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Vol. 81, No. 49 ° Feather Publishing Co.i Inc. *
I I
H6 them apples ?
Greenville High School student A.J. Courtright climbs to reach apples the deer can't get in his
quest to learn business skills as part of the Indian Valley Apple Corps. For the story and more
photos, see page 15B. Photo by Alicia Knadler
530-284-/8UU ,ww.plumaslVevs.com •
Ill of the Indian Valley Area
iwesday, Oct. 26, 2011
I
5O¢
County's negotiations end
in employee furloughs
BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS
ROUNDUP
unions have complained
about the sheriff's office
being exempt. That is report-
edly a major issue : the
stalled negotiations, i,!i'
"Most of the memers I
have talked to feel it is unfair
to have the OE3 (Operating
Engineers Local 3) members
contribute 4 percent toward
PERS (retirement fund) and
not require the same from
others, such as the sheriff's
unit and classified depart-
ment heads," said Barbara
Palmerton, who is a member
of the union negotiating
team. "The sheriffs have the
best, most expensive retire-
ment of any of us. But
they aren't being asked to
contribute anything at all."
In exchange for retirement
cuts, the board accepted a
$250,000 general fund contri-
bution from the sheriff's
office for the 2011-12 budget.
The supervisors said the
sheriff's office likely would
be exempt from cuts for this
year only.
The supervisors did agree
to furlough flexibility so that
vital county services would
not be drastically affected.
One of the services the
board considered vital is
feeding needy senior citizens.
Martha Hoot=el. =o-
of Plumas Senior Nutrition,
stressed the importance of
that service.
She said her staff is "bare
bones" right now. And
furloughs could mean some
seniors might not get a nutri-
tional meal for three straight
days.
The supervisors unani-
mously agreed to help main-
tain that service.
"We have senior citizens
where this is probably their
only hot meal that a lot
of them have each day,"
SuPervisor Terry Swofford
said. ,'There are home-bound
people who depend on these
meals. And then there's also
people who ride the bus who
depend on these meals."
All of the supervisors
weighed in to show their
support for the program.
"If anyone in here wants
to disagree that that's not a
priority of government, let's
put on the boxing gloves,"
Supervisor Jon Kennedy
said. "Because I'll go there
with that one."
Public Health Director
Mimi Hall assured the super-
visors her department would
"do our best to figure it out."
However, some county de-
partments could be closed
for a day during some weeks.
Offices that remain open
See Roundup, page4A
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
d mcdonald@plumasnews.com
With union negotiations
at an impasse, financially
struggling Plumas County
has decided to furlough its
employees.
At its meeting Tuesday,
Oct. 18, the county's Board of
Supervisors voted unani-
mously to adopt furloughs for
all county employees, with
the exception of those in the
sheriff's office.
The board directed county
workers to each take off
four days without pay by Feb.
29, 2012. The furloughs are
limited to a maximum of one
day per two-week pay period.
The supervisors decided
furloughs were necessary for
at least two reasons.
First, the employee unions
have not voted to accept the
county's 4 percent cut to
retirement contributions,
passed as part of the fiscal
2011-12 budget cuts.
And county revenue con-
tinues to decline. County
Budget Officer Jack Ingstad
told the board "our revenues
continue to show problems.
Sales tax is down. We don't
expect property tax to im-
prove. And we are not getting
some of the cost savings we
had hoped."
The county planned to save
about $200,000 by reducing
its contribution to the retire-
ment fund.
However, the affected
SupervisorS tackle mandated curb recycling
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
dmcdonald@plumasnews.com
On Tuesday, Oct. 18, the
Plumas County Board of
Supervisors tackled the
problem for more than an
hour. The supervisors plan
to address the issue again
Nov. 8.
"We've had a state mandate
since 1990 requirin us to
divert solid waste by a cer-
tain percentage," Supervisor
Jon Kennedy said. "They are
mandating all countms and
cities and jurisdictions with-
in the state of California to
do this. This is something we
have to do. We can't just say
no."
With that thought in mind,
the supervisors discussed
the issue with Waste Manage-
ment General Manager Greg
Martinelli. Waste Manage-
ment does business as Feather
River Disposal in Plumas
County.
Feather River Disposal
(FRD), which made a 17 per-
cent profit in 2010, said it is
willing to use some of that
money to help offset the cost
of curbside recycling.
However, Martinelli's pro-
posal would still require
a rate increase for FRD
customers. The supervisors
said they want to avoid an
increase if at all possible.
