News Archive (6192)
Supervisors approve probation and sheriff department hires
Written by Tom
Amador County – Amador County Supervisors last week approved hiring a probation officer and a sheriff’s deputy using state realignment funds from AB-109.
Chief Probation Officer Mark Bonini said the new Community Corrections Partnership administrative committee had made some recommendations for new hires needed due to realignment of prisoners and early releases brought by AB109. He said the “state also realigned funding,” and based on conservative numbers, they would like to hire one Probation Officer right away, then build a contingency with the rest of the funds. They also plan to hire a sheriff’s deputy.
The request also sought another deputy, another probation officer, a correctional sergeant, and a behavioral health rehabilitation specialist. Bonini said they hope to address needs in the most cost-effective way possible, starting with the two hires. The Community Corrections Partnership Committee has now met five times and will eventually bring a plan to Supervisors for approval, Bonini said. They area already seeing probation releases “trickle in the door,” with five releases in October, 2-4 more expected in November. Supervisor Louis Boitano said California State Association of Counties is seeking a referendum for a constitutional amendment to fund the realignment. Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said the CCP should retain some reserves for when the state “turns this into a political football.”
Bonini said the funding is through June 30, 2012, they have not spent any of the money, and they plan to spend wisely and have a contingency, in case the state cuts funding, so maybe the funds can carry the Corrections Partnership for a couple of months.
Supervisor Richard Forster said the county should work on its budget to keep these hires, because one or two years down the road, when the money dries up, “there is a good chance the state’s not going to follow through with funding.”
Bonini said they were not relying on passage of a constitutional amendment, because they cannot say it will happen, but the people he can use for overseeing new probationers are already overseeing people on a 140-to-one ratio.
Supervisor Brian Oneto said it might “behoove you to offer the job at a lesser rate of pay,” because they should still have a lots of applicants. Bonini said getting trained, experienced and wise employees would require less up-front training. He said employee groups set the rates, depending on level of experience.
Bonini said “jobs aren’t fruitful out there. These are good positions.” He expected they would get “300 applications for these two positions.”
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2011 Veterans Day Parade fills Main Street in downtown Jackson
Written by Tom
Amador County – Hundreds of people lined two sides of Main Street in Jackson Friday for the third annual Veterans Day Parade.
Master of Ceremonies Charline Buckely of American Legion Post 108 Auxiliary led the crowd in the pledge of allegiance, followed by the Star Spangled Banner.
Participants included the Legion 108 Honor Guard, civic groups and agency vehicles, and many veterans. Preparation began earlier in the day with volunteers lining the Main Street sidewalks with flags. Todlers wave flags and school children and adults held signs of thanks to the veterans, or yelled their thank-you’s from the sidewalks. Parade participants included Post 108 American Legion Riders. The Native Sons of the Golden West carried an American flag that spanned the width of Main Street, and a float of the Italian Benevolent Society float carried many veterans. Jackson Lions Club members carried a large California flag.
Two Kit Carson Mountain Men also marched, followed by Amador Transit’s Amador Trolley, with a POW/MIA banner on its back rail, and a stretch of vintage cars at its flank, including Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison in his vintage patrol car. Emergency vehicles included those from Jackson Fire Department, Amador Fire Protection District, Lockwood Fire, and Cal Fire trucks (with a hand crew from Pine Grove Conservation Camp). Others vehicles came from Jackson Valley Fire, Sutter Creek Fire, and Ione Fire.
The Argonaut High School marching band also marched, as did the West Point Veterans of Foreign Wars color guard and their Auxiliary. Other groups marching were Boy Scout Troop 63 of Sutter Creek, Calaveras American Legion Post 376 of Glencoe, Mother Lode Scots, Civil Air Patrol junior cadets, Amador and Argonaut FFA, Amador County Fair Foundation, Mother Lode Tea Party, and Clampers Post 49 of Yerba Buena and Post 1841 of Sacramento. Two Amador County Judge hopefuls Steve Hermanson and Jeff Seaton also participated.
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Supervisors seek to allow Compassionate Use marijuana growing, while guarding against illegal grows
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors last week directed staff to draft a temporary ban of medical marijuana growing, but still wanted to preserve the growing allowed under the Compassionate Use Act.
Supervisor Louis Boitano said he thought every one of the people in six county cooperatives has a medical card, but Supervisors agreed urgency exists for regulation, and they realized the county could be drawing for-profit growing operations that are illegal.
District Attorney Todd Riebe said the closer you are to the medically recommended number of plants, the harder it is to prosecute. He said in one case, “a 900-plant grow in Sonoma County” had testimony saying the pot was going to a cannabis club in San Francisco for aids patients. Riebe said it was clear profit was involved, but the jury still decided for the growers. He said numbers were not part of the initiative, so it failed.
