Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to pass a resolution in support of limiting immigration into the country, borrowing wording from a similar resolution Supervisors approved in 1994.

Wendell Peart introduced the draft resolution in early February, and this week said that people who support immigration control are called racists and xenophobes. He said people who are pro-immigration try to “create a sense of guilt” in opponents. Peart said there are “$200 billion in suppressed wages caused by illegal aliens.”

The resolution supported reducing “total legal immigration to 300,000 per year,” similarly approved in the 1994 resolution.

In public comment, Leroy Carlin said he agreed with most of Peart’s resolution, and the Mexican border is “out of control.” Supervisor Brian Oneto agreed, saying he had seen a DVD showing a sign in Arizona, 8 miles from the border, in U.S. territory. The sign warned people to keep away from the area, due to high speed vehicles, drugs and guns.

Oneto said he called a phone number on the sign, and the Department of the Interior answered, and a woman verified that the sign was serious, saying: “we have major issues down here.”

Supervisor Richard Forster said the resolution was pretty much on target, but he believed the original language was better regarding water issues. Peart’s wording noted the “ongoing struggle for more water from Mountain Counties to supply water to the Bay Delta.” Forster said he liked more broad terms. The former resolution’s wording was used, saying that the California “population growth has already outstripped the state’s finite water resources.”

Forster said he was “leery” of supporting a “$1,000 fine a day to the employer for every illegal alien found to be employed.” He said some people think they have hired legal workers, only to find that they had been given forged credentials. Supervisor Brian Oneto said the fine is subjective. He also moved to strike a reference to a “temporary nine month guest worker program.” The program reference was removed, and the $1,000 fine was changed to a “reasonable financial penalty,” wording suggested by Supervisor Louis Boitano.

It was also moved to remove verbiage supporting the securing of “U.S. borders by the employment of all branches of the military in cooperation with the Border Control and all other agencies in said enforcement of the law.” Boitano suggested it be replaced with “whatever means necessary.” Instead, it was replaced with the 1994 resolution wording, which supported securing U.S. borders “through legislative authorization.”

Supervisor Ted Novelli disagreed, saying he is “not a big fan of taking power away from the Governor,” which controls the state’s military Reserves.

Forster, Boitano and Oneto voted in the affirmative, and Novelli and Chairman John Plasse dissented. Plasse said he voted no because he “would like to see the military clause in there.”

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Amador County – The Ione City Council last Tuesday discussed a request by staff to get an estimate from the Amador County Sheriff’s Office for policing the city, then looked at an extensive scope of services prepared by staff.

The Council looked at a request for Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan to give the city an estimate of the cost to provide law enforcement services in Ione. City Manager Kim Kerr provided a letter that she sent to the Sheriff making the request. Kerr said Undersheriff Jim Wegner “notified staff that it will be a few weeks before they are able to issue a proposal due to workload issues at the Amador County Sheriff’s Office.”

Kerr said “Wegner also indicated there would be no bill for the preparation of the proposal.” She said “there is no direct cost to the city from the Sheriff’s Office,” but “both the Sheriff’s Office and the city will incur costs for preparing the proposal and reviewing the Sheriff’s proposal.”

Kerr said Ione Police Chief Michael L. Johnson helped draft the scope of service, and she sent the letter March 25th. She said it took time to make sure all of the needs were covered.

The letter sought an estimate for the minimum of one patrol officer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and included covering sick days. Councilman Ron Smylie said he liked the areas Kerr “zoned in on,” and the description was “very complete.” Mayor David Plank said “it looks very well done.”

Kerr said she had heard back from Undersheriff Wegner, who said he would be preparing the proposal.

The letter, in part, said the city was seeking the provision of “complete Police Department services” and “not as a Sheriff’s Office beat.” It would be staffed with a Lieutenant or higher officer that was “mutually agreeable” to the city for “this management assignment. In the event of a vacancy, the Sheriff will provide a list of eligible candidates to the City Manager who will fill the position.”

The letter noted that the Sheriff’s office would enforce state statutes and “such municipal police ordinances” as are the “same type or nature as ordinances of the county, which the sheriff’s office enforces in the unincorporated territory of the county.” It also sought information on whether animal control services could be included, or if they would need to be separately contracted.

