Re-Elect Supervisor Jaron

Update on Tuolumne Road — We've hired outside legal counsel specializing in construction defect litigation.

On July 24, 2024, the County rejected APS’s offer to microsurface over the chip seal on Tuolumne Road, which would have been at a significant additional cost to the County and did not include a warranty. The County rejected the offer because after consulting with several experts, the County believes placing a microsurface over the failed chip seal will not repair the failures or prevent future failures. The County believes the chip seal failed, because of workmanship issues by APS and it is APS’ responsibility to repair the road.

The County also directed APS to submit a repair plan for Tuolumne Road that includes removing defective work and placing new chip seal on all areas that have failed. APS has until July 31, 2024, to present a repair plan to the County. If APS doesn’t present an adequate repair plan by July 31, 2024 (7 days from today's posting), the County will begin the process to terminate the contract with APS and retain another contractor to perform the repair work. The County will utilize all legal options to minimize additional costs to the County.

The County has retained the law firm Meyers Nave, a statewide firm with extensive experience in construction defect litigation cases. Construction defect cases are complex and special expertise was needed to ensure that if this matter can’t be resolved with APS the County is prepared for litigation.

I've been fielding questions about tomorrow's appointment of a new Auditor-Controller and wanted to provide clarifying information. This is a "full info" post and probably more than you wanted so be warned. 🤓

The upcoming hiring decision is for an employee that is currently second in command being promoted to department head after the retirement of Debi Bautista. If you know Debi, you also know that she's been seeking a succession plan and hoping to retire for a while but it's been notoriously hard to hire. She's stayed for extra time in order to not leave a vacuum in that department. We had previously identified a person but lost them due to more attractive offers in surrounding counties (restarting that effort).

This is a mandated position in charge of making sure people get their paychecks on time, handling financial processing of contracts, conducting annual audits, running elections, maintaining the variety of trust funds and line items that get passed in budget, serving as an elected check on the power of the Board of Supervisors and administration, and more.

I'll acknowledge there have been issues with getting annual audits done on time. We have for a while been trying to address this and it stems from light staffing, a transfer out of the office who had significant responsibilities there, and difficulty finding a new hire for this job. Audits are extremely important in order to get grants and receive the pass through funding we're very reliant on. Year over year, the average tenure of County employees has decreased meaning a newer, less experienced, younger workforce. However, our collective hope is this will address the situation and he knows exactly what will be expected.

It's normally an elected position. However, as long as I can remember, it's been uncontested elections. Unlike the Board of Supervisors where generalists run (without specific requirements), someone needs public financial qualifications (like being a CPA, not to mention understanding how the department works) and it's an uncommon skill set. Had someone run, it would have been an election but we're faced with no one going for it for many, many years.

Therefore, we're appointing, also because that makes the most sense given Debi's retirement. There are counties which have had minimum qualified candidates run, win, and who are unable to do the job — it creates an absolute cluster as an employer when people aren't getting paychecks on time because electeds ultimately report to the people without an in-house boss. So much so in the unamed county that it was brought up to the state attorney general. We also don't want that.

Elected official salaries have to be set by law via Board resolution — they aren't set on a case by case basis or through bargaining. The last adjustment was over about a year ago where we gave a 5% to each of them. The amount is currently at market for the position, but as an elected, there is no paid time off or components of pay like step increases outside longevity and a 5% for having a CPA. So while the amount is higher, it takes a hit in that area. Some folks have been posting comparative positions like "auditor" (which is often private market) or "clerk auditor" which would be line staff positions with similar names but they are not the same. The only comparable role would be other county auditor controllers or the elected version of those roles in other counties.

The position of Tuolumne County Auditor Controller is really three positions in one — it's the auditor, controller, and elections commissioner. This saves the county money by consolidating what otherwise could be three positions and allows us to offer more competitive compensation but also means it's more complex. We have several positions like this (i.e. Sheriff Coroner, Assessor Recorder, Ag Commissioner/Weights and Measures/Air Pollution Control Officer, etc.) which save taxpayers money.

