Amador County – At least one hundred members of the California School Employees Association, or CSEA, packed into the School board meeting to protest proposed layoffs within the Amador Unified School District. Under the proposal, Superintendent Dick Glock recommended the board vote to terminate eleven workers in the maintenance department. Eleven employees would be fired effective March 30, 2009, including nine maintenance and grounds workers, and two maintenance department clerical workers. Glock had announced to the union that he will rewrite job descriptions and give the positions new titles. Workers hired into the “new” jobs will reportedly do the same work as the fired workers, but at only 75 percent of the current pay. He said laid off workers would be allowed to apply for the “new” jobs, but will not be guaranteed they will be hired. CSEA maintains Glock’s plan violates the union contract and state law. The union gathered support for the protest during an emergency meeting Monday. During public comment Wednesday, union members made emotional pleas for the board to consider other options before rendering their decision. “In today’s economy, laying more people off isn’t the answer,” said Kelly Banyon, a union member and friend of one of the eleven maintenance workers on the list. Rose Roach, Field Director for CSEA Modesto Chapter 7, cautioned the Board to carefully consider the legal ramifications of such a decision. “We will do everything in our power to make sure our members are protected from any unfair, unequal treatment,” she said. The union maintains the proposal violates a number of existing laws, including the retitling of job positions, breach of contract, and the reassignment of employees from existing classifications to different or newly created classifications. “This battle is all of us together trying to save public education as we know it,” she said. Dennis Nelson, self described as “one of the workers on that list”, said he hoped there were other ways to discuss cutting costs. “I live in this community and have kids who grew up here,” he said. Randy Bayne, who is head of the Amador Democratic Central Committee and husband to CSEA Labor Representative Marcie Bayne, said “the decision to layoff is not negotiable, but the effects of the layoff are negotiable.” After an hour of closed session discussion, the Board reappeared and announced that they took no action on the decision and will continue the discussion in upcoming meetings. Story by Alex Lane

Amador County – American River Bankshares, the parent company of local stalwart the Bank of Amador, has announced it will not participate in the federal government bailout program. The company qualified to participate in the U.S. Department of Treasury Capital Purchase Program after receiving approval to participate in the program in November 2008. American River Bankshares applied for and was approved for a $6 million capital investment. “After careful review of the agreements and related documents, American River Bankshares' Board of Directors has decided that it is in the best interest of our Company and its shareholders not to participate,” said David Taber, President and CEO of American River Bankshares. He continued, “American River Bank is well capitalized and we believe that the potential ramifications of participating in the program outweigh the benefits.” Bank of Amador Financial Director Wayne Garibaldi said in an exclusive TSPN interview that “the bank is strong and safe...and not going to take any of the bailout or tarp money, which is always a good sign.” He said he was “proud” to report that the bank was profitable in its latest report. This was not as much as the previous year, but profits were still up approximately 90 percent. In a separate press release issued Thursday, American River Bankshares reported its fourth quarter 2008 financial results, marking its 100th consecutive profitable quarter. As of December 31, 2008, the Company's profits exceeded $7.5 million and had over $63 million in capital. Story by Alex Lane

Amador County - The United States Department of Agriculture has finalized approval of a $267 million loan to provide broadband service to 518 rural communities in 17 states. Colorado-based Open Range Communications made the agreement with USDA Rural Development. In addition, Open Range has secured $100 million in financing from a private equity arm of the JP Morgan Chase Company. Largely rural county’s like Amador will see a portion of the funding. Although recent efforts have improved the breadth of broadband coverage, approximately 25 percent of Amador County currently has no high-speed broadband access. Currently, our region has about 45 percent coverage. Back in March of 2008, the Amador County Board of Supervisors supported an ongoing plan to use state technology grants to expand broadband connections across a five-county Central Sierra region. Michelle Shelton, information and assistance projects manager for the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency, warned at that time that the region was falling quickly behind the global market. Open Range will use Wi-Max technology to offer wireless broadband service and satellite services, enabling rural residents to connect to the internet almost anywhere in the country. Details over when the plan will be implemented are still being discussed. Story by Alex Lane

