Former Amador County Supervisor and recent Calaveras Community Development Director Stephanie Moreno has been pushed to resign amid allegations of misconduct and creating gridlock in her department. The controversy became the centerpiece of recent Supervisors meetings and raised questions about both the Board’s hiring procedures and Moreno’s credibility. Moreno, who was employed in Amador County under her previous name of D’Agostino, was criticized in a recent grand jury report for “confrontational behavior”, “lacking the technical skills and sufficient related experience to successfully perform her job”, and mismanaging county funds, among a number of other accusations.

County Administrative Officer Bob Lawton this afternoon announced that Moreno was resigning from her 118,000 dollar a year job effective August 1st. The grand jury’s findings divided the Calaveras Supervisors through heated arguments in recent board meetings. Supervisor Tom Tryon has accused three other Supervisors of conspiring to protect Moreno and holding a calculated opposition against the grand jury. “They weren't interested in fact finding, they were interested in undoing the grand jury report,” Tryon said. Supervisor Wilensky has fired back with references to Tryon’s continued opposition to hiring Moreno. In the end, the Board voted 4 to 1 to accept Moreno’s resignation during a special meeting late Friday, with Supervisor Tryon opposed. Moreno’s resignation comes after years of complaints from builders and contractors who say she continually stood in the way of them doing their job.

A new bill passed by the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations would provide funding for major educational expansion in Amador County. The bill contains 250,000 dollars, requested by Senator Feinstein, for the College Preparation Initiative to provide educational programming for Amador County. The request was also strongly supported by Senator Barbara Boxer, who has previously assisted with efforts to enhance the community college presence in Amador County. The bill is awaiting final Senate action.

The County, Los Rios Community College District, Amador Unified School District and the Amador Community College Foundation have been working collaboratively with the County's congressional delegation office to encourage federal participation. According to Amador County Administrative Officer Terri Daly "This appropriation would provide a significant shot-in-the-arm to the ongoing and long term process of establishing a community college presence in Amador County." Daly has also been working closely with the Amador Community College Foundation on public outreach and encouraging local and regional support.

Foundation president and former Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Richard Vinson stated, "Senator Feinstein recognizes the importance of higher education opportunities for California's rural communities and has long been supportive of Amador County's educational initiative. We are grateful for the leadership and involvement of Senators Feinstein and Boxer and their professional staff on this issue of great importance to our region." The Amador Community College Foundation and Amador County are urging residents to enroll in the currently offered classes. According to Daly, establishing a community college presence offers the opportunity for higher education and training that will increase local labor force skills and attract diversified businesses to the county.

Amador County Recreation Agency Director Tracey Towner-Yep presented an annual report and request for funding to the Board of Supervisors during Tuesday’s meeting. The fast-growing local agency has been prolific in its efforts to provide parkland and recreation opportunities for the citizens of Amador to enjoy. An enthusiastic Towner-Yep presented the agency’s accomplishments through a power point presentation. “You’re the lion’s share of our membership contributions,” she said in reference to the Supervisors. “As our budget grows, it’s on me and our agency to garner funds from other places, but I’ve never been more willing to ask anybody for money in my life until after I got this job,” she said.

ACRA came to fruition in 2004 after years of banter between County officials and staff over the need for an agency that would control and regulate the county’s recreation services. Since 2004, ACRA has grown rapidly, acquiring more than 100 acres of parkland, including the recent acquisition of Mollie Joyce Park in Pine Grove. Tuesday’s request to the Board of Supervisors was to cover the funding for all the unincorporated areas of the county, or 64 percent. As outlined in the proposal, the rest of the funds will come from each of Amador County’s cities and will equal out to about 5 dollars per person. Towner-Yep was quick to point out that “since 2003 until now we have gone after more and more outside funding so we aren’t completely tied to (the Board’s) membership contributions.” Towner-Yep says the funds will go towards expanding ACRA’s services to the community and maintaining full-time and part-time staff members. The Board was equally enthusiastic and receptive to Towner-Yep’s proposal. But Supervisor Forster warned Towner-Yep against expanding the agency too fast and “empire building.” Towner-Yep heeded his suggestion. The proposal to approve funding for ACRA for the upcoming fiscal year was approved unanimously by the Board members.

Monday night marked the official opening of the long-awaited Sutter Creek “Gateway” project at the corner of old Highway 49 and the 49 bypass in Sutter Creek. A number of officials involved in the project were in attendance, including Sutter Creek city council members, Amador City Mayor Richard Lynch, Caltrans District 10 Director Kome Ajise, Supervisor Louis Boitano and representatives from the Amador County Transportation Commission, or ACTC.