Because Debi has left, and he is being promoted, the position created for him to gain higher supervisory experience will be eliminated. That means it's not a new position and will result in the reduction of 1 FTE. The department head position is paid $183,000 per year (the former position he had was about $145,000). Again, this is the rate of pay we are competing with and have struggled to hire for several years. Go check out Transparent California below for another county (and remember the additional election responsibilities). Bigger counties may be more complex, but they also have much higher staffing and experience so largely the huge workload remains.

Link: https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=Auditor+controller

Debi is being retained as a retired annuitant in order to assist with work during the transition and provide mentorship — annuitancy is for limited hours for a maximum of two years for retiring employees. Yes, even senior positions still benefit from the three decades of knowledge she has about county operations. I've often myself gone to Debi for advice on county operations and likely every leader at the County has as well.

Hopefully this answers any questions. There are items that sometimes on their face look nuts — but almost every time, there's a very practical reason. High wage competition for a skilled position, a law requiring mandates duties or certifications, an extended vacancy where we can't filled a required position, dire consequences for hiring inexperienced workers, and in this case, all of the above.

Bottom line — Its a required position at market rate that isn't a significant net cost increase with how it's done for an employee that is well qualified to assume office in a position that's been extremely hard to fill and has huge implications if it doesn't work, and he will have two years of skilled support during the transition.

Alas, counties are not immune from hiring issues and state laws. In many ways, we're even more strictly bound by them.

transparentcalifornia.com

OPEN SPOT FOR THE PLANNING COMMISSION:
Putting out a final request for any folks interested in serving as the District 5 planning commissioner. I'm looking for someone with experience in development or projects that most importantly supports new housing and economic development projects with a "get to yes" philosophy. Must be a District 5 resident (Jamestown, Columbia area)

This is one of the most important appointments a Supervisor makes. If you are interested, please submit your application to the below link. I have received a couple applications so far but since I hadn't posted a public solicitation yet, wanted to share here before making a final decision.

Looking for experts in these industrial fields who may be interested in a job opportunity to work on economic development in the central Sierra region:

1. Natural and Working Lands
2. Sustainable Agriculture and Ranching
3. Community Health
4. Sustainable Recreation and Tourism
5. Clean Energy

If you're interested, please email me at [email protected] -- Or, if you know someone that may be interested, send this to them.

So proud of our crew for winning Non-Profit of the Year for our State Senate District. Thank you Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil for being an incredibly engaged elected official. You have a gargantuan job and still make time to grab a lemonade and celebrate local Tuolumne County leaders. 🤝

Here's to sweating out the next 7,000 yards and keeping our community clean!

Lots of work and negotiation to get to the point of approval for the new Subaru project between the City and County. Someone asked why do we need it when we can just go to Modesto? Fun fact, when you shop in Modesto those dollars leave the county. Another fun fact, Federal lands don't really pay property taxes. Tuolumne County is 77% federal land while Stanislaus is 0.3%.

I'd rather see those jobs and revenues here paving roads like the Middlecamp Road overlay approval we have on the agenda today.

County releases documents on proposed Subaru dealership A new Subaru of Sonora dealership and service center is planned to be built on Mono Way near the boundary between the City of Sonora and the unincorporated area of

Violence has no place in politics. Period.

Happy Independence Day! It was wonderful to spend it having a great cool off booth in Columbia 🇺🇸 Wishing everyone the best in losing a few pounds of sweat weight today in time for swim suit season.

Come cool off in the field behind Wells Fargo and enjoy 4th if July with Columbia! 2100 water balloons! 🤯

Come check out the Jamestown Bazaar this Friday for some well earned time in the shade after 4th of July!

Aero Fire Contained A Day Earlier Than Anticipated

https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/3382741/aero-fire-contained-a-day-earlier-than-anticipated.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mymotherlode.com

Good news in addressing homelessness — the court case Martin v. Boise that that's so greatly restricted local enforcement measures was overturned in the recent Grants Pass case 6-3 by the Supreme Court returning additional local control .

We'll be figuring out the application of that soon.

