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'lie and all of the Indian Valley Area
VoI. 81, NO. 17 • Feother Publishil, ........ /, Mclrch 16, 2011 50¢
DA's office lays off grant-funded position
Joshua Sebold
Staff Writer
jsebold@plumasnews.corn
At a meeting Tuesday,
March 8, the Plumas County
Board of Supervisors ap-
proved the layoff of a position
that split time between inves-
tigative and victim/witness
work in the District Attor-
ney's (DA) Office.
DA David Hollister recom-
mended the move, informing
the supervisors several
grants that used to fund the
position disappeared over the
last two years.
He added that if the layoff
were not made, his budget
would be "about $12,000 short
come the end of this fiscal
year."
The DA said the move was
"fiscally responsible, albeit
horribly unpleasant, but I
think it's the reality of what
has to happen."
Hollister added that he
didn't have any reason to be-
lieve that the grants would
return in the next fiscal year.
DA Fiscal Officer Barbara
Palmerton explained the
office received the grant
for about 15 years and
she fully expected it to be
funded when she prepared
the current budget.
"The state budget wasn't
passed until October and it
was another two or three
weeks before we heard that
this wasn't included.
"I spoke to the previous
district attorney and to Dave
Hollister at that time about
my concern about the loss of
this money.
"The people funded by this
grant were only partially
funded by it, and I knew that
the funding for those people
was approved through
approximately February or
March, so I knew it could be
postponed till this year, and
the previous DA declined to
respond to it anyway."
Hollister elaborated: "The
conversation statewide was a
recognition that that grant
funding wasn't there but the
hope that it would be there.
"Come about October it
became very clear it was not
going to be there and that we
needed to start lobbying our
legislators to get back in the
budget and that's occurred
statewide."
Chester Supervisor Sherrie
Thrall asked how the depart-
ment funded the position so
far this year.
Palmerton said the position
go t 44 percent of its funding
from the county's general
fund, and 10 percent from
another grant, which was
still funded.
Hollister explained the
position first changed when a
"spousal abuser prosecution
program" grant went away.
Palmerton said a new grant
appeared that same year,
which allowed the position to
be retained, while shifting
some duties.
"In other words, you've
been doing everything you
could to find the funding un-
til finally you hit the wall,"
Indian Valley Supervisor
Robert Meacher concluded.
BOS Chairwoman Lori
Simpson commented that
layoff proposals usually came
to the budget committee
before the full board.
"I didn't realize ' we had
skipped that step. We did
speak to the human resources
director before we submitted
the board report," Palmerton
responded.
County Administrative
Officer Jack Ingstad said
Hollister and Palmerton un-
derstood the supervisors'
stance that "with positions
See Layoff, page 4A
County jail braces for inmate influx from prisons
Joshua Sebold
Staff Writer
jsebold@plurnasnews.com
New Plumas County Dis-
trict Attorney (DA) David
Hollister explained some of
the unique challenges that
would be facing his office
in the future, during a
recent Board of Supervisors
meeting.
The DA said new Gov. Jerry
Brown supported former Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's
plan to shift some of the state
prison burden back to the
counties.
Hollister anticipated that
prisoners originally sen-
tenced to terms of three years
or less would soon be
returned to the counties
they came from, while new
offenders convicted of those
crimes would also serve their
time in jail.
The attorney argued this
change would impact small
counties disproportionately
because they prosecuted a
larger percentage of offend-
ers with shorter sentences.
Hollister said when he
worked in Oakland he spent
all of his time trying cases
that either involved the
possibility of life in prison or
had a cop as the defendant
because high profile cases
were the only ones people
cared about there.
He told the supervisors
smaller crimes had a larger
impact on people's quality of
life in small communities,
where the expectations were
different.
"Somebody breaks into
Quincy Drug- that's a big
deal to me. That's somebody
who probably ought to go to
prison. Somebody selling
meth, maybe to school kids --
that's a big deal to me. That
guy goes to prison."
Hollister indicated both of
those crimes had maximum
sentences of three years
meaning, "Those people will
be housed in county jail."
"We have a finite number
of beds in the county jail," he
continued. "Those beds are
now the most valuable beds
in Plumas County because
we need to pay attention to
who fills them and that is
going to be a real challenge."
Indian Valley Supervisor
Robert Meacher asked how
many criminals convicted
each year in Plumas County
received sentences longer
than one year but shorter
than three. These are the
people that were previously
in prison but would soon be
housed in jail.