Supervisor Brian Oneto said River Pines has a medical pot growing operation, right across the street from a “whole bunch of kids.” Undersheriff Jim Wegner said “we are aware of that one.”
Wegner said they look at the medical recommendation, see how many plants they have, and allow them to pull plants. He said there are “all kinds of issues with prosecution.” He said some collectives have recommendations for 200 plants, but grow that number of plants in different locations.
County Counsel Greg Gillott said Fresno County banned outdoor cultivation, and Trinity County limited it in all residentially zoned areas, and would not take code enforcement action in other areas if they met certain conditions.
Regarding legal medical pot, Oneto said: “I wouldn’t want to take that away from people that actually do need it.”
Gillott said the “board can adopt an urgency measure prohibiting any uses that may be in conflict with the contemplated ordinance. So I think that any cultivation may be banned, then you ban everything. If you think that there are certain low thresholds that may be acceptable to you, then you can theoretically carve out that and ban the rest.”
Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said he would “like to keep them from starting outdoor crops in the spring.” Boitano said they “eventually have to come to the conclusion that we have our own ordinance.” He wanted to temporarily ban the growing “so out-of-county growers go elsewhere.”
Supervisor Richard Forster preferred the limited ban that Trinity County used, then forming a committee to address the issue. Boitano said he would like to pick and choose from the ordinances. Plasse said: “I’d like to see the temporary ordinance be as restrictive as possible and have no outdoor cultivation, then we can draft our own ordinance.” Boitano said: “I agree with you.”
Plasse said then they can get into setbacks and distances from boundary lines. Gillott said Trinity does allow some use, and they can draft it, then come back and make changes.
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ACUSD SELPA Community Advisory Committee sets mission statement
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Office of Education’s Special Education Learning Plan Area’s Community Advisory Committee has been formed with 15 members, including teachers, parents and other professional, and has set a tentative schedule for making inroads into the community.
The Committee was formed by the Amador County Board of Education and has selected its officers. Dr. David Dutra, a former school board member, has been selected president of the SELPA Community Advisory Committee. Parent Shannon Gibson was selected Vice Chair, and parent Ramona Longero was selected secretary.
Gibson said last week that the Committee has set some tentative outreach programs, including a meet-and-greet with the new, 13-member committee. She said they plan the meet-and-greet for January; a presentation in March; and a school-year-end recognition banquet in May.
Gibson said the SELPA Community Advisory Committee also has set its mission statement. She said their mission is “providing information, education and support to families with students with exceptional needs.”
They plan to give handouts, brochures and improve website information to “let people know we are formed and we can be that common ground that parents and teachers can go to.”
The Committee includes special education teachers, retired school board members, parents and business owners. Theresa Hawk, the School District SELPA director, is also ex officio member of the Committee. School Board Trustee Lynnette Lipp represents the school board on the Committee. Other members include Susan Manning, Steven Parker, Jody Schinnerer, Kari Koche, Jeni Dewalt, Stacy Johnson, Dorothy Putnam-Smith and Sheryl Barghourn.
Gibson said the SELPA Community Advisory Committee has met five times, and next meets 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Board of Education Office. Following this week, they will meet the first Tuesday of each month. The meetings are open to the public.
The March presentation will be aimed toward families. The May year-end recognition will be for the special education community, including teachers, students and businesses who employ special education students. Gibson said it will be a celebration and recognition.
Minutes from the October meeting noted that members suggested they “concentrate on parents and make them strong and then focus on the community.” Dutra suggested making contact with all special education classes and contacting “parents in charge” and having them assist the Committee in doing outreach to others.
Gibson said they plan to send special invitations to special education parents, in the form of a flyer in December, which will have a “save the date” postcard on the upcoming tentative outreach dates, along with surveys for families.
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Supervisors will consider a temporary ban on medical pot growing
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors discussed regulating medical marijuana last week, and will prepare a temporary ban on growing operations while an ad hoc committee looks at different laws around the state.
Undersheriff Jim Wegner recommended using a “canopy” instead of numbers to limit marijuana growing. Supervisor Brian Oneto asked if the canopy would limit acreage.
Wegner said it was his opinion, for example, to limit it to 100 square feet. They “could still get 100 plants in there, but they are not going to get that tall.” He urged supervisors to use legal means of regulating, because with the Compassionate Use Act, you “cannot stop grows.”
Louis Boitano said they can limit setbacks, and number of people you can have on the property, and farm workers. He said there is also sanitation. County Counsel Greg Gillott said setbacks, land use, and nuisance issues can be address in a county ordinance.