ALERT: There's a fast moving fire in Calaveras outside Copperoplis. Please follow Tuolumne County Sheriff and Tuolumne County Office of Emergency Services for up to the minute reports — this fire is now of concern for our county even though it's in Calaveras.

Please use this time to prepare for potential power outages or evacuation in case it jumps the river, listen to law enforcement orders, and be thankful for our local fire personnel and resources being deployed.

If you ARE NOT on our Everbridge reverse 9-1-1 system, you and your family need to sign up to receive emergency alerts.

Super excited we know have a contract for the new Jamestown Bazaar in Rocca Park! It makes way more sense than only having large community events in the parking area. Let me know if you're interested in joining with a booth for food, retail, activities, or music.

📣 First and third Fridays, 4-9pm 📣

https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/3374702/plans-for-jamestown-bazaar-approved-by-supervisors.html

Plans For Jamestown Bazaar Approved By Supervisors Tuolumne County Supervisors unanimously approved plans by the Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce to use Jamestown's Rocca Park for the Jamestown Bazaar

Columbia Gallery has a new job exhibit from Crow Castlebury next to the Waterwheel Saloon. Looking forward to checking it out!

Sonora artist's grant-funded exhibit 'Pareidolia' opens in Columbia Sonora artist Crow Castlebury learned basic art skills from family members at a young age and has pursued her own broad-ranging interests in art for four decades. She works in

Great meeting about the Columbia concrete plant on Highway 49 and Shaw's Flat. Thanks to everyone that showed up to ask questions and provide comments.

This is super early presentation of the applicant submission to the county before required analyzes and mitigations are included so not a lot of answers yet BUT those questions and comments in addition to the basic stuff being looked at guide considerations for mitigations and the project research. It does matter!

Because property issues are quasi judicial, Supervisors don't speak qualitatively about them in advance but I'm happy to direct any questions to our planning staff. If you weren't able to attend the meeting, you can also email comments to me and I'll get them to the right person.

Good job to Tamera and Clark from Community Development for facilitating!

I want to thank everybody that attended the meeting yesterday for the Friends of the Animal Community (FOAC) application, and recognize that while a lot of you reading this might be happy to see we approved it, other folks aren't.

We still welcome and celebrate the participation of over 130 people, and a Board which although not fully agreeing was able to all participate and add to it.

Often there's only a few people that participate, not just in the meeting but even emailing their representative. And I get it, people are busy, the meetings are a bad times, and it's hard to keep track of it all. All true, even if sending an email is pretty easy. That makes it all the more special when people do join in.

Here we saw robust communication and had the biggest crowd in the room for the past 3 years, so much so we actually had to move some people around because the room was full. And that expertise in community opinion did result in a better project by identifying things we needed to address from the initial proposal. Stuff both the board and the staff added.

I expect the project will not just be good for the county but good for that area. We added several conditions improve it including:

- security cameras
- hours of outdoor operation
- a limit on the number of animals outside at any given point
- changing the lights to something more community friendly
- adding a generator requirement
- closed windows and doors for the noise
- a walkway between the building and dog runs
- final approval by Animal Control of the facility hygeine

This is in addition to already incorporated conditions of approval ensuring it's not too loud, the property is adequately fenced, it's visually appealing, solid waste is disposed correctly, the water is protected, and the conditional use permit is compliant with the General Plan. Our packet was 148 pages on this item plus a lot of emails, and I have no doubt from the meeting every member of the board read all of it.

There's still a lot to be done by FOAC in fundraising and getting the facility built, and a lot more work to be done in building relationships now that they're neighbors in that community.

A little more info on some of my considerations for this item:

— Is it similar to what can already be done in the zoning? Yes, in RE-5 you can have an animal hospital that's indoors, a stable or ranching operation that produces f***s, a peacock flock as this site was formerly used for with noise, or up to four dogs and everybody's backyard with no requirements on how they're managed. To me it's substantially similar to those uses.

— Does the site have special considerations that would lead me to consider denying any development in the area? No, if someone wanted to build a house or a 4,000 square foot metal garage as they are entitled to, I wouldn't stand in the way of that project. The applicant being a non-profit isn't really taken into account.

