Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council worked before a packed room Monday choosing a replacement for Bill Hepworth, who resigned last month for health concerns. The council chose Linda Rianda, a retired peace officer, associate warden and former teacher. Mayor Gary Wooten opened discussion saying, “speaking for myself, this is really stressful, picking one of you.” The 7 applicants for the 2-year council seat were quickly reduced to 5. Wooten said Reed Shugart, a board member of the Sutter Creek Fire Protection District, pulled his name after finding he could not hold 2 elected offices simultaneously. City Manager Rob Duke said he received a call from Dennis E. Griffin at 1 p.m. Monday: Griffin “pulled his application citing personal reasons.” The remaining 5 applicants were questioned by the council. Wooten asked each what they thought was the biggest issue in Sutter Creek, and their solution. Bart Weatherly said the biggest issue was “remaining solvent and incorporated as a city,” but he had no solution. Councilwoman Sandy Anderson said “we know how you feel about a certain issue. How do you feel about growth?” Weatherly said he was “sort of a non-believer in promises that are given” and he “would love to see commercial growth that produces taxes.” Getting to her point, Councilman Pat Crosby asked if Weatherly could “see any condition in which you could accept (Gold Rush) into the city?” Weatherly said “that was an issue I had to resolve – yes, I do.” Mimi Arata said the major issue was the “upside-down budget,” which she would approach by deciding how and where to increase income and decrease expenses. Rianda said the economy was the biggest issue, which she would approach by first learning the current budget, then looking at long-term revenue increase possibilities and decreases in spending and working on ways to increase tourism and entice businesses to the city. Mike Kirkley said the top issue was the “fiscal crisis,” which the council could solve by getting “back to basics,” providing the services of a city. He said the city should use “conservative revenue projections,” and push through developments that would generate revenue. Councilman Tim Murphy asked what were his top 3 areas for budget fixes. Kirkley said those would be reducing employees and the police budget, and working with other jurisdictions. Jack Mitchell said he would try to “see what positions can move into other positions” in city staff, but he didn’t think there were “any easy fixes.” Rianda was a unanimous selection to the position and was sworn in after the vote. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.