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Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council reorganized its city administrators Monday, placing Police Chief and City Manager Rob Duke into a full-time chief position, and appointing Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe as interim city manager. Duke recommended the reorganization, saying the council should appoint Rabe as his successor on an interim basis for 4 months, after which they could assess his job performance and decide if they want to offer him the full time post. The council’s personnel committee of Councilwoman Linda Rianda and Mayor Pro Tempore Tim Murphy will look at possible layoffs and contracting city jobs. The committee will look at contracts and whether they want to go the private sector route of having “at will” and non-union employees, as described by City Auditor Ralph Marcello, who said it is a solution being used by cities throughout the state to correct budget problems. Murphy said the council has been in the process of looking at having contract employees, and part of that was looking at contracting with Sheriff Martin Ryan to handle police duties in the city. The sheriff’s presentation to the council in April included costs to handle city law enforcement, which Murphy said were not well received. The committee also must look at the city’s financial system. It must also talk with the unions and see about contracting. He said he thought it was best for the council to make a reorganizing move on the 2 positions they know they will be changing, Duke’s and Rabe’s positions. Duke in a report said the council’s “2009-2010 Work Plan” was created to improve the city’s financial conditions. He said the current budget was approved with the council’s “commitment to pursue operational efficiencies throughout the city including” a “potential outsourcing of various city services.” Duke said the first part of the administrative reorganization would be separation of the dual role of the city manager/chief of police, whose “duties have been combined into a single position for the past 10 years.” The assistant city manager position was created to assist the workload of the manager/chief post. He recommended combining the assistant and manager post to one city manager position. He recommended a 4-month interim position for Rabe as city manager, and then the council could evaluate Rabe’s performance and decide whether or not to offer him the full time position. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Local

Wednesday, 19 May 2010 02:52

Bera Out Raises Lungren Four Consecutive Quarters

Amador County - Dr. Ami Bera is proving to be a formidable opponent in the 3rd District Congressional race after announcing Sunday that he has successfully out raised Republican incumbent Dan Lungren for the fourth consecutive quarter. Lucinda Guinn, Bera’s campaign manager, announced Sunday that the Elk Grove resident finished the first quarter of 2010 with over $977,000 cash on hand, after raising $384,511 in the first quarter of 2010. Bera has raised $1.25 million to date. Bera’s fundraising figures have garnered national attention because they make him the only California challenger who has raised more than the incumbent in a House race. Lungren reportedly raised $219,955 and finished the quarter with $649,991 cash on hand, giving Bera a $327,400 cash advantage as they head into election season. “I’m deeply humbled by the outpouring of support our campaign has received. It's clear that people are concerned about the things we’ve been talking about – creating good jobs, and improving our schools and making health insurance more affordable,” said Bera in a release, adding: “With the hundreds of people that have already signed up to help our campaign, I’m certain we will have the strength and energy this region needs to bring that voice to Congress.” A spokesman for the Lungren campaign told the Stockton Record that Bera’s announcement is “grossly misleading.” Rob Stutzman, Lungren’s campaign consultant, disputes Bera’s claim of “amassing resources from low dollar donors and a strong grassroots operation” because he says it suggests Bera’s support comes mainly from the district. Nearly half of Bera’s financial support so far has come from the East Indian immigrant community, including at least 25 donors who share his last name. Guinn’s announcement says “over 729 individuals have contributed to his campaign this quarter – almost 500 of those supporters gave less than $200.” She adds that “almost 80 percent of those individual contributors are Californians and more than 61 percent are from the greater Sacramento region.” Bera, 45, is a lifelong Californian and the former chief medical officer of Sacramento. He and his wife, Dr. Janine Bera, have been residents of Elk Grove for over 15 years and have a 12-year old daughter. Congressman Dan Lungren is a 31-year political figure best known for his time as California Attorney General from 1991 to 1999. He has represented the 3rd Congressional District since 2005. Bera and Lungren are unopposed in the June primary and will square off in the November general election. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in National

