Several reasons exist for my support of David Pincus in his bid to become supervisor of District 4. One of those is not a dislike of Louis Boitano or his family, as he has been open and fair-minded. And to their credit, both candidates have run a clean race without mudslinging. The motivations for my endorsement and support of Pincus revolve around political issues and decisions that Boitano has made that I believe do not serve Amador County well.
Boitano has failed to update the general plan the entire time he has been in office. In fact, the state of California gave us two years to pass an updated general plan to set up our Local Agency Formation Commission. Seeing some counties weren't going to make the deadline, they offered a two-year extension. And yet, Amador County still failed to meet the deadline. LAFCO, without spheres of influence and the updated general plan, is defunct. It places our entire county and its expansion at risk for major litigation.
With regard to the massive build out of county government facilities, we have yet to see a project completed without major problems. Our courthouse is completely inadequate. The health and human services building is on a 20-year lease with no escape clause housing programs that are funded annually. What happens when programs are cut? Design changes implemented by the board of supervisors have created major noise problems of OSHA proportion at our animal shelter. Instead of utilizing the free consultation of the architect, we opted instead to hire a consultant and then another hired consultant to consult with the first paid consultant.
Even items as simple as a new roof for the Amador County Museum were pushed off for three years. The result: an additional $25,000 for increased damages. Hidden smaller items are just as scary. Light bulbs for illuminating the flag at the Amador County Administration Center cost $60 and have to be specially ordered from Belgium. The trashcans in one building cost hundreds of dollars a pop. Oh yeah, and none of it was purchased locally, with some items not even going out for bid.
In 2001, Boitano signed an Intergovernmental Services Agreement with the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians to bring another casino to Ione. There has never been an explanation or an apology for that decision. Instead, we entered a lawsuit that cost us $1.4 million. And while the county says it is fighting the casino all the way, why then, when asked about the way the county has handled the proposed Buena Vista casino at a public forum sponsored by Amador Citizens for Responsible Government, Boitano stated that the county would get the money back when Buena Vista comes back for expansion. Is the lawsuit over? Has Boitano signed off on expansion? Seems like a mixed message.
Speaking of mixed messages, how about members of the Land Use Committee (chaired by Boitano) being told to act as a police force for code violations. When asked at the forum, Boitano claimed that this is not the case. So which is it? I think it explains a lot of anonymous complaints the county rigorously pursues.
While collecting $113,000 of transient occupancy taxes this past year, which voters passed to be used to promote tourism and commerce, Boitano and the board of supervisors chose once again to stuff the general fund, dispersing only $25,000 of the total collected. If, as stated in a TSPN interview, Boitano believes our future is dependent on building tourism and commerce, then why not use the funds to assist local businesses and tourism, as voters were promised? It seems to me the tens of thousands of dollars could have assisted our cities in tough economic times. The board of supervisors made the decision to lobby the state of California to tie their own salaries to the salaries of our judges. In the past 10 years, salaries for the board of supervisors have gone up 75.5 percent, not including the increase in benefits, with the next automatic pay hike (without public review, comment or vote) to occur in July.
Failing to complete a general plan update, massive build out of government facilities that all have problems, mixed messages on major items like casinos in Amador County and job requirements of the Land Use Committee, redirecting taxpayer dollars that were supposed to promote tourism and develop commerce, all while massively increasing salaries and benefits for the position Boitano himself holds: It is for these reasons I support a change in leadership and will vote for Pincus. It also helps that Pincus happens to be a conservative Republican with a tremendous track record of public service to boot.
Besides, I've given too many of you liberals run of this page for too long anyway. And that goes double for our left-leaning editor, Raheem.
| Jack Mitchell |