Amador County - Questions were raised at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday over the logic behind the approval of a 7 percent pay raise for Kristin Bengyel, Amador County Health Director, during a time when many county workers have been laid off or taken pay cuts.

Leroy Carlin raised the question during public comment, asking why any raise would be considered “while our economy is still in the dumps.” He criticized the board for making the decision in closed session. “We don’t get a chance to say anything about that because too many things around here are done behind closed doors,” he said.

County Counsel Martha Shaver clarified that the approval was only discussed and no action was yet taken. The approval was originally listed as a closed session item, but Chairman Brian Oneto requested it be put on the regular agenda in order to receive public comment.

Oneto said he “had some heartburn” about approving the raise, and “it wasn’t something that was done happily or easily.”

“I’m not a fan of salary surveys,” said Oneto. “Things change and I don’t think her (pay) necessarily has to be in line with what other counties are paying. But looking at Kristen Bengyel…compared to what other health directors are paid, she’s still underpaid.”

Bengyel was hired two years ago as the Deputy County Administrative Officer. She has since served as Interim Transportation Director and Public Works Director, and now Health Director.

Supervisor Richard Forster also defended his vote to support the raise. “When you take on a huge amount of extra responsibility, there should be some compensation commensurate with that job,” he said.

The raise was approved 3-0. Supervisors John Plasse and Ted Novelli were absent.

Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors spent time Thursday explaining why its means of repaying a $900,000 loan from Amador County was on hold.

Supervisor John Plasse asked what action by the agency placed the Gravity Supply Line on hold, along with a USDA grant and loan.

AWA Board President Bill Condrashoff said they were doing budget work and realized “we don’t have the cash to go forward at this point.”

Plasse said AWA authorized Finance Manager Mike Lee to seek the loan, with its repayment based on the USDA grant, but now board action has put the grant funding in jeopardy, giving him “great pause – and even more pause when you say you want to come to me for more money.” The agency discussion Thursday included looking to get another loan from the county.

The board said the GSL is also on hold due to a Proposition 218 protest of a Central Amador Water District rate increase. The rate increase was part of the GSL financial plan, in support of the loan repayment structure and basis for the USDA loan of $8 million, to supplement the project’s $5 million grant.

Director Terence Moore said “Prop 218 is not the end of the road. We can very well go out with a new rate increase tomorrow.”

The agency board voted 4-1 to direct staff to meet with the county and discuss renegotiation of the loan, and ask the county to consider amending the terms of the Water Development Fund loan repayment, which is due to be paid December 31st. They will also look at details of bank loans.

Vice President Debbie Dunn voted no, saying it was compounding the problem and sending the general manager to the discussion “unarmed.” She thought it was important to approach the discussion knowing the “risk level,” so AWA can “understand financially what this is going to do to us.”

Director Don Cooper said the discussion would simply see if the AWA can renegotiate, or if it needs to seek an outside loan.

Robert Manassero in public comment said “December 31st was never the right date because the recession was here.” He said they should talk to the county and try to “get a loan that would be more reasonable than a six-month loan.” He said the AWA should “not want to burn any bridges with the county.”

Cooper said they owe it to the rate payers to talk to the county and see if there are any changes that can be made that can be beneficial to the county and the agency.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council repealed its medical marijuana zoning ordinances Monday, and heard that it may be able to pass a ban on such facilities within city limits.

Planning Commissioner Robin Peters said the commission’s recommendation in the matter may not have changed, noting legal rulings of late, but it may not have been so strongly worded. Peters said one recommendation was to repeal city code on medical marijuana, and the other was to “make a clear statement regarding prohibition.” He said City Council should “avoid silence,” which could lead people toward seeking applications.  

“If the council doesn’t want medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, it should absolutely say so.”  

He said if they were silent, it will be a mess around these applications for some time.”

Peters also offered to have the planning commission take another look at the issue. The council instead decided to repeal the city ordinances on medical pot zoning, but most said that they preferred a ban.  

Mayor Pro Tem Tim Murphy said medical marijuana dispensaries do not belong in Sutter Creek, and he asked City Attorney Derek Cole if they could add a ban to the ordinance. Cole said it would be a new ordinance, and would have to be referred back to the planning commission.  

Councilwoman Sandy Anderson agreed with Murphy, and said she had not received any calls in support of medical marijuana dispensaries. Rather, it was the opposite, with people telling her they do not want it here. She said her daughter died of cancer and was offered medical marijuana from several sources, but declined the offers. She said anyone saying the availability is an issue is not stating facts.

Councilwoman Linda Rianda said she did not disagree that marijuana may have a medical value, but she did not want such facilities in Sutter Creek. She said “Sacramento has 39 dispensaries, with one as close as 30 miles away,” so “it is near by.” She said patients are also allowed to grow their own. She said the council was not being uncompassionate by repealing the zoning.  

Councilman Pat Crosby said he felt “a dispensary will be an undesirable element of our city.” He believes “it is legal, and we shouldn’t go against state law, but at least now we have some form of control.”

The council approved the repeals on a 4-1 vote, with Crosby against. Robert Allen of Gold Country Harvest spoke in favor of keeping the zoning.

