Amador County – Facing a potential $3.8 million budget deficit, Amador County Board of Supervisors opened a budget workshop Tuesday afternoon with discussions of potentially getting relief with changes in public works spending on roads and buildings.

Supervisors heard from Sheriff Martin Ryan, who said his department could meet the cuts needed by cutting two sheriff’s deputy vacancies that remain empty. He said it would be a $176,000 reduction and would affect 23 percent of patrolling operations. He said he would like to keep the vacancies open for the rest of the year as another option, because it will be difficult to get the positions back.

County Administrative Officer Chuck Iley said assessments were down 2 percent in the budget, from reduced values. He said: “There’s going to be one big reassessment this year,” the Sutter Gold Mining Company’s mines and properties. The rest are expected to be down 2 percent.

Ryan said one concern is always staffing numbers. He said the Amador County Sheriff’s Department normally has three cars on patrol but sometimes has two on duty.

Supervisor Vice Chairman Richard Forster asked about retirement. Undersheriff Jim Wegner said in 5-6 years it was possible they would see a complete change in the experience, tenure and layout of the department.

Ryan said patrol boat costs at Camanche are $118,000. Supervisor Ted Novelli asked if East Bay Municipal Utility District has ever been asked for a grant to help with vehicles. Ryan said it has never been requested under his tenure. He said East Bay’s deputy has access to the Amador Sheriff’s boat when needed.

Forster asked why vehicles were not listed as assets on the sheriff’s department’s budget. Iley said vehicle costs list as General Services asset, and also county travel.

Forster asked about costs being proportionally higher because of the casino. Ryan said it is hard to track, but he met Monday April 30 with CEO Rich Hoffman of the Jackson Rancheria Casino. Ryan said the money that the Rancheria gives the sheriff’s department is completely voluntary and not part of a compact.

The tribe has given the Sheriff’s department $247,000 a year, voluntarily, since 2006. Ryan said the funds pay for two deputies and the lease, maintenance and gasoline of a vehicle. He said obviously costs are going up, and the jail impacts, shown in the daily jail booking rates, and fees are about $80,000 short. Ryan said he is confident that number is going to go up.

Forster said the tribe likes to see the numbers that can show impact. Ryan said he will see what he can justify with the hard data. He did “not see it impacting the number of bodies we need on the street.”

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

Amador County – Amador County Supervisors last week discussed pending litigation in the state Legislature.

Supervisor Vice Chairman Richard Forster reported from a recent board meeting of the Regional Council of Rural Counties, now known as the Rural County Representatives of California.

Forster said RCRC discussed legislation that is bad for rural counties. He said AB2345 to create a “California Fairs Network Commission” was seeking to transition away from state money for fairs. Forster said Amador County Fair CEO Troy Bowers told him “this is already off the table,” and instead, there is a move to put county fairs under the auspices of the California State Fair system.

The Western Fairs Association and California Fairs Alliance were backing Senate Bill 1454, by Senator Doug LaMalfa. WFA reported that LaMalfa’s “bill authorizes the creation of an eight-character personalized license plate and directs the proceeds from the additional fees paid for these plates to California fairs, state parks and the Williamson Act.” The bill passed the Senate Transportation Committee April 27 and is headed to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

RCRC also opposed AB1897 “Land Use: General Plan: Healthy Food Element” bill which bill “would require the addition of a new ‘healthy food’ element” to city or county “General Plans” to “increase access to healthy affordable food,” according to RCRC legislative advocate, Kathy Mannion, who wrote: “While RCRC certainly supports access to healthy affordable food, RCRC must oppose the addition of a healthy food element as a required element of the General Plan.” She said the bill goes “well beyond what the General Plan is designed to do,” would be expensive, and “the issue is best dealt with by other means.”

RCRC also opposed Sen. Christine Kehoe’s SB1241 to require that counties amend their “general plan safety element requirements for State Responsibility Areas and very high fire hazard severity zones.” It also attempts to extend state environmental law to apply to State Responsibility Areas (SRAs).

Forster said Kehoe has been “putting together bad language on SRAs” for years, including some that was vetoed. He said it is “not real good for the counties with SRAs.”

Supervisor Ted Novelli said at a recent California State Fire Association district meeting in Napa, he heard that if the Governor gets his way with SRA fees, some money would go back to fire districts, though the speaker did not know to which department it would go.

Supervisor John Plasse said it could be given to Cal-Fire; and Forster said it could be given to Fire Safe Councils. He said the State Fire Safe Council supported the SRA fire fees, but local councils did not. ¶ Forster said some former county supervisors are making legislation that is harmful to cities and counties. Plasse said he had a petition in his office to go to a part-time Legislature.

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

Amador County – During an Amador County budget discussion Tuesday, The Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff discussed areas of potential reduction, management and comparing the department to other counties.

Supervisor John Plasse said back when Teri Daly was County Administrative Officer, Amador County Sheriff’s Department was seen as kind of a training ground, and experienced deputies would leave for other counties. He said Daly did a study of deputy payrolls and compensation rates, comparing other counties to boost local salaries. Plasse asked if they should not also compare management and operation costs with other counties.

Sheriff Martin Ryan agreed, but said it may be hard to compare. Supervisor Brian Oneto said Calaveras County has one incorporated town, while Amador has three cities, each with its own police department.

Ryan said it was not what we want but what we need. He said: “I am not an empire builder” and he is comfortable with where we are and wouldn’t be comfortable with a reduction of oversight.

Oneto asked if Ryan had considered a reduction in upper management. Ryan said his department was pretty streamlined and he wouldn’t ask for a reduction in management.

Supervisor Ted Novelli said “your upper management does jump in the ditches.” Oneto said the sheriff’s department has the big dollars, but the road department is also important to public safety, and when roads are not made correctly, lives are in danger. Ryan said deputies take away civil liberties in arrests and carry deadly weapons which they have used, and he did not want to take away the important oversight his management has.

Forster said he was surprised to see Undersheriff Jim Wegner making a field call in his district. Ryan said on Monday, April 30, Wegner was part of the Willow Springs shooting response. Wegner said he was headed home and came back to help because he knew they were short-handed.

Ryan said shots were fired, a man was down and two deputies responded where seven people also arrived in two vehicles. When the suspect came out of a garage with a rifle in his hand, they talked him out of the weapon. Ryan said during the incident there was also a stabbing reported, and the response time was 2 hours.

Ryan said CHP is down nine positions. They do get mutual aid backup from city police departments, when they are available, but you will not see them going up to Pioneer.

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

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-12 - Mark Montgomery discusses how a recent job opening shows the problem with California's retirement and benefits for state employees. 

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-12 - Mark Montgomery discusses the problem with America running anti-terrorism drills with the Russian military later this year and how it ties into a much larger conspiracy involving the Obama administration. 

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-3-12 - Mark Montgomery asks just how far are we willing to let the government protect us, what freedoms we are willing to give up, and discusses the problem with a proposed law that would make it illegal to text while riding a bicycle.  

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-12 - Mark Montgomery discusses how troubled organizations, businesses, and governments cause their own problems by not being completely transparent. 

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-12 - Laurie Webb speaks with local insurance agent Anne Lintz about planning for the unexpected.

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-12 - "Today's Seniors" host Laurie Webb sits down with Kristin Millhoff to discuss some of the Medicare resources that are available to seniors in Amador County.  

Amador County News, TSPN TV News Video, 5-2-12 - Debbie Shally stops by the "Today's Seniors" set to discuss health insurance counseling and where you can go if you need additional information about your health insurance policy.