Mt. Shasta Chamber Weblog » Government

Broadcast featuring candidates for Siskiyou county sheriff

MJW — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:21:24 +0000

The forum will be broadcast on Northland Cable Channel 15 and on the internet for those with a high speed connection at www.mctv15.org until the election in June at the following times:

Saturdays and Sundays at 6 PM

Mondays at 7:30 AM

Thursdays at 7:30 AM and 10 PM

Live broadcast to feature candidates for Siskiyou county sheriff

MJW — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:57:12 +0000

Siskiyou Media Council and the Mt. Shasta Chamber of Commerce announce the June 2010 Primary Candidate Forum to be held Wednesday, May 5^th at the MCTV15 studio on the Weed campus of College of the Siskiyous. The two hour forum will feature candidates for county sheriff and be moderated by Chamber President Vince Reinig.

Beginning at 7 PM, the forum will be broadcast LIVE on Channel 15 to south county Northland cable subscribers and via the internet at mctv15.org and recorded for periodic airing until election day, June 8th. Limited seating at the venue will be available on a first come, first served basis.

“We look forward to once again producing a quality, informative event to educate voters in this important election with the Chamber as our partner,” says Siskiyou Media Council Executive Director, Audra Gibson. “Providing the technical support to help get the word out is our specialty”, she says. Marie-Josée Wells, Executive Director of the Mt. Shasta Chamber says “We sponsor candidate forums to get more in depth information about candidates running for offices that affect the county wide business climate. Questions will be compiled from citizen input.” If you have a question for the sheriff candidates, email it to marie@mtshastachamber.com with the subject matter “Sheriff”.

2010-2011 Civil Grand Jury Service

MJW — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:22:09 +0000

If you wish to obtain an application, to become a Grand Jury Member in Siskiyou County, just click on this link to access and print the form.

Please mail the application to: Siskiyou County Superior Court, Attn. Jan Peery, Grand Jury Coordinator, P.O. Box 1026, Yreka, CA 96097.

Introduction

The Siskiyou County civil grand jury has 19 members. The grand jury is a judicial body composed of a set number of citizens (11, 19, or 23) based on county population. It is impaneled by the state constitution and various laws to act as an “arm of the court,” to be a voice of the people and conscience of the community.

The present grand jury system evolved from the ecclesiastical courts of the Dark Ages, beginning in 1164 when Henry II of England impaneled the first 16 man grand jury to remove criminal indictments from the hands of the church. In 1635, the first American grand jury was impaneled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony; by 1683 grand juries were present in all of the colonies. These early grand juries began the practice of returning “presentments,” which were primarily against public officials and different from criminal indictments.

Although forty-two states have some form of grand jury, only California and Nevada mandate that county grand juries be impaneled every year to conduct civil investigations of county government

Civil Grand Jury Functions

The Civil Grand Jury has two functions:

1. Acting in a public “watchdog” capacity by reviewing and reporting on the affairs of local government. Most of an average Civil Grand Jury’s time is spent reviewing local agencies and units of county government.

2. Investigating formal complaints from citizens against public officials and local agencies and units of government for misconduct in office.

Scope of investigative Powers

A. “Watchdog” Responsibilities

1. Investigate and report on the operations, accounts, and functions of:

a. County officers, departments and special legislative districts governed by county officers in their ex-officio capacity;
b. City officers and departments;
c. Joint Powers Agencies and officers;
d. Special purpose assessing or taxing districts locally wholly

Or partly within the county;

e. Local Agency Formation Commission;
f. Any nonprofit corporation established or operated on behalf of a

Public entity;

g. Redevelopment Agencies;
h. Housing Authority;

2. School Districts and Boards of Education.
3. Investigate and report upon the needs for the increase or decrease of salaries of the county elected officials.
4. Investigate and report upon the needs of all county officers in the county, including abolition or creation of offices and equipment for, or the method or system of, performing the duties of the severs offices.
5. Inquires into the conditions and management of the public prisons within the County.
6. Investigate and inquire into the willful or corrupt misconduct in office of public officers of every description within the county.
7. Investigate and inquire into sales and transfer of land, and into the ownership of land which, under state law, might or should escheat to the State of California.

