Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

Plymouth Mayor Jon Colburn has been = involved in=20 his city's affairs most of his life. He and two fellow incumbents = are=20 seeking re-election against a slate of candidates with differing = views on=20 the inevitability of a proposed Indian casino, including his = brother=20 Gary.

Photo by: Scott Thomas=20 Anderson

A self-styled community volunteer, Gary = Colburn=20 is a former Plymouth City Council member and one of the current = council's=20 most outspoken critics. He is hoping to win a seat back Nov. = 4.

Photo by: Scott Thomas=20 Anderson

Candidate Maria Nunez is hoping the end = of the=20 election will signal a time for healing in the city.

Photo by: Scott Thomas=20 Anderson

Plymouth Councilman Greg Baldwin views = the=20 challenges facing the city as long-term ones the current council = has=20 worked to address. He is seeking re-election Nov. 4.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch
"I'm ready for this election = to be over,"=20 Jamie Lubenko says with an exhausted note in her voice. She looks out = the window=20 at her father walking his dog. "He's handling it pretty well. Though = lately he=20 paces a lot."

Her dad, Mayor Jon Colburn, has been involved with = Plymouth=20 affairs for most of his life. In 1956, he was appointed the youngest = city=20 manager in California for $1 a year. "They never technically ended that = whole=20 thing," he jokes over coffee. "So I guess they owe me $53." Colburn's = real love=20 for politics came when he dropped out of college to work on the = presidential=20 campaign for John F. Kennedy. Since then, he's sat on the Amador County = Board of=20 Supervisors and had two stints on the Plymouth City Council. However, = nothing in=20 his mayoral years of public service could have prepared him for the = storm that=20 lay head - or the drama that would leave an entire community=20 divided.

"When the issue of the casino first came up, I got to = thinking=20 about my grandkids and their future here in Plymouth, and I realized it = would be=20 horrible for them," Colburn says. "Just like out-of-control development, = the=20 casino would jeopardize the small, quaint rural kind of life we want = here."=20 Colburn moved quickly, becoming a founding member of the No Casino in = Plymouth=20 group, which has battled the Ione Band of Miwoks over the casino at = every turn.=20 Colburn claims the vast majority of Plymouth residents he speaks to = every day=20 remain strongly opposed to the casino.

Yet the mayor isn't = resting easy=20 as the election draws near. There are three well-known individuals in = Plymouth=20 who are challenging him and fellow incumbents Patricia Shackleton and = Greg=20 Baldwin - none of whom deny they're politically vulnerable due to the = city's=20 tenuous water rate situation. Recent dealings between Plymouth and the = Amador=20 Water Agency over a proposed pipeline sparked massive fear that water = rates=20 would skyrocket. New bids on the project appear to suggest the hikes = won't be=20 necessary.

For Colburn, the pipeline always posed a frightening=20 possibility. "I always felt that bringing the pipeline here for future=20 development on the backs of current ratepayers was totally unfair," he = says.=20 "There are 74 widows living in Plymouth on fixed incomes and I argued = that=20 raising the rates would be a hardship on them. I didn't want to do = anything that=20 would hurt the welfare of our seniors."

Colburn says his deep = concern=20 for those struggling in Plymouth was partly inspired by the legacy of = his=20 father, Harold Colburn, who was a monumental figure in Plymouth history. = But=20 Colburn isn't the only candidate in the race who says he was inspired by = the=20 famous man whose name is over the baseball diamond.

At the end of = Main=20 Street, on the deck of an old, sun-faded Victorian home, sits candidate = Gary=20 Colburn, Jon's brother. A self-styled community volunteer, Gary has his = own list=20 of local contributions to tout, including building the park's gazebo and = toiling=20 for five years to restore the Arroyo Ditch. Gary has been one of the = council's=20 most outspoken critics.

"The current leadership of Plymouth has = been=20 notorious for squandering public funds," Gary says as he reclines back = on his=20 porch with a cigarette. "I don't think it's any secret that they're = completely=20 dysfunctional. They've had time to call the cops to council meetings = over=20 nothing, to make inflammatory and embarrassing public remarks to the = tribe and=20 to throw thousands of dollars away on consultants, but they haven't had = time to=20 take care of Plymouth's basic needs."

Gary is also dismissive of = No=20 Casino in Plymouth's strong opposition to him in the current election, = pointing=20 out that many of its members aren't even Plymouth voters. "I think = people in=20 Burke Ranch, Fiddletown and Ione should mind their own business when it = comes to=20 Plymouth," he adds. "They act like they own the damn town, but they = don't even=20 live here. In the meantime, we're the ones who are stuck with their = cheerleaders=20 - a council that refuses to work on our real problems."

Baldwin = answers=20 some of Gary's accusations by pointing to the magnitude of Plymouth's = problems.=20 "The water issue could have and should have been fixed decades ago," he=20 reflects. "But it was ignored by various city councils of the past. I'm = just=20 relieved that it looks like we won't have to raise water rates. In terms = of=20 other issues, we're working with commercial developers to bring a nice = revenue=20 stream in to start fixing up the town. People need to understand that = the town=20 is not a four-year problem, it's a 40-year problem."

Another = incumbent=20 who finds Gary's remarks unfounded is Shackleton. "If we're never = working on the=20 city's problems, then why am I always on my way to a meeting or = committee," she=20 responds.

Shackleton is a lifelong Plymouth resident who spent 28 = years=20 owning and operating the town's Montessori preschool. It was her abiding = love of=20 children, Shackleton says, that made her get involved with the casino = fight.=20 "I'd been on the council back in the 1960s and I said I'd never do it = again. But=20 when the tribe came to town trying to build a casino, I entered my name = in the=20 recall election because I think casinos brings crime and traffic and = lowers our=20 quality of life."

Shackleton also feels that if any of the = incumbents are=20 unseated in the election, the Amador Water Agency will be partly to = blame. "I=20 think the AWA has tried to sabotage the election," she says. "(AWA = general=20 manager) Jim Abercrombie wants to sell water to a new casino. He and his = agency=20 certainly did everything they could in the last few months to scare the=20 residents of Plymouth to death over these potential water rate = increases. The=20 council were the ones who were getting blamed."

The anger the = council has=20 expressed toward the AWA represents the latest in a long series of feuds = that=20 have pushed tempers past the breaking point in Plymouth. Accusations and = shouting matches, which have filled City Hall for the better part of = four years,=20 are leaving some residents worried about what will happen if feuding = candidates=20 end up on the same council together.

"Most of the anger seems to = be=20 coming from Gary," Jon said of his brother. "I don't understand it, but = I've=20 been on the council with Gary before and we worked fine together. I = basically=20 think I could work with anyone."

Gary answers the same question = by saying=20 he has no problem with Patricia Fordyce or Michael O'Meara; and that = he's known=20 Shackleton since high school. Asked about his brother, Gary takes a long = drag on=20 his cigarette and gazes down the street before answering. "Yeah - yeah, = I think=20 I could work with my brother."

Candidate Maria Nunez, who has = lately been=20 put on the defensive by her opponents on the council, is hoping the end = of the=20 election will signal a time for healing in the city.

"Many people = running=20 in this election have known each other for years and years," she says = from her=20 porch overlooking the county fairgrounds. "The truth is I have great = respect for=20 Jon Colburn and all the things he's done for Plymouth over the years. = Patricia=20 Shackleton taught my children to read and I consider Greg Baldwin and = his wife=20 to be personal friends. We may disagree on many things, but what matters = is that=20 we all love Plymouth. As far as I'm concerned, Nov. 4th will come, and = no matter=20 who wins, life will go on and we will all be friends."

Scott Thomas = Anderson