— Are there concerns? Yes, a lot of the stuff brought up in letters and emails from the community as well as the meeting was valid. However, a lot of it was also addressed as part of the plan and conditions of approval. The well-being 100 ft from animal enclosures for example, or the fence being raised to 8 ft with a dig guard, the aesthetics of the barn being improved and solid waste being collected stored and disposed of every 3 days. If anyone's curious, please do check out the agenda item report.

At the meeting faced with an audience about 50/50 on this item, I spoke about my philosophy on approaching land use items. I believe in a fair "Get to Yes" philosophy which means to start with a position of trying to get something to work and reviewing what problems we can solve until we hit something that we can't. And doing so in a neutral way whether it's ag or business or a conservation group or an HOA bringing up concerns.

It's the same expectation I have for our staff at the county.

In this case, I think the issues were adequately addressed. It's not to say I've never voted no. There have been projects which in my opinion could not be mitigated on behalf of those I represent . . . but, most of the time, if somebody wants to try and do something that's value-added to the community, I think we should support them.

I will also add this should be a lesson learned that even if your project goes forward and you have the ability to do it, it's never too early to bring the neighbors in and the second best day is today. At the end of the day, you're joining their neighborhood, they're your neighbors, and you want that to be a good relationship.

Photo Credit, Union Democrat: https://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/article_8201a6ee-09cc-11ec-8da0-13b183e1e6a1.html

Notices posted today at the Rawhide Bridge for the 100 year highwater mark in preparation for applying the Clean and Clear ordinance to public navigable waterways.

I need some folks who are interested in starting a business that themselves fit one of the following categories (or something like it): at risk youth, transitional age foster youth ages 18 to 25, a veteran, formerly incarcerated, a woman, or community of color.

Can't share more detail until it's finalized but there will be an opportunity for a business microgrant for new businesses coming up In the amount of about $5,000.

You'd have to be willing to submit for it roughly within the next 6 to 12 months. Please message or email me at [email protected]

Can't wait!

Nestled in the heart of the Sierra Nevada foothills, just a hop from Yosemite National Park, lies a Casino Resort like no other. Whether a staycation or a quick restful stop Chicken Ranch Casino Resort will soon offer the most elevated roosting grounds.
Hatching July 15, 2024!

I'm very proud of our county staff and all the work they do especially with the challenges local governments face. They are our neighbors, advocates and experts.

We quickly hear on Facebook when something doesn't work. What we don't hear is how these often undercelebrated folks keep things working and solve challenges we didn't even know came up.

Today, after a morning training, we rolled out the County leadership philosophy crafted by our staff members to state explicitly the values we place in creativity, serving the public, and development of our leaders. The work isn't done by laws on the books or lines in a spreadsheet. It's people.

Tuolumne County Sheriff
Deputy Sheriffs Association of Tuolumne County
CAL FIRE Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit
Tuolumne County Public Library
Tuolumne County Veterans Service Office
Tuolumne County Public Health
Tuolumne County Public Works Department
Tuolumne County Behavioral Health
Tuolumne County Animal Control
County Community Development Department
County Social Services
Tuolumne County Office of Emergency Services
Tuolumne County Fire Department
Tuolumne County District Attorney's Office
County Behavioral Health
(partial list)

If you're registered with our reverse 911 emergency alerts, we'll be testing that system (Ever bridge) at 1pm.

And if you're not registered, then what the heck are ya' doing? This is how we reach everybody in a disaster with critical info — local residents, your friends and family, even guests. It's free, few, and takes maybe a minute.

We're a disaster prone area. Everyone should be signed up for this critical service.

Sign up here 👇
https://www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/1170/Emergency-Alerts

Today a multi-agency group lead by our local law enforcement began the process of removing the Rawhide Bridge encampment with a first step by our Sheriffs in conducting a warrant check and search. See the full update post on Tuolumne County Sheriff's page. We're just under a year from when this camp blew up in size now sitting with a new public lands clean and clear ordinance to prevent re-occupation in the future along with all county waterways. We're setting a new status quo -- that agencies are here to help, but we will not idly stand by problems. I commend all those involved in that.