B. Response to Complaints
Any individual may file a complaint with the Civil Grand Jury about the conduct of local agencies or units of government and public officials, whether elected or appointed. Anyone may ask for an investigation of alleged misconduct. Because names are never used in Civil Grand Jury Reports, individuals’ confidentiality is protected.

Throughout a complaint investigation, all information received by the Civil Grand Jury is kept in strict confidence and secrecy. Absolutely nothing may be disclosed by a Juror; even after his/her term has ended. It is a misdemeanor for Civil Grand Juror to disclose evidence presented to the Civil Grand Jury or of conversations, deliberations, and votes of Jurors (Penal Code 924.1).

While it is a part of the judicial system, a civil grand jury is an entirely independent body. Judges of the Superior Court, the district attorney, the county counsel, and the state attorney general may act as its advisors but cannot attend jury deliberations nor control the actions of the Grand Jury. Penal Code § 934, 939

Reports

The civil grand jury exercises its powers by means of final reports of all completed investigations, findings therein, and recommended actions. Reports may be issued as completed throughout the year of service. All reports, including the midterm (sometimes called interim) reports, will be collectively published at the end of the term in a consolidated final report. Midterm reports are frequently more effective in developing public awareness because of individual attention by news media. The ultimate power of the civil grand jury is in obtaining public support for the reports. Penal Code § 933

Agencies or departments and their governing bodies that are the subjects of investigations are required to respond to the findings and recommendations contained in the report within 60 or 90 days. Penal Code § 933.05

Ethics, Conflict of Interest, and Bias

No member of the grand jury may use his or her office for any kind of personal gain or advantage. Grand jurors must not identify themselves as grand jurors in matters other than those directly connected with grand jury business. They must not use their status as grand jurors to influence others or obtain favors during grand jury service.

Conflict of Interest

Jurors serving on standing committees and carrying out investigations for the grand jury will not use or appear to use such position for private gain. Jurors must not participate in any grand jury action when they have a clear, pre-existing bias regarding that action.

Term of Office

Jurors are appointed to a term of one year. Jurors may be carried over for a second term if they wish. However Jurors may not serve more than two consecutive terms without a one year break. In Siskiyou County the term runs from July1st to Jun 30th.

Supervisor candidates address issues at forum

MJW — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:14:17 +0000

By Tony D’Souza

Mount Shasta Area Newspapers

Wed Oct 29, 2008

By next week at this time the results of the long fall election campaign of 2008 should be known. The United States will have a new President and Vice President, California voters will have passed judgement on 12 different ballot propositions, and Siskiyou County will have elected numerous office holders and decided the fate of numerous bond measures.
One of the top decisions voters in Mount Shasta and Dunsmuir will be making is for County Supervisor in District 2, a seat longtime incumbent LaVada Erickson is relinquishing.
On Tuesday Oct. 21, Chris Vancil, Faculty Advisor for the History and Political Science Club at the College of the Siskiyous, hosted a Siskiyou County Supervisor District 2 election forum at the Lower Lodge of the Mount Shasta City Park. For an hour, the two candidates, Jim Hardy and Ed Valenzuela, fielded questions from Vancil and club members before a mixed audience of Mount Shasta residents and COS students.
In an election season that has become increasingly negative on a national level, Hardy and Valenzuela have run a consistently polite, considered, and amicable race for District 2 Supervisor. Both candidates have been highly visible at community events, and have stuck to the issues without engaging in mudslinging.