Hollister guessed the num-
ber was somewhere between
20 and 50 each year.
"We don't have that
many beds," Eastern Plumas
Supervisor Terry Swofford
exclaimed.
Hollister confirmed that
was the case, adding, "We're
going to have to work with
probation."
"The folks that are in
there, maybe on their third-
time DUI, we need to do
something else for them."
He concluded electronic
home monitoring or work
programs would have to
become larger parts of the
county's incarceration plans.
Prescription drugs
The DA explained Plumas
wasn't immune to the grow-
ing prescription drug abuse
problem, commenting that
it was "catching up with
methamphetamine around
here."
"Isn't that because the CHP
is focusing very heavily on
that these days?" Meacher
asked.
See Influx, page 5A
4-H'ers converge on Greenville schools
|
Plumas County 4-H kids converge on Greenville Elementary School, where they earn. awards for practicing public presentation skills with a variety of projects ranging from an investigation of
cow parasites to an impromptu speech about whether or not parents should buy their teenage son a new car. For showing others how to make a spaghetti and meatball cupcake, Teeona Blakley
of Indian Valley 4-H wins a blue ribbon. Her creation begins with a devil's food cupcake. Frosting is piped on to look like noodles, and a Ferrero Rocher candy covered with homemade berry jam
tops it off. See page 3A for the story. Photos by Alicia Knadler
CSD moves on amid appreciation, disapp,3intmen-
Alicia Knadler
Indian Valley Editor
aknadler@plumasnews.com
Appreciation for jobs well
done for Greenville water
users and disappointment in
a dr|ed-up revenue idea were
among the highlights of the
Indian Valley Community
Services District meeting
Wednesday, March 9.
Directors thanked their
chief of water operations,
Jesse Lawson, for all the
extra work he did in efforts to
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finally bring the new, state-
of-the-art water treatment
plant online.
The plant was paid for via a
$2.6 million grant, money
that was free and clear with
no cost to ratepayers.
They also credited their
General Manager Leanna
Moore's grant writing abili-
ties that made it all possible
in the first place.
During her report to
fellows, director Jane Brax-
ton Little updated them on
her progress in finding new
revenue streams from the
unused water flowing out of
Round Valley Reservoir.
Little has been informally
working on this for the past
few years, ever since she's
been on the board.
"I have been in informal
talks with East Bay MUD
(municipal utility district),"
she said.
It recently notified her that
it would not be pursuing a
proposal "anywhere in the
immediate future."
"That's actually a big
disappointment," chairman
Mike Yost said. "There's a lot
of people using (the water),
and we thought we might be
able to make some money
from it."
A new project for future
benefit to residents is in
the works between the
district and the Greenville
Rancheria, whose grant writ-
ing team is now angling to
improve the Greenville sewer
ponds and protect Wolf Creek
from future leaks and flood
events that may impact the
area near the ponds.
Meanwhile March marks
the month that directors
will cut their ties with
the school district on the
old Main Street school build-
ing.
They conducted a closed
session to talk about the pos-
sibility of purchasing their
See CSD, page 4A
Kusel resigns from school governing board
Delaine Fragnoli
Managing Editor
dfragnoli@plumasnews.com
Jonathan Kusel has re-
signed his seat on the Plumas
Office of Education/Plumas
Unified School District gov-
erning board.
Kusel told his fellow board
members, in an e-mail dated
March 1, that he was resign-
ing effective immediately.
"After agonizing over the
decision for some time, my
wife would like to work
in the schools and it is
important for her to have
her turn." Conflict of interest
regulations restrict whether
and how a board member's
spouse can be employed.
The district is now seeking
a replacement for Kusel.
Applicants must reside in the
Indian Valley attendance
area. Application packets and
additional information are
available at the district office
in Quincy, 50 Church St.,
or through the "office of the
superintendent at 283-6500,
ext. 217. Applications are due
to the superintendent's office
by noon Thursday, April 7.
Kusel had some parting
advice for his fellow board
members. He urged them to
be "attentive and active. Dis-
trict students, our communi-
ties and district employees
need you more than ever."
He cautioned them "to
avoid the tendency to cast
people with either 'white' or
'black' hats. As within our
communities or organiza-
tions elsewhere, there is
sometimes the unfortunate,
unhelpful, and even damag-
ing perspective within the
district to label people or
ascribe a 'hat color' and view.
See Kusel, page 4A
7: