Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi announced last Thursday that he will be making his third bid for the governor’s seat in the upcoming 2010 election. Garamendi, who grew up on his family’s cattle ranch in Mokelumne Hill, entered into State politics when he won a seat on the California State Assembly in 1974. Garamendi first ran for governor 26 years ago but was defeated by Tom Bradely. In an announcement of his candidacy outside the Capitol last Thursday, Garamendi faulted Governor Schwarzenegger for his inability to resolve the State’s budget problems. “California is not a movie set, and gridlock is simply not acceptable,” he said.

Other Democrats said to be considering throwing their hat into the race include San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Attorney General Jerry Brown, who served as governor from 1975-1983, Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange County, and former State Controller Steve Westly, who bid for the seat two years ago but lost the primary election. Republicans said to be contemplating the race include Steve Poizner, who succeeded Garamendi as State Insurance Commissioner in 2007, Tom Campbell, a former congressman from the Bay Area, Meg Whitman, Ebay Executive, and Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard Executive.

Last Wednesday, President Bush signed a bill that is expected to aid about 400,000 US homeowners with shaky loans or those facing foreclosure. H.R. 3221, also called the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, was initially opposed by the President due to the inclusion of government grants in the aid package. Bush later dropped his opposition, and signed the bill Wednesday, a move that supporters are calling the biggest aid recovery package in decades. The bill provides 300 billion dollars in federal guarantees to help homeowners, and will aid mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The bill also earmarks 3.9 billion dollars to assist local governments in purchasing and restoring foreclosed homes.

The bill, which is also being referred to as the “housing bailout bill,” is not just for those homeowners on the verge of foreclosure, as it also will provide some with an option to replace old mortgages with fixed rate terms, and provides breaks and tax incentives for new homeowners and veterans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, “this legislation will help strengthen the housing market and create jobs.” Nationally, Realtors and homebuilders are hoping the new law will initiate a housing market turnaround. Amador County Association of Realtors President Joel Lesch thinks that it “will be more like stopping a leak,” as the number of foreclosures this year is expected to “hit 1.5 million” and the bill only “affects about 10% of the people.” Lesch indicated that the bill would be helpful, and that added together with other aid efforts such as the economic stimulus package, the housing market may recover over time. For a good summary of the bill’s provisions, go to www.Realtor.org and click on “News Media.”

If you were granted three wishes what would they be, and furthermore, how would you go about achieving them? Well Cynthia Turner, owner of Detailed Travel Experts on Main Street in Jackson, is working on figuring out just that equation. She started The Wish Exchange in order to help people in the area to fulfill their needs while providing a network of support in a community oriented forum. The Exchange, which has been up and running for the past month, has already helped one local recipient with education tools for her children, and work related items. In turn, she has gone forward and helped fulfill another individual’s wish.

To enter your wishes and become involved Wish Exchange, boxes are currently located at the Mother Lode Deli, Richard and Sherri Woodcarving, Home Sweet Home, and Jose’s. A form will be available and you will be asked to provide your name, email address, phone number and your three wishes. All of the personal information will be kept confidential. At the end of the month a list will be compiled to include all received wishes, and sent out anonymously to individuals to various members of the community. Items that have been requested to date include used household appliances, clothes for children and adults, and even jobs. According to Cynthia Turner “the list of items literally run the gamut ...a lot of people don’t know where to turn [when they need help].” For more information please call Cynthia Turner at 1-800-570-1280.

Sutter Creek Officials are sprinting to the finish line in order to secure what many purport to be a winning project- the Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort. The Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort package includes an 18 hole golf course, club house, and related facilities, 1,334 single family residences, 300 timeshare units, a 60 room hotel, 20,000 square feet of neighborhood commercial space, a public safety site, and 300 acres of open space. The massive project, which will effectively double the size of Sutter Creek, is proposed for 945 acres adjacent to Ridge Road and Highway 88 bordering the north-western edge of the town. In a joint meeting of the Sutter Creek City Council and Planning Commission Wednesday evening, council members, commissioners, and members of the public reviewed several aspects of the Draft Environmental Impact Report.

Topics of review pertained to the project’s consistency with Sutter Creek’s general plan, the project’s specific plan for development, General Plan amendments that are required by project elements, Zoning Ordinance amendments, and the project’s tentative large lot subdivision map. Project Manager Anders Hauge was under the gun throughout the meeting, leading the discussion on several complicated components of the DEIR. At the beginning of the session, Hauge apologized to the administrators present for being unable to supply all of the pertinent information to them before the meeting, but still welcomed input on the materials that were available. Indeed, time constraints on information dissemination have been a pervasive theme throughout the execution of the project’s fast-paced schedule. Hauge took notes of public officials’ and the public’s comments, which will be incorporated into the Final EIR. Wednesday’s workshop is one of three such meetings; the other two are scheduled for August 13th and August 20th. The DEIR circulation will end on August 29th, which is also the last day to submit comments for the final EIR. On September 15th, the Planning Commission is scheduled to make a recommendation to the City Council regarding project approval. The City Council expects to consider the Certification of the final EIR accompanying project approval in December 2008.

Effective January 2009, Amador County will see an increase in building permit fees for local roads. At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting, the board voted to approve a local-roads traffic mitigation fee of $250 dollars per Average Daily Trip. The fee increase stems from an April 2008 report that cites a need for an increase in local road fees. The new fee constitutes an increase of $233 dollars from the previous fee of $17 dollars per ADT. During the meeting, David Brown of Sierra Pacific Industries addressed the board. He stated that SPI is currently working in seven different Northern California Counties, and that problems with building and funding roads top the list of public works issues for many regional municipalities. Brown cited his company’s difficulties in reconciling provisions for funding improvements, while meeting county service needs. Brown then stated that SPI has offered to hire a traffic engineer to conduct an independent review of the county’s traffic perplexities, in order to supplement the County’s own Nexus Study. Public Works Director Larry Peterson welcomed Brown’s offer to collaborate and coordinate on the significant question of the Commercial and Industrial fees within the traffic mitigation fee structure. The Board then voted to accept the County Traffic Nexus Study, apply the $250 dollar ADT fee, and accept SPI’s offer to research commercial fees and provide the Board with a comparison of other districts.