Supervisor Chairman John Plasse asked if they could limit the growing of medical marijuana to Amador County residents. Gillott said Trinity County’s interim ordinance limited the growing to be done by property owners or “caregivers,” living on the property.
Supervisor Ted Novelli asked Wegner if he had seen any regulations he liked. Wegner he had not read all of them. “There was some attractiveness to being short and brief,” but he liked bits and pieces of a lot of them. He thought it would best serve the community to take a look at everything out there.
Gillott said the board has the authority in government code to adopt an urgency ordinance that can go into effect right away. He said Trinity and Fresno counties used urgency ordinances to ban all outdoor cultivation. Trinity allowed it in a prescribed way.
County Planning Department Director Susan Grijalva said there are limitations to the urgency. They have four months to go through a hearing process to have an official ban ordinance go into place. Plasse said the urgency would create a reason to enforce it now, and then spend time to look at the local ordinance. Boitano said the board did the same when it banned medical pot dispensaries in urgency.
Gillott said they could face litigation with a ban, but they could tie it to the caregiver. He said Tehama County’s ordinance was upheld at the trial court level with a similar approach, and it was pretty similar to Butte County’s ordinance.
Supervisor Ted Novelli said they should “look at something that has been adopted and that already works,” and use it for the temporary ban “until we come up with our own.”
Gillott said they should probably look at several ordinances, and take what’s best for the county.
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Jackson Fire gets ok to burn 208 Court Street for live fire training
Written by Tom
Amador County – Jackson Fire Department received approval Tuesday from Amador County Board of Supervisors to conduct live fire exercises and demolish a county-owned building at 208 Court Street.
Supervisors made the approval but wanted every effort possible to notify neighbors of the mid-December plan to burn the building, a former office of Amador County Probation Department.
General Service Administration Director John Hopkins said asbestos removal will still occur once the structure was burned. Jackson Fire Chief Marc Crain said the, training Captain Rick Clark, and another firefighter would go door-to-door over two Saturdays in a two-block radius to notify neighbors of the planned training burn, set for Dec. 17. He said it would be contingent on the weather of the day, including wind, so smoke would not go into the neighborhood.
It would amount to a dark column of smoke for several hours, and fires would be set to burn the building in on itself. He said: “If we don’t get ideal weather, we won’t do it.”
Supervisor Ted Novelli said “we need to do everything possible to make sure everybody is notified,” including churches. “If we miss one, we’re in trouble.” Supervisor Louis Boitano said the Admin Committee should also meet at the site and look at the conditions of buildings on either side of 208 Court Street also owned by the county. Hopkins said a previous Board of Supervisors had approved demolition of all three structures, but neighbors did not want the structures burned. He said two of the buildings are worth refurbishing for historic value.
Supervisor Chairman John Plasse asked that the door-to-door outreach include a brief description of county plans to remodel the property, to allay people’s fears, and assure them the county is not going to level the whole block. Plasse said the plan was to demolish 208 Court, to create parking or another use, and restore the other two buildings.
Clark said the “Fire Control 3-A” class will invite local agency personnel, and could get people from all over the state to come. He said the training will fall over three days, with a lecture, hands-on skill building, and full-gear exercises in a smoke-filled house (with burn barrels), all which would not affect neighbors. The next weekend would be the building burning. He said live burning allows training in forcible entry and ventilation. They will also teach how to stop multiple houses from burning.
Crain said he still needed Jackson City Council’s blessing on the project.
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Amador County – Amador Water Agency Board of Directors on Thursday voted to leave its participation fees the same for Amador Water System and authorized a study to look at a need for a regional water treatment plant.
Part of the action was that if the fee study comes back with a different fee amount, anyone who pays fees as of Thursday, Nov. 10 or after gets a refund of any fees paid over a lower amount, expected from the new study. The board voted 3-2 and ignored staff recommendations to lower the $11,300 fee to $8,000, recommended because AWA no longer considers building a regional water treatment plant, basis for part of the fee.
AWA Counsel Stephen Kronick said “the charge is not invalid” but it was staff’s opinion they should remove fees specific to the regional plant. He said “there is some question as to whether you need a regional plant in the future” but “that does not mean that the charge is invalid because three months from now,” the economy could take off. Kronick said the board has the discretion to revise or not revise the fee.
Director Gary Thomas said “I am not even convinced we don’t need this plant in Ione.” He moved to go forward with a new rate study, with either Bob Reed or someone else, and if they find they do not need the infrastructure, then they should refund part of the money.
Thomas, Board President Don Cooper and Director Art Toy voted for the new participation fee study. Director Paul Molinelli Senior said it was the board’s “responsibility to have rates reflect what our costs are.” He said any change “should have a twilight time” for a study.