Martinelli told the board it
would cost his company
an extra $11.54 monthly
per customer to do curbside
recycling. He said FRD would
contribute $2.79 toward the
cost, leaving a monthly
increase of $9.18 for each of
its 2,874 customers.
That number does not
include FRD customers in
Chester, Quincy and La
Porte. Chester and Quincy
have separate recycling
programs with FRD.
Martinelli's recommenda-
tion is to standardize the
service. He said each cus-
tomer would have a 64-gallon
green garbage cart and a 64-
gallon blue recycling cart.
The garbage would contin-
ue to be hauled away every
week. The recycling would be
picked up every other week.
See Curbside, page 4A
Plumas County is facing
a mandate from the state to
institute recycling.
The county needs to have
75 percent compliance by
2020.
The challenge is to make
the service available and
affordable at the same time.
BCS pursues AB 900 grant for jail construction
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
dmcdonald@plumasnews.com
The sheriff said the county
could be eligible for state
grant funding under AB 900
Phase II.
The grant would require
a 5 percent match from
counties that are awarded
the money. The match re-
quirement is down from 25
percent last year,
Thirty small counties are
competing for a share of $100
million available through
the Corrections Standards
AuthOrity.
But Hagwood warned that
the application process is
daunting. And if Plumas
County is selected, it will
have to come up with the $1
million at that time.
Like many rural counties,
Plumas has been forced to
makp budget cuts that in-
clude layoffs and furloughs
for employees. Finding $1
million won't be easy.
"It's an incredibly great
deal at an incredibly poor
time," Supervisor Lori Simp-
son said. "We are spending
our reserves."
Despite the financial
obstacle, the board voted
unanimously to apply for the
grant.
The application process be-
gan with a letter of interest
that had to be delivered to
the Corrections Standards
Authority by Friday, Oct. 21.
The interest statement
merely puts the county in the
running. If the Corrections
Standards Authority accepts
the interest letter, the county
will be invited to submit a
formal application.
"It's an incredibly labor-
intensive project, putting
the application together, the
needs assessment. It's a
phenomenal body of work,"
Hagwood said. "It's some-
thing we are prepared to
engage. But there are
those conditions'that I set
forward, that I would like
the board to be cognizant
of if we are going to pursue
this."
The $1 million condition is
the big one.
See Jails, page 4A
It might be considered a
long shot, but Plumas County
could get a new state-of-
the-art $20 million jail for $1
million.
Sheriff Greg Hagwood out-
lined the possibility for the
Board of Supervisors during
a meeting Tuesday, Oct. 18.
Wt atever happened to ...
the Eaglesmith lawsuit?
Delaine Fragnoli
Managing Editor
dfragnoli@plumasnews.com
Background: Eight months
ago J.C. Eaglesmith, a
teacher at the Plumas County
Community School and
former Quincy High School
basketball coach, filed suit in
federal court against Plumas
Unified School District
(PUSD) and Plumas County
Office of Education (PCOE)
To subscribe to the Record,
call 530-283-0800
and a number of administra-
tors alleging he was discrimi-
nated against, harassed and
retaliated against bdcause of
his race, national origin and
exercise of First Amendment
and other protected rights.
Eaglesmith was joined in
the suit by his wife, Ramona
Eaglesmith; son Justus
Eaglesmith; and Quincy High
School (QHS) staff members
Eileen Cox and Bruce
Barnes.
The latest: Earlier this
month, judge John A. Mendez
of the U.S. District Court
Eastern District of California
made his first significant
ruling in the case, finding
largely in favor of the plain-
tiffs. The district argued, in
motions to dismiss and to
strike, that the various plain-
tiffs did not have legitimate
or sufficient claims under the
pertinent laws. Mendez found
that they mostly did, with the
exception of Eaglesmith's
wife, Ramona. Mendez did
note several times in his
order that the •law requires
him to err on the side of the
plaintiffs at this point in the
proceedings.
What's next: Plaintiffs are
due to file a revised com-
plaint, taking into'considera -
tion the court's ruling.
Related events: Plaintiff
Cox appeared before the
school board in August to
read a lengthy list of what
See Lawsuit, page 4A
Royalty reigns victorious
Greenville High
School homecoming
court members
Queen Breaunna
Tolen, King Andres
Herrera, Prince
Brandon Meza and •
Princess Jackie Dery
reign victorious over
an entertaining,
action-packed game
students played on
a whim, when the
Opposing team
forfeited and did
not show up. For
more photos, see
page 6A.
Photo by
Alicia Knadler