Wednesday, 19 May 2010 02:51

Supes Approve Consolidation of Regional Child Support Agencies

Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors reviewed and approved three regular agenda items Tuesday, with the most discussion relative to a proposed consolidaiton of Tuolumne County Department of Child Support Services with the Central Sierra Child Support Agency Joint Powers Authority. Catherine Giannini, Executive Director of the Central Sierra Child Support Agency, said the consolidation will allow her agency to stay within it’s state allocaiton of funds and “remain finacially conservative.” Supervisors Louis Boitano said the move is intended to supercede any state action to consolidate department’s as a way to alleviate the state budget deficit. “If we consolidate with Tuolumne County now and go up a category into a defined smaller agency, according to state standards, it improves the chances that state money will be there for us that wouldn’t be if they forced us to consolidate,” said Boitano. Giannini said her agency’s Board of Directors, which consists of Supervisors from Amador, Calaveras and Alpine counties, agreed to the deal only if Adele Hendrickson, Executive Director for Tuolumne County, take over as head of the consolidated departments. This would occur after Giannini’s retirmenet later this year. Hendrickson will reoportedly split 50 percent of her time between Tuolumne County and sites in Amador, Alpine and Calaveras. The Board approved of the consolidation 4-1, with Supervisor Ted Novelli against. The agreement will be discussed by the Central Joint Powers Authority Board this Friday, where they will negotiate details. The agreement then must be approved by the Board of Supervisors in each county. Also during the meeting, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved to replace the annual audit with a finacial review for the Pine Acres Community Services District, and approved propoerty located at Highway 88 and West Clinton Road for compliance with the California Land Conservation Act in order to receive Williamson Act funding. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Local

Wednesday, 19 May 2010 02:48

GSL Loan Obligates CAWP Customers in AWA

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board discussed obligations for a $900,000 loan it approved last week to help balance cash flow in the agency. Director Terence Moore said staff and the board have been working for 3 months on the expected cash shortage, as May 15th neared, the date for the third payment on the Amador Transmission Pipeline. Finance Manager Mike Lee said the payments have been getting larger and this is the maximum payment the agency will have to make. The loan from the Amador County “Water Development Fund” will pay for Gravity Supply Line “sunk costs,” and free up cash for the bond payment. President Bill Condrashoff said the loan “obligates all AWA customers as a whole,” and could lead to a levy on all properties in the district. Finance Manager Mike Lee said the Central Amador Water Project wholesale system is getting the loan, and will have to pay it back. AWA Attorney Steve Kronick said “the loan is for the benefit of CAWP,” so its customers must repay it. District 3 Director Don Cooper said a 2001 agreement obligates CAWP, but he also gets “a little uncomfortable separating a county organization from the Amador Water System,” because there were systems within the AWA organization that will never be able to pay all of such project costs. Condrashoff said they must repay the loan by raising rates in CAWP, for which the board recently approved preparing notices. CAWP rates have not changed since 2006, and the loan will repay sunk costs of $1 million spent on the Gravity Supply Line, which included reserve fund loans from the Amador Water System. Condrashoff said “this is a potential catastrophe for this agency.” Kronick said the agency has the authority to tax its customers to repay the loan, if needed, but it would require a two-thirds election of all affected properties,’ and “that would only occur if the agency did not make payment.” He said it would not be a county-wide tax, and would not be an issue until after the first of the year. The loan must be repaid by December 31st, and the agency expects to get revenue sufficient to make the repayment in the next 3 months of June, July and August, when water usage is typically the highest. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in Water

Monday, 17 May 2010 06:16

AWA Seeks $900K Loan From Amador County

Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors Thursday approved seeking up to $900,000 in a loan from Amador County to pay money spent on the Gravity Supply Line. The loan will also free up cash to help the agency make a payment on the Amador Transmission Pipeline debt service, which will be more than $1 million. Based on a budget forecast, the board expects to be able to repay the loan in 3 months, but it must be repaid by December, as directed by the board in a vote April 30th. The board approved seeking the loan from the county Water Development Fund, and authorized General Manger Gene Mancebo to sign an agreement approved by supervisors. AWA approved it 4-1 with President Bill Condrashoff dissenting, saying he did not want to put AWS customers in potential debt if the agency does not get a USDA loan for the Gravity Supply Line project. The loan will pay back a debt of the Central Amador Water Project system, which took loans from the Amador Water System in paying for work on the GSL. Vice President Debbie Dunn said the CAWP loan should have been “memorialized,” like other internal loans similarly handled by the board at its last meeting. Condrashoff said CAWP had funds in reserve when it was given an AWS loan, and then earned interest on those funds. Finance Manager Mike Lee said CAWP spent $1 million on the GSL, and in the accounting, he showed CAWP had a $470,000 reserve and borrowed $640,000. He said any system or account “will get its proportional interest based on the total,” when the agency does “the interest allocation.” He said systems with negative cash have never been penalized. Part of the motion was to stop spending on the GSL until the agency knows it will get USDA grant and loan funds for the project. Mancebo said to get reimbursed for GSL sunk costs, the USDA wants to know the final bid amount for construction costs. And he estimated that the USDA will require the agency to have possession of right-of-ways. Mancebo said it was “crystal clear” that memorializing the CAWP loan has to happen, and they need to go back and look and “get to the bottom of reserve funds and what was used, where.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published in News Archive