Kerr said duties of traffic control for Ione Elementary and Junior High schools are handled by the city, and it would need to be decided whether to include that in the contract. She said options may include a substation in the city, and she would like to see if the contracting could incorporate the city’s own equipment and personnel.

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Amador County – Multiple residents questioned the Amador County Board of Supervisors at its meeting Tuesday, asking about its contract with the Public Health Officer, eventually causing staff to caution against violating the Brown Act.

Speaking during “Public matters not on the agenda,” a public comment period, many of the speakers addressed the contract extension approval of Dr. Robert Hartmann, and asked about a “Request For Proposals” for his Public Health Officer position.

Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said the position of Health Officer is one of several types of “professional services” for which county policy requires they go out for a Request For Proposals (RFP) every three years. Plasse said Hartmann has been working on 1-year contracts, renewed annually, for the last 12 years, and no RFPs have been made.

The latest contract sought a 37.5 percent raise for Hartmann, and Supervisors compromised, and approved an 18.5 percent raise for Hartmann. They approved the contract through the end of this fiscal year, ending in June. Plasse said it was hard for Supervisors to justify a nearly 40 percent raise when the rest of the county’s employees were being asked to take pay decreases.

One man asked when Hartmann was notified about the preparation of a Request For Proposals were going out.

County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley said the RFPs are not going out. He said he notified Hartmann a week previously that “we have been putting together an RFP” but they are not negotiating yet with Hartmann. He said he has regular contact with Hartmann.

Plasse said: “There’s been a lot of publicity and that has not been our doing.”

One man asked if Hartmann was “going to be given the first right of refusal before you go out for RFPs.” Plasse said Hartmann would get first right of refusal. He also said Requests For Proposals for professional services were not the same as a taking bids. The county would not be obligated to take the lowest bidder but could choose the proposal it considered best for the county.

County Counsel Martha J. Shaver said the discussion was “getting beyond the limits of the Brown Act,” and advised that proper discussion would be a “brief comment,” because the matter was not listed on the agenda.

Supervisor Brian Oneto, answering comments, said he had received no correspondence from Hartmann. He also repeated his reason for a “motion to reconsider” on Hartmann’s initial contract approval, saying: “I did not want my name on a 37 percent increase.”

Former Jackson Mayor Rosalie Pryor Escamilla said she did not think the Health Officer position was “on par with paving or construction,” and “an item this important needs to be placed on an agenda.”

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Amador County – Amador Water Agency board president Don Cooper has called a special meeting of the AWA board of directors for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, on the board’s regular meeting day, to discuss various issues of the Gravity Supply Line.

The agenda, under the listing “Agency General,” includes a presentation of a “new conceptual revenue plan for the Amador Water Systems,” with discussion and direction related to that issue.

The special meeting notice includes a note to the public saying “members of the public will have the opportunity to directly address the Agency Board of Directors concerning any item listed on this Special Meeting Notice before or during consideration of that item.”

Issues listed under the “Central Amador Water Project” include the Gravity Supply Line Project and discussion and direction regarding a letter of conditions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s division of Rural Development. The board could also discuss and act on a GSL construction cost estimate and a “recommendation on construction bidding.”

The regular meeting starts at 9 a.m. and the agenda includes discussion of a report from Agency Counsel Stephen Kronick on the residency of AWA Board President Don Cooper, which was questioned by several members of the public at a previous meeting. In a report for the meeting, Kronick said that Cooper’s residency in Mace Meadows in District 3 was verified, according to various court rulings in other issues where people questioned water board residency.

Kronick, in part, noted that Cooper has a driver’s license with his Lodi address, but as part of a residency test, he intends his Mace Meadow home to be his permanent home. Cooper also has three motor vehicles registered with the DMV to his Mace Meadow address.

Because “the rule that ambiguities concerning the location of a domicile are to be resolved in favor of the right to hold public office, we conclude that Mr. Cooper’s domicile is his Mace Meadows home,” Kronick said. He concluded that “Cooper therefore may continue to serve on the Agency’s board of directors because he is domiciled in, and a voter of the Third Supervisorial District for which he was nominated and elected.”

The special meeting for the Gravity Supply Line discussion is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

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