Director Robert Manassero said the agency just purchased a used water treatment plant from Livermore to incrementally expand capacity, with plans to do the same at Tanner. He said: “I thought that was the direction we were going because of the bad economy and our cash position.”
Toy said maybe it’s time to have Reed make another study, noting that Reed’s 2004 study was modified in 2007 to use an “incremental method” for expansion. He suggested an “interim change while we get the real number evaluated.”
Thomas said he needed “to be assured that they have adequate water and don’t need a regional plant.” He said: “I don’t want to hear in a year that we need a regional plant.”
AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said it was a good suggestion to look at participation fees again. He also mentioned an unused pipeline at Preston that could help Ione’s capacity. Thomas said he had not heard of that option.
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Amador County – Amador County’s Registrar of Voters announced the nomination period for the Ione mayor’s recall election opened Monday and closes Dec. 2.
Amador County Registrar of Voters Sheldon D. Johnson announced Monday that the nomination period for the February 28, 2012 Recall Election against David Plank, member of the Ione City Council, opened on Monday, Nov. 7 and will close on Friday, Dec. 2.
Johnson said: “Candidates may obtain nomination documents from the Amador County Elections Department, 810 Court Street in Jackson,” and “candidates must be registered voters of the city of Ione. Election of a successor will be contingent upon the recall of the above officer.”
For further information, contact the Amador County Elections Department at (209) 223-6465.
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Supervisors urge Fed to preserve Medicare and Medicaid
Written by Tom
Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a resolution urging California’s federal Congressional delegates to support and preserve Medicare and Medicaid programs, as they work to cut the national debt by $1.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.
The resolution noted that by Nov. 23, a Congressional “super committee” must come up with a proposal to reduce the national debt by that amount, and urged California Congressional delegates to “reform and retain Medicare and Medicaid for the purposes of which these programs were originally created.” It said the county “stands in support of quality healthcare in our community,” and “we want to be sure our nation’s elected leaders protect the healthcare services Americans are counting on.”
The resolution said “millions of children, the elderly and people with disabilities rely on healthcare provided through the federally-funded” programs that were established in 1965.
A draft resolution was provided by Josephine Summers, union representative of the Service Employees International Union-United Health Workers, which represents Sutter Amador Hospital employees. Summers urged passage and support. The resolution was reworded before passage.
Supervisor Richard Forster suggested the resolution add a “line about not making local hospitals absorb the lack of funding for Medicare and Medi-Cal.” He said “anybody who shows up at the hospital and can’t pay for it, the hospital must absorb that cost.” Supervisor Louis Boitano said it also dictates what we pay for ambulance fees and transfers, and that “costs us more as consumers when we go to the hospital.”
Forster said Sutter Amador Hospital CEO Anne Platt can tell us whether we want to put the raw number in there.” Supervisors approved the resolution unanimously.
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Amador Lifeline receives $10,000 from county prescription drug cards
Written by Tom
Amador County – Amador County Supervisor Chairman John Plasse presented a royalty check to the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency’s Amador Lifeline program for $10,237 on Tuesday, the royalty proceeds from the county’s participation in a “Coast to Coast Rx Card” program.
Plasse said it came from a small royalty from prescription drug purchases made with the discount card, and the funds were divided between Amador Lifeline and the Amador Senior Center. Plasse said the program, with a free discount card, is on pace to exceed $16,800 in royalty earned this year. He said it is good for both pet and people prescription purchases.
Supervisor Brian Oneto said they should also note that it is a program that Plasse brought forth for the county. Supervisor Ted Novelli also noted that it was also picked up by the California State Association of Counties (CSAC).
Plasse said CSAC “found this Coast to Coast program was more beneficial” and had “now seen fit to change their program.” He said it was “validation of our decision” to enroll in the program.
Supervisor Louis Boitano said CSAC’s former discount program was beneficial because it “picked up the dues of the rest of the counties that participated.”
Plasse presented a check to Virginia Manner, executive director of Amador Lifeline. Manner said the funding “allows 225 people to stay in their homes in Amador County.” It gives them alert buttons to summon fire, medical and police aid, and supports peoples’ independence.
She said the funding also helps Amador Lifeline Community Foundation’s 25 members who pay a small fee and get continued access to groceries, doctors and other services.
Manner thanked supervisors and also her 27 volunteers and allow the program to offer free installation. She said “my goal is $20,000 next year, and it’s a lofty goal, but I got $10,000 this year.”
Manner said her daughter and their friends use the Coast to Coast cards in Lake Tahoe, and she brought sign-up cards for the program. The sign-ups in Amador County can benefit the county programs with royalties anywhere they make drug purchases. Plasse said “53,000 pharmacies nationwide accept this card.”
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