects on fees in the Central Amador Water Project system, based on a lower cost estimate than the original engineers’ estimate of $13.9 million.

Director Terence Moore said Lee show the “impact of reduction of cost by a bid amount reduction of $1 million.” He said Lee should be able to show variations in the estimated bid amount.

General Manager Gene Mancebo and staff presented a list of conditions from the USDA to meet in order to get a $5 million grant and $8 million loan for the Gravity Supply Line. He said it would take $70,000 in agency work to get bid results, and he said that funding could come from a number of places.

He said the Central Amador Water Project wholesale system has a contingency fund of $92,000, which could be used, but it must still be paid back. Mancebo said they could also use one-fifth of tax funds due from the state to pay for the preparation.

He said the agency needs the bids to know if it is feasible to carry on with the Gravity Supply Line project.

Thomas said he thought it was a good project, and he needs a little more information. He said he would hate to look back, five years down the road and “wonder why we didn’t do it.”

Moore said a 21 percent rate increase over three years that was rejected by CAWP in a Proposition 218 protest had a financial plan based on the agency’s budget at the time. He said they now have a new budget and will plug that into the financial plan.

“Most directors agree it is a good project if we can afford it,” Mancebo said. He said they cannot see if they can afford it “until we get a bid.” He said construction costs are low right now, which will also be factored into the financial plan.

He said “are we willing to spend $69,000 to get those answers?”

President Bill Condrashoff said he was willing to go forward only as far as to get the financial plan together, but he wasn’t willing to spend $70,000 until he saw the practicality of the project.

Moore motioned to direct Lee to gather the new financial plan information, to have it ready for the first budget and finance committee meeting in November. The motion passed 4-0.

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Amador County – All seven candidates who have filed to run for three seats on the Amador Water Agency board of directors reportedly will attend a candidates’ forum Monday, October 11th at the Upcountry Veterans Hall.

The Upcountry Community Council organized the forum and has received commitments from all seven candidates.

District 1 candidates are incumbent President Bill Condrashoff and Paul Molinelli Senior. District 4 features incumbent Vice President Debbie Dunn and her opponent, Robert Manassero. Director Terence Moore is retiring from the District 5 seat, for which three candidates will compete. The candidates are John J. Asmus, Arthur Toy and Dale Turner.

The Upcountry Community Council AWA candidates’ forum will be moderated by either UCC Chair Lynn Morgan, or Vice Chair Sherry Curtis.

Morgan said the forum will give each candidate five minutes to introduce themselves and their platforms. They will then draw a question out of a “grab bag” and have three minutes to answer it.

Morgan said there will be seven questions in the bag, and each candidate answers a different question. Each candidate will then be given a five-minute time period to make a closing statement.

Morgan said “if there are issues that candidates want to rebut, the only time they will have to do that is in their five-minute closing statement.”

She said there will be time at the end, possibly only 20 minutes, for a question and answer session. People will be urged to be very concise and brief in their questions.

The forum will be limited to 120 minutes.

The UCC came up with the questions in a pretty informal way at its September UCC meeting. She said questions had to be relevant to agency business, and were modified to make them consistent and clear.

The forum is 6-8 pm on Monday, October 11th at the Veterans Memorial Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road.

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Amador County – The Amador County Public Health Department is encouraging residents to attend one of a series of upcoming vaccination clinics designed in part to prevent rising rates of whooping cough throughout the state.

Diane Evensen, the department’s health educator, said there were 5,272 reported cases of the virus in California as of Wednesday, up drastically from 3,834 cases approximately one month before. There are currently no cases in Amador County.

“Vaccinations are so important for the prevention piece of the puzzle,” she said. “Pertussis is tragically lethal to infants, and the sad thing is it’s completely preventable.”

She said rates are highest in infants under six years of age because their young systems have yet to develop a natural immunity to the virus. Infants typically get three doses of the vaccine but are not fully protected until after 5 months.

Known medically as pertussis, the disease is considered incredibly contagious, affecting close to 90 percent of those exposed to it, says the CDC. Close to 70 percent of infants under age 1 are hospitalized. According to state reports, the number of whooping cough cases tends to peak every two to five years. Symptoms of pertussis include flu-like symptoms, such as runny nose, sneezing, fever and a mild cough.

“Vaccination is the best prevention measure that we have, hands down,” she said.

The most common vaccine for whooping cough is TDAP, and Evensen said her department is offering it as part of a series of flu vaccination clinics to occur through November. She also encouraged individuals of all ages to get the standard flu vaccine.

“We’ve started FluMist vaccinations for all public schools, and so far only about 50 percent of the students have been vaccinated,” she said. She said minors are not allowed to get the flu vaccine without parent consent.

When questioned about whether the low vaccination numbers are of concern to her department, Evenson said it is still early in the season and these figures do not rule out the possibility that “kids have gone and seen their own private medical providers.”

For a complete list of upcoming flu vaccine clinics at the Amador County Public Health Department, visit them online, call 209-223-6407, or drop in during normal business hours at 10877 Conductor Boulevard in Sutter Creek. Each vaccine shot costs $10.

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