Thanks to this and work on several other camps, we're not far from Jamestown having zero encampments in the surrounding area for the first time in over a decade, maybe more. That's taken a ton of work from the below agencies. More to come in the following couple of weeks as we close and remediate this site.

Thank you Tuolumne County Sheriff David Vasquez (who has taken the reins in a big way in such a short time), your deputies and team with the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Tuolumne County, our County staff in Code Compliance, Environmental Health, Public Health, as well as state partners like Fish and Game for your work. Particularly, thank you for expediting this and building the plane as we fly it -- it wasn't easy but means so much to our area. I know our friends and partners at have also been chomping at the bit to help clean this up and the new inmate work crews will be instrumental in finally abating it.

Q: Are recovery services being offered to these individuals?
A: Yes, all enforcement actions are paired with staff from departments like Behavioral Health, Social Services, Public Health, and community partners -- we take this very seriously. There's no solution to homelessness without also prevention, housing, and recovery services and these are done on an individual and case-by-case basis assuming they are willing to accept the parameters. The services can include job training, counseling, addiction assistance, pyschiatric interventions, food security, and more.

Q: Where will they go?
A: The root is they can't be here nor any waterway or listed public facility in the Clean and Clear. That has to be a baseline. We have options for short term shelter and are moving forward housing projects for those working with our case managers. We follow all requirements of the courts in the Boise decision, but that can't be an excuse for inaction on issues affecting local sanitation, public safety, or small businesses and economy, nor can it be a reason to allow individuals to simply not pursue recovery options. We can offer help, but they need to be willing to commit.

Q: Does this solve homelessness?
A: No, so long as we see things like home costs, fire insurance, drug use, etc going up with restrictions continuing to be placed on enforcement, it's unlikely California will make a major dent, certainly not quickly. However, at the local level, we can intervene and the reasonable goal should be to get it back to manageable levels. This means building achievable housing (public but mainly private), early intervention for those recently homeless, targeting dealers, and having tools to intervene for severe cases like conservatorships. In all of that we are making progress on a very complicated issue and it's going to be something we all continue to work on for many years. We are seeing a targeted approach to increasing housing, recovery services, and enforcement that will make an impact while counties and cities as a whole continue to advocate at the state level through programs like AT-HOME.

Q: How will it be remediated?
A: A combination of nonprofit help like to clean up with jail inmate crews will do an initial attack on the site, removing garbage and fuel. Environmental Health alongside Fish & Game will be assessing the damage and what needs to be done to fix it.

Q: What happens to it now?
A: The Rawhide Bridge realignment project is still on track for next year which will majorly change the intersection and make the current bridge a pedestrian corridor. Long term, I would love to see this become a Murphy's-like micropark for locals and tourists to enjoy which dovetails well with the new bridge since the old one will become pedestrian. That will require figuring out who maintains it, what should be improved, and how to fund it.

Q: Won't they just come back?
A: Part of the clean and clear ordinance was to get out of the whack-a-mole enforcement loop. For example, close the Bridge area but see it move 50 feet up. These enforcements will into the future become routine along all waterways (up to the 100 year high water mark) as well as schools, the library, public safety facilities, and many public agencies. If they try to come back, it will be far easier to remove them, backed up not just by county staff but if they refuse, then also law enforcement and fines.

Q: What's going on with the Law & Justice site?
A: An encampment has been there for several years. It was recommended early on by our homelessness committee for a "Safe Stay" site, not just to allow for enforcement against illegal encampments but to provide a somewhat safer alternative for those in camps who have often been victims of others. That's come back and been approved by the Board of Supervisors 4-1 with a minimum resource approach that's funded for 3 years. Basic stuff and a campsite with a fantastic Court security partnership through the Sheriff's office to cover regular patrols and security. A more detailed plan is going to come back to get that up and running. With it, we have an answer to "what about those not being case managed, who haven't committed a prosecutable crime but also are not eligible or willing to accept housing, who are still causing issues in camps and main streets?" It will be at a minimum a more efficient way to handle the hardest element of this issue while providing a point of access to service.