Amador County - The Jackson City Council approved a motion Monday night to raise water and sewer rates. Beginning in September of 2007, a water and sewer committee composed of members from the community and Jackson government discussed how rates were being adjusted and whether they were proportional to costs being passed on to the city as a wholesale water purchaser. Jackson purchases its water wholesale from the Amador Water Agency. The committee concluded that in order to stay in the black, rates would have to go up and costs would be passed on to the consumer. “It’s never exciting to have to raise rates, but we have always tried to keep them as low as possible,” said City manager Mike Daly. Water rates will go up 14 percent. Wastewater compliance efforts with the Department of Fish and Game have put the city in an operating deficit. As a result, wastewater costs will go up 16 percent. Both these rate adjustments are an average increase of $3.82 a month. February 1st marks the beginning of the next billing cycle and the increase. Amador Water Agency Board member Bill Condrashoff was in attendance and spoke during public comment. “ He said the new board will “keep it out of the double digit increases we’ve seen for the last couple years,” adding “keep your fingers crossed, we might be able to stop the bleeding.” “We’re hoping water agencies can get some of these grants that President Obama is trying hard to push through,” he said. An elderly resident of the Rollingwood park community voiced the sole public opposition to the increase, saying that many of the fixed income seniors who live there are already facing high fees they can’t afford. The City Council approved the rate increases 4 to 1, with Councilmember Marilyn Lewis opposed “on behalf of the residents of Rollingwood.” Story by Alex Lane

Amador County - Saturday at noon over 1,000 community folks turned out at the Prospect Motors Dealership to show their support at the ‘Save the Community’ Rally. The goal was to send a message to GM and GMAC that Amador County’s largest dealership needs to re-open for business here in the county. The spirit of the community was evident with supporters of all ages waiving banners, signs and American Flags. Speeches by local leaders, elected officials along with owners Frank and Lori Halvorson garnered cheers and applause. The closure of the dealership has created a huge void, the impact is tremendous: over 80 employees lost their jobs, local GM parts and warrantee service gone, city and county tax revenue gone, local vendors business from the dealership gone and the philanthropic generosity of the Halvorson Family to the numerous youth and community organizations is gone. The Rally was a great success; GM & GMAC heard the message loud and clear. ‘Save Our Community’ Kudos to the Amador County community, just like family, they were there, once again, for one of their own in need. See full coverage of the Rally here on TSPN. Show, times and dates will be posted on the TSPN website. Amador County needs to continue the fight. You can help by Emailing or writing a letter to GM and GMAC along with your elected local, state and federal officials. That the community needs Prospect Motors to re-open and service this community. Do the Right Thing GM. Story by Sue Slivick

Amador County - Amador Ledger Dispatch Publisher Jack Mitchell proposed a resolution of support for the resuscitation of Prospect Motors before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “As long as we have this opportunity to save a major contributor to our tax base, we should take it,” Mitchell said. Mitchell also organized and hosted a rally meeting Monday night designed to coordinate various local agencies and gather thoughts on how to save the 33-year-old local dealership. Over 80 people attended. Prospect Motors closed its doors five days before Christmas after GMAC Financial Services pulled its inventory. The dealership is well-known as a generous contributor within the community, and has generated a large portion of the city and county tax bases. The ripple effect of the closure could be significant. Owner Frank Halverson reluctantly told his 80 employees that he was closing and issued their final paychecks. “How do we get Detroit to look over at Amador County and realize who we are?” asked Mitchell. He also encouraged the Supervisors to attend a rally set for this Saturday, January 10 at noon in the Prospect Motors parking lot. “The (Halverson family) has done nothing but give back to this community,” said Supervisor Ted Novelli. The Supervisors expressed unanimous support for the rally and Mitchell’s intentions thus far, and agreed to include an official resolution of support on next week’s agenda. Story by Alex Lane

