Amador County – The Ione City Council set staff to draft a letter in support of keeping the Preston Youth Authority in business after word of its risk of closure reached the ears of city council last week. City Manager Kim Kerr will draft a letter to the director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and send a copy to Senator Dave Cox. Mayor Lee Ard said he was blindsided by news broken by TSPN last week, initiated by Supervisor Richard Forster. Ard wondered why Forster would break the news of a possible closure at the supervisors’ meeting last week, instead of taking the issue to the City Council. Ard said he has been explaining the issue since appearing on TSPN last week. Forster spoke as a member of the public to the Council, and he said he raised the issue last Tuesday during a supervisors’ public comment period “because people need to be excited about it.” He said he is employed by CDCR, but if he loses his job, he has another job, while “most people don’t.” He said “if you have people chewing on your ear, I hope you listen to them.” Forster said Ione is a “company town” because of Preston, where three generations of some families have worked, and many of his friends work. Gary Thomas spoke as a public member, saying Preston has a big history in town and serves a great purpose and he urged writing the support letter. Kerr presented a breakdown of Preston employees by zip code, noting that 101 of the 329 employees, just over 19 percent, lived in the Ione zip code. Vice Mayor Skip Schaufel said he was “dumbfounded that we have to talk about this. We have got to not allow this to happen.” He urged people to send e-mails and letters in support of keeping open Preston. Councilwoman Andrea Bonham agreed, thanking Kerr for the “hard data,” adding that “we need to make a hard stand” against a Preston closure. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). -
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Amador County – The Ione City Council set staff to draft a letter in support of keeping the Preston Youth Authority in business after word of its risk of closure reached the ears of city council last week. City Manager Kim Kerr will draft a letter to the director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and send a copy to Senator Dave Cox. Mayor Lee Ard said he was blindsided by news broken by TSPN last week, initiated by Supervisor Richard Forster. Ard wondered why Forster would break the news of a possible closure at the supervisors’ meeting last week, instead of taking the issue to the City Council. Ard said he has been explaining the issue since appearing on TSPN last week. Forster spoke as a member of the public to the Council, and he said he raised the issue last Tuesday during a supervisors’ public comment period “because people need to be excited about it.” He said he is employed by CDCR, but if he loses his job, he has another job, while “most people don’t.” He said “if you have people chewing on your ear, I hope you listen to them.” Forster said Ione is a “company town” because of Preston, where three generations of some families have worked, and many of his friends work. Gary Thomas spoke as a public member, saying Preston has a big history in town and serves a great purpose and he urged writing the support letter. Kerr presented a breakdown of Preston employees by zip code, noting that 101 of the 329 employees, just over 19 percent, lived in the Ione zip code. Vice Mayor Skip Schaufel said he was “dumbfounded that we have to talk about this. We have got to not allow this to happen.” He urged people to send e-mails and letters in support of keeping open Preston. Councilwoman Andrea Bonham agreed, thanking Kerr for the “hard data,” adding that “we need to make a hard stand” against a Preston closure. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
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