According to ACTC Executive Director Charles Field, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was a modest and informal celebration of the hard work and investment that led to the project’s completion. “All of these projects that involve federal funds can sometimes be very complicated and hard to complete,” said Field. Indeed, Sutter Creek business representatives had first asked for a redesign of the grassy corner lot back in 1994 in order to make the gateway to the town more welcoming.

ACTC was granted money from the federal government and in turn awarded those funds to Sutter Creek and Amador City to create attractive signage that now bookends the 49 bypass. “In the past, a lot of people driving just missed Sutter Creek,” said Field. ACTC, Caltrans, Sutter Creek and Amador City all worked together to manage and implement the project design. So far, feedback over the project design has generally been positive. Field says there is a possibility that the lettering could be changed to a different color so the city titles are more visible from the road, but that is tentative.

A vehicle fire last Friday stalled traffic on Highway 88 in both directions while fire personnel extinguished the blaze. TSPN’s contributing photographer was on the scene to bring you these photographs. A pickup truck traveling east on Highway 88 began leaking fluid and then burst into flames. The driver was able to safely stop the vehicle and get out while a CHP officer who spotted the flames as he passed by quickly began to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher. Amador fire arrived shortly thereafter and began to pour large quantities of water on what had become a gas fire. Traffic was backed up for about three quarters of a mile during the Friday “crush” while emergency personnel made sure the scene was secure. Fire investigators blamed the blaze on a gas leak. No one was hurt during the incident.

Amador County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, has finalized the county’s Municipal Services Review, or MSR. Copies of that document are now available to the public. You can either pick up a free CD at the Planning Department counter at 810 Court Street in Jackson, or if you would like a printed color copy, they are available in binder form, but due to the high cost of printing and the large size of the document, the cost is 48 dollars. You can also download the document for free at www.co.amador.ca.us/lafco/. Due to a government legislative mandate,

LAFCO must review and update the county’s sphere of influence not less than once every five years. As part of that process, the commission must conduct an MSR, which provides detailed information on the county’s municipal services. Specifically, the review includes information on Amador’s residential and commercial growth and development, employment growth, fire and EMS providers, and water and wastewater services. Roseanne Chamberlain, Executive Officer of LAFCO, calls the MSR “an encyclopedia of local government agencies in Amador County.” The commission will hold a public hearing on the document at their next meeting on July 31st at 7PM at 810 Court Street, in the Board of Supervisors Chambers.

The El Dorado Irrigation District began the massive undertaking of drawing down Caples Lake last weekend to prepare for the replacement of deteriorated outlet works at the Caples Lake Main dam on Highway 88. Caples Lake is adjacent to Kirkwood near the northernmost region of Amador County and is a popular recreation area for Amador County residents. The District emphasizes that the dam structure itself is safe. However, the outlet works were recently found to be in unsound condition and must be replaced. The drawdown will cause higher-than-usual water flows for this time of year in Caples Creek and the Silver Fork of the American River, located in the Eldorado National Forest between Highway 50 and Highway 88. The flows are expected to remain unusually high through mid-September. During this time, the District warns that it is hazardous to be in or near the two streams and advises the visitors to camp on high ground away from the stream edge and avoid entering or crossing the stream.

The District is coordinating with the U.S. Forest Service to post signs at trailheads, in parking areas, and at campgrounds to alert visitors to the extremely higher water flows. On July 1, the District’s Board of Directors declared an emergency after an underwater investigation at Caples Lake revealed problems with two slide gates, located in a well-like shaft within the dam. Of particular concern is the lower gate that is about 64 feet under water when the lake is full. Late last week, District staff located a manufacturer who can furnish the replacement parts. The lake must be drawn down for the replacement work to proceed. Caples Lake is part of Project 184, the hydroelectric power generation system that the District acquired from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 1999.

Cooler temperatures and higher humidity around the state allowed firefighters to continue chipping away at dozens of wildfires Monday. The favorable weekend weather led to considerable progress in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, where a wildfire that was threatening Junction City reached about 56 percent containment. Mandatory evacuation orders, however, remained for parts of the rural town for a fourth day. The month-old fire has charred about 89 square miles. "They're gaining ground on it, and with the weather cooperating, they're able to do burnout operations within the fire to remove hazardous fuels," said Tom McCampbell, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

Only 33 fires remained active around the state Monday, down from 2,010 that have charred nearly 1,480 square miles since a massive lightning storm ignited hundreds of blazes across Northern California last month. State officials have called the cluster of fires since June 21 the largest fire event in California history. A handful of residents also are still affected by evacuation orders in Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino counties. Authorities say most of California's remaining fires are on remote federal forest lands and pose little threat to homes. Near the coast, a deep marine layer and backfires helped crews in their battle against a wildfire that previously had threatened thousands of homes in the Los Padres National Forest around Big Sur. That blaze was 70 percent contained after burning about 209 square miles and 27 homes.