Amador County - The driver of a white Dodge pickup that crashed last Thursday night apparently fled the scene on foot, according to police reports. According to CHP reports, a young girl calling from a cell phone reported that she and her father had crashed approximately 3 miles North of Plymouth in a field, but she was unsure of the exact location. Witnesses at the scene said that the male driver and the young girl climbed an embankment and headed into the woods near the roadway. When fire and CHP arrived, they could not be located. CHP at the scene indicated that alcohol may have been a factor due to the presence of open containers. They stated that the truck was registered to an address in the Sacramento area. CHP are still investigating. Story by Bill Lavallie and Alex Lane. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Ione City Council on Tuesday will consider approval of a 119,000-dollar contract for city union employees over the next 2-and-a-half years. City Manager Kim Kerr will present a report on negotiations with city staff and the Service Employees International Union Local Number 1021, with the numbers and a list of negotiated terms. The contract includes salaries and raises of employees over the next 2-and-a-half fiscal years, with the salaries totaling 46,558 dollars and raises between 29,000 and 73,000 dollars. The raises are based on the federal Cost Of Living Adjustment and cannot fall below 2 percent or rise higher that 5 percent. Raises in this fiscal year would take effect January 1st, 2009 at a cost of 4,867 dollars. Raises in fiscal year 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 both occur on July 1st of each lead year. In 2009-2010, raises in the contract could cost between 14,224 and 35,561 dollars. In 2010-2011, raises could cost between 14,645 and 37,684 dollars. The total cost of the 3-year contract, counting this fiscal year, is between 75,000 and 119,000 dollars. Kerr in a report recommended the council authorize the her to finalize the MOU with SEIU to incorporate the changes and finalize other revisions to the language, then sign the final version of the MOU upon completion of revisions. Kerr said the “negotiations took time to complete” due to a Total Compensation Study presented to the City Council. In the report to Mayor Andrea Bonham and the council, Kerr said the “City Council can elect not to approve this agreement and request that City negotiators go back and negotiate more with SEIU.” She said that was “not recommended at this time due to the on-going negotiations that have been shared with the City Council during Closed Session and how SEIU and the City negotiators arrived at this agreement.” Kerr said “Unfortunately, the MOU has expired and we need to address the issues raised by staff and to be competitive with our employees even during difficult financial times.” Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to defer its upcoming July equalization pay raise for one year. The vote amended a county ordinance passed in 2005 that went into effect in 2006, in tying supervisors’ salaries to that of county judges. That is an annual raise that increases supervisors’ salaries up to equal 40 percent of the salaries of Amador County Superior Court Judges. The 5 percent raise would have taken effect July 1st, but the amendment changed the ordinance to take effect July 1st, 2010. Chairman Ted Novelli said the ordinance remains the same except for the date. This year, the hike would have been a 5 percent raise to make current salaries equal 40 percent of judge salaries. The ordinance says that each July 1st, supervisors shall receive “an amount equal to 40 percent of the Amador County superior court judge’s monthly pay.” It says “Such salary shall be prorated for the first and last month of his or her term. Each year thereafter, the board of supervisors’ annual rate of compensation shall be adjusted on July 1st … to an amount that is 40 percent of the Amador County superior court judge’s salary in effect on July 1st of the same year.” Next July, the supervisors’ salaries will be raised by the ordinance to again equal 40 percent of judges’ salaries. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County - The Jackson Valley Irrigation District General District Election is scheduled for August 25, 2009 for the purpose of electing two directors. Candidates must be owners of real property within the District. Such owners need not be residents of the District. The nomination period opens May 4, 2009 and closes at 5:00 p.m. on May 29, 2009. Between these dates nomination papers will be available and can be obtained from the Elections Department, 810 Court St., Jackson CA. Further information may be obtained by contacting the Election Department at (209) 223-6465. Staff Report This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.