Amador County – Art Marinaccio of Amador Citizens For Responsible Government is a common fixture at some Amador County planning meetings. The Shingle Springs resident said Wednesday he wants to help Amador avoid problems he has seen over the years in El Dorado County. Marinaccio said: “We’re still arguing over the General Plan that we started in the Reagan Administration,” and General Plan work for El Dorado County “has been, for the most part, pointless.” Marinaccio is “primarily a real estate agent,” and regularly attends his home county political meetings. He said: “Land planning is a bloodsport in El Dorado County.” He regularly comments at General Plan meetings in Amador and Plymouth, and expects to be at today’s planned Housing Element Workshop, with stakeholders, hosted by the county planning department. Marinaccio said officials at both Amador County and the city of Plymouth have done a good job absorbing public comment, but they are “people who have never done this before.” He said they should “put people’s issues and objectives in context with what really needs to happen.” Marinaccio said if he “had to name 1 issue that creates more hard feelings,” it would be the separation of the policy advisory committee (or city planning commission) from the “decision makers.” He said those who work on advisory plans get bent out of shape when their work is omitted by Supervisors or City Councils. He thought it would be more beneficial for Plymouth’s Council to weigh in on its commission’s preliminary work on the General Plan. Marinaccio said: “The process should be to come up with the basic working principles and goals, then take it to the board or council,” get their direction and work on it more. He said the Foothill Conservancy has called him someone who pushes people around and gets his way. But he said those comments came after he spoke, but also when “supervisors had not even weighed in at all.” He thought his comments were just putting into words what most of the Amador General Plan Update panel members were already thinking. He said discussions in today’s Housing Element Workshop “might really help some jurisdictions find the direction they want to go.” The meeting is 2-4 p.m. today in the Supervisors’ Chambers. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.