Amador County – The Upcountry Community Council plans to host an Amador Water Agency Board of Directors candidates’ forum October 11^th at the Upcountry Veterans Hall. All seven candidates for three AWA board seats have committed to attend.  

Moderator will be either UCC Chair Lynn Morgan, or Vice Chair Sherry Curtis. Morgan said the forum will give each candidate five minutes to introduce themselves and their platforms. They will then draw a question out of a “grab bag” and have three minutes to answer it. Morgan said there will be seven questions in the bag, and each candidate answers a different question. Each candidate will then be given a five-minute time period to make a closing statement.

Morgan said “if there are issues that candidates want to rebut, the only time they will have to do that is in their five-minute closing statement.” She said they will each answer a different question, “because, frankly, we don’t have that much time. We only have two hours for seven people.” ¶ She said there will be time at the end, possibly only 20 minutes, for a question and answer session. People will be urged to be very concise and brief in their questions.

The forum will be limited to 120 minutes because “that’s how long our meetings are,” Morgan said.

They came up with the questions in a pretty informal way, she said. The September UCC meeting had a relatively low attendance of eight or 10 people, so she put the task to them to develop questions. She said they had to be relevant to agency business, and they modified all of them to make them consistent and clear.  

Curtis said we “want to know what they know” and “if they really understand what’s going on or not.”  

Curtis said at the last meeting, “we all put out questions, rewrote them” so “everybody was involved.”

Morgan said they agreed amongst themselves to not share the questions with candidates. They are “not literally under lock and key,” but UCC members are relying on trust.

She thinks the forum’s process should work well to let the attendees get to know the candidates.  

Morgan said they have commitments from all candidates, including some who thanked her, because they had only had one forum thus far.

Morgan said: “When candidates get a chance to speak like this, I think it’s a good thing.” Morgan said all Amador County residents are invited to attend.  

The forum is 6-8 p.m. Monday, October 11^th at the Veterans Memorial Hall on Buckhorn Ridge Road.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Amador County – Chuck Iley officially became the new County Administrative Officer for Amador County on Monday and subsequently participated in the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.

Iley most recently served as the director of Developmental Services in Clay County, Florida, a community of 185,000 residents.  

The Board of Supervisors said in a release Wednesday that “his responsibilities included managing the operations of the Developmental Services department as well as the development of all Capital Improvement Plan projects, including three bond-funded road widening projects totaling approximately $85 million.”

Iley is also an engineer and an AICP, APA certified planner with a master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Florida and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Miami. He is a registered professional engineer in California and once for Caltrans, overseeing highway and bridge projects.  

According to Board of Supervisors Chairman Brain Oneto, Iley had worked in Clay County for over nine years and “all his references there speak very highly of him.”

Iley’s starting salary was advertised at $132,165, but according to Kristin Bengyel, interim CAO and acting director of Health Services, he will start at $118,949 due to current work week cutbacks agreed upon with union negotiators.

“All input considered, Chuck seems to be a very level-headed, confident individual and I look forward to working with him,” said Supervisor John Plasse shortly after the hiring process concluded.  

In response to the Board’s decision, Iley stated, “I am honored that the Board of Supervisors has placed their confidence in me to assist them in continuing to tackle the important and difficult issues that face the County. I look forward to working with the Board and the staff as we identify ways to continue to improve our service to our residents and address the challenges that lie before us.”

Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council voted 4-1 Monday to repeal three city ordinances that create zoning and other regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries, while the majority voiced a preference to enact a ban in the future.

City Attorney Derek Cole said recent court rulings, including for “compassionate use,” are changing the legal atmosphere.

He said a District 4 Appeals Court ruling in Orange County said that an Anaheim municipal ban on dispensaries was sent back to the city for modification. Cole said the ruling in effect “said state law does not conflict with federal law,” and the “two can coexist.” Cole said it may mean that cities cannot base their law on federal law.

Cole said the “area of law in medical marijuana is changing every day,” and in November, after a statewide initiative on legalizing marijuana is closed at the polls, it could be another change.

He said: “What I say now may not be the same as what I say in six months, or a year.”

Councilwoman Linda Rianda asked if they could prohibit marijuana dispensaries in the city. Cole thought “there is a conflict with federal law, but the only court to rule has said no.” Cole said repealing the city’s three medical marijuana zoning ordinances would make city law “silent” on the issue. Then, if an application for a dispensary came in, the council might have to make a ruling for consistency’s sake.

He said applicants may argue for similar uses in city zoning to determine an allowance for a dispensary.

Planning Commissioner Mike Kirkley said he was the only “no” vote in a 3-1 commission recommendation to repeal the ordinances. Kirkley said if the city cannot have a moratorium, the council should keep the current ordinance.

Commissioner Robin Peters said the commission recommended repeal because attorneys advised them that the ordinance was violating federal law, which now may not matter. He said the commission also recommended the council make clear its stance on the issue.

Cole said he believed the commission and city council had the authority to be silent on the issue, or to also ban marijuana dispensaries with city code. “I believe you still have the policy authority to allow this use or not, even if you cannot rely on federal law,” he said. “So far, public agencies have won up to the appellate court.”

Peters said “in light of what the attorney said, the basis for our recommendation is no longer in place.” He said “if the council chooses to act on this, it should do so without our recommendation.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.