The Sutter Creek Primary School, located on Broad Street in Sutter Creek, suffered some vandalism this week. At approximately 3:30 AM Sunday morning, a 911 call was made from a neighbor, who reported awakening to the sound of broken glass at the school. The neighbor said she witnessed four male suspects, who looked to be between the ages of 17-22, exiting the school property via a rear parking lot. Officers from the Sutter Creek Police Department and the Amador County Sherriff’s Department responded to the scene, but were unable to locate the suspects. The next morning, a school maintenance worker reported that three windows to one of the classrooms had been shattered by three large rocks. If you have any information on this crime, please contact the Sutter Creek Police Department at 267-5646.

Jackson Elementary School received some new classroom space this week. Thursday afternoon, TSPN’s Kevin Clark was on site to photograph the scene of a police escort accompanying trailers towing three new portable classrooms.The classrooms were then hoisted into place on the Jackson Elementary school grounds using a giant crane, and will be outfitted for use during the fast approaching 2008-2009 school year. Remember Parents: This school year begins in only 2 weeks on August 13th, and runs through June 5th 2009. For more information on Amador County public schools, visit the Amador County Unified School District’s website at www.amadorcoe.org. 

Six Southern California families have filed separate consumer fraud class-action lawsuits against six different manufacturers of baby formula and baby bottles containing Bisphenol A or BPA, a synthetic estrogen used as an ingredient in polycarbonate plastic. BPA, the most widely used synthetic chemical in the plastic’s industry, has come under scrutiny in recent months after studies linked it to potential health problems in humans and animals. Various medical studies and published papers link BPA exposure to a wide variety of health problems, including hormone disruptions, infertility, early puberty, and even cancer. However, the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority have officially declared that BPA is safe for use in plastic food containers.

Regardless, recent studies show that washing baby bottles in hot water and boiling or micro-waving liquid baby formula can activate the release of BPA into the liquid. In addition, cans of liquid baby formula that contain BPA pose an even more significant risk, as the BPA may seep into the formula after prolonged contact. The lawsuits target the companies Avent America, Abbot Laboratories, Evenflo, Gerber, Handi-Craft, and Mead Johnson, and state that the aforementioned manufacturers engaged in unfair, unlawful and fraudulent business practices through false and deceptive advertising and selling products containing BPA that they new to be unsafe. According to the lawsuits, the companies disregarded the potential risks associated with BPA and continued to sell, promote, market and distribute the BPA containing products. Amid the controversy, several baby supply stores have been allowing parents to exchange BPA-containing bottles for BPA free bottles. According to company spokeswoman Jennifer Albano, the baby supply franchise Babies R Us hopes to phase out BPA bottles by the end of the year.

A lengthy and heated dispute over the ongoing Amador County General Plan tied up debate at the Board of Supervisor’s meeting for nearly two hours Tuesday morning. Vince DeStigter, President of local watchdog group Amador Citizens for Responsible Government, reiterated his group’s insistency on having more public forums before the plan progresses into its final stages. Of particular concern to his group seems to be personal property rights, particularly for residents in the upcountry region. “The great majority (in our survey) agreed with our concern that the proposed General Plan could result in “Down Zoning” properties,” said DeStigter. “I think the County goes out of their way to screw property owners,” said one Pioneer resident in the survey conducted through DeStigter’s group.

Jim Conklin, Executive Director of the newly formed Amador Business Council, agreed with DeStigter’s request. “Spending extra time and going through the elements prior to CEQA is going to save you more time and money than it would in reverse,” said Conklin. The debate over the General Plan has been a lengthy and complicated process. Skeptics have placed a particular emphasis on property rights and zoning during past workshops and public forums, often drawing battle lines between themselves and GPAC Planning Commissioners who have overseen the development process. During comment, Planning Director Susan Grijalva faced the Board to try and clarify many areas of the plan that seemed to be leading to public confusion. She noted that the Draft Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, and the proposed General Plan will both be released concurrently for public comment, and that the Planning Commission has every intention of getting full public input before recommending a final plan to the Supervisors.

The EIR will determine or develop some of the draft implementation measures that will influence the General Plan. But, as Supervisor Ted Novelli pointed out, “The general plan doesn’t just address planning, but zoning is totally different that the general plan.” During her turn at the podium, upcountry resident Debbie Dunn came to the defense of Grijalva and the Planning Commissioners. “The GPAC commissioners are members of the public who have endured 18 months of volunteer work…I would encourage the public to hold their own meeting, or have the Amador Citizens (for Responsible Government) hold their own meeting,” she said. In the end, the Supervisors agreed upon a motion to hold a set of public forums on October 14th, 15th and 16th. Said Grijalva, “We’re not in a rush to get this done. We’re trying to get it done right.”

Roseanne Chamberlain, the Executive Director of LAFCO, presented the county-wide Municipal Services Review to the Jackson City Council at their meeting Monday evening. The report, which is currently in its final stages, is a state required study of services including fire protection, water, and wastewater, law enforcement, roadway, drainage, cemetery maintenance, and resource conservation services provided by local agencies. The report also focuses extensively on growth and development in the county, including population, job growth and future development. At the conclusion of her presentation, Roseanne Chamberlain thanked the council for their “support of the MSR, [particularly] in the way of funding.”