Q: Can I see the Clean and Clear ordinance?
A: Yes, it's a county public ordinance code. Here's the link if you'd like to check it out. https://www.tuolumnecounty.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/27092/Chapter-880--Cleaning-and-Clearing-Unauthorized-Encampments-on-County-Property-to-Protect-Health-and-Safety-pdf

Q: Do we have data on homelessness?
A: Yes. The most common source is the annual Point-In-Time (PIT) count found below for 2024 and 2019. Sometimes we use CalFresh (i.e. EBT) numbers because the way it is counted gives a broader number and types of homelessness. PIT can vary based on year to year conditions but you can see 385 people in 2019 versus 290 in 2024. COVID years likely did affect data in between.

2019:https://www.centralsierracoc.org/_files/ugd/805a63_d1580a15954e4302b0f74fb4ae3c2c0b.pdf
2024:https://www.centralsierracoc.org/_files/ugd/90673a_d98285de4b0541d1be4d17848591d740.pdf

Thank you for the opportunity! It was a pleasure speaking with other Western counties about our work in broadband.

More from the National Association of Counties' Western Interstate Region Conference: Tuolumne County Supervisor Jaron Brandon leads an Expanding in discussion with experts from & , as well as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Workshop introduced by WIR 2nd Vice President Mono County Supervisor John Peters.

People often ask with broadband investments "Why not just do Starlink?" As in only satellites. There's definitely a role for it but it's not without downsides — One being the auroras which are very beautiful but indicative of a hard time for satellites. Compared to fiber:

— Satellites are more vulnerable to cyber attack and weapons should a conflict break out
— Satellite service is affected by weather
— Owned by one company, there's limited choice and competition
— Unlike ground equipment, it's much harder to upgrade the system as the need grows
— It may not be able to handle several billion people using it especially with the rate of data growth. That remains to be seen.
— And to the main point, satellites can be majorly impacted by space debris or as we just saw, geomagnetic storms.

September 1859 something called a Carrington event occurred that resulted in auroras around the planet. When the Sun flips its magnetic poles, it shoots out massive coronal mass ejections. Sometimes those are aimed at us.

During this event, telegraph wires not connected to power were energized simply through the air and some caught fire. It made space soupy with the extra particles for low earth orbit which wasn't a big deal in 1859 but today could slow them down enough to cause serious problems. Another Carrington event would be devastating but even more so it we're purely reliant on satellite. The charged particles also induce current in electronic systems.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event

Though the system is holding up so far, it can be much stronger than what we're experiencing and likely a few more coronal mass ejections in the next few days. A Carrington class event narrowly missed Earth in 2012 and in between there have been a number of strong storms that have taken down power grids. A Carrington event was estimated in 2013 to potentially cost the US $600 billion to $2.6 trillion in damage.

https://www.aol.com/huge-solar-storm-impacting-starlink-143342694.html

Open access fiber (a public going backbone with service provided by ISPs) offers a resilient system that multiple ISPs can provide competitive service on. Because fiber optics carry light and not electricity, these storms don't induce current. There are powered components that act like repeaters which can be affected but it's unknown how susceptible they are and many are buried under miles of water shielding through intercontinental cables.

The downside of course is a high up-front cost and it's slow to roll out. Electricity is often compared to broadband where it was decades after its practical invention that Urban areas were electrified but the rural electrification Act took a couple of decades to make it reach every farm.

In California, we have organized the Golden State Connect, a joint powers authority of about 28 counties based on what Utah's doing with Utopia fiber. That combined with our local planning has put us in a prime spot to take advantage of funds and leverage public-private partnerships, especially important because this isn't an overnight goal. It's going to be a relay for local leaders across a decade or more.

Carrington Event - Wikipedia The Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, peaking from 1–2 September 1859 during solar cycle 10. It created strong auroral displays that were reported globally[1] and caused sparking and even fires in multiple telegraph stations. The geomagnetic storm was mos...