Opening statements
Jim Hardy: “I’ve lived in Siskiyou County for 40 years, raised my family here, worked in McCloud, worked for the County Office of Education. I travelled all around the county and got to know a lot of the local entities. I’ve worked on cooperative projects with the local school districts all around the county… I have a good feeling for what it is to be a resident of the different areas and their particular concerns, I think that gives me a good feeling of the county. Living here for 40 years or so, I have a pretty good sense of [South Siskiyou County]. But working through the county office also gave me a feeling of the entire county. I have 20 years of experience balancing budgets and working with state and federal agencies. I have a strong desire to see us succeed as communities… we really have a lot of talented people here and I really would like to be able to help us revitalize.”
Ed Valenzuela: “I am currently on the city council of Mount Shasta serving as mayor pro-tem. I am completing eight years on the city council. I was mayor last year, mayor pro-tem the year before that. Previous to that I had served on the planning commission for the city of Mount Shasta. I have found that being involved with politics is a way of giving back to the local community, it’s a great learning experience, and my goal is to leverage what I’ve learned and take it to the next level, to the county level. I have been in this area for approximately eleven years… it was a place where we wanted to raise a family. I was grateful that I was able to transfer here. I have 30 years as a telephone man. I am eligible to retire and plan on doing such if I am elected. Again, I’d like to say that my way of giving back to the community is through politics. My running for city council was to teach my kids that you can do something, you can change things at a local level… We’re in a downturn, my goal is to bring us back on the upturn. I have a lot of ideas, the reality is that there are going to be budget constraints the next couple of years.”

Questions & Positions
– On agenda items the candidates would address if elected: Hardy emphasized a ‘Shop local, go local’ approach, and spoke of trying to get the Enterprise Zone extended around the whole county. He said the county should look at taking control of income generating assets like the Box Canyon Dam power plant, which is currently contracted to an outside company. He said the county cannot count on ‘one big company’ coming in and providing jobs. Valenzuela praised the Roseburg cogeneration plant project, and said that he would spend time getting a full-view of the issues facing the county before putting items on the agenda.

– On defining their ‘guiding principles’: Valenzuela said his guiding principle is “… a monetary decision. The Supervisor is entrusted with taxpayer money… I want to do the taxpayers right by spending wisely.” Hardy said, “We don’t want to dilute, pollute, contaminate, or degrade where we live.” He said he was concerned about Nestle in McCloud “depleting and hurting” the watershed, and called for an emphasis on clean industry that guards the environment and invites tourists in.

– On economic development strategies. Hardy spoke of the ‘Local first’ movement and its success in such places as Bellingham, Wash., and Willits, Calif. He said that the COS Board of Trustees, on which he currently serves, is getting behind the idea at the college. Valenzuela also spoke of the ‘Local first’ idea, saying that people should be encouraged to patronize local businesses instead of driving to Medford or Redding. At the same time, Valenzuela said that the county should remain ‘business friendly.’ He said he sees recycling and telecommunications as potential growth industries that can provide local jobs.

– On barriers to economic development: Valenzuela said that the county’s remote location and distance from major population centers is a challenge. He said that there has been a tendency by residents to ‘overreact’ and say ‘no’ to businesses wanting to come into the county. “What I learned,” he explained, “is that you don’t say ‘No’ [as the first thing.]” Hardy spoke of the industries the county has lost over the years such as timber and the railroad, but pointed to the area’s quality ranch land. He said a mobile slaughterhouse could help keep production local, and our ranches functioning. He said that tech centers could access the fibre optic cable running along I-5.

– On a comprehensive county water policy: Valenzuela said, “The county does have a water policy.” He said his personal water goals include protecting riparian environments. Hardy differed from Valenzuela by saying, “The county has a water policy, but water bottling companies are exempt… Right now we don’t have any definite studies on our water. We need to look at the science… We need a clear, universal water policy.”
In their closing statements, both candidates spoke of their experience in local government and their ability to ‘hit the ground running.’ Both also pointed out that they have focused on the issues and run clean campaigns.

Final defining points

After the meeting, Hardy and Valenzuela answered a few additional questions:
On the Nestle issue: Valenzuela said,“I am for a do-able project… There are infrastructure costs associated with that project, Nestle will have to pay their share. The project is still a couple years out, it’s something I will be monitoring.” Hardy said, “I think it’s a bad idea. If they come in and the water monitoring comes out where what they would be allowed to take doesn’t impact that watershed, then maybe it’s a good idea. But right now what they have proposed, what their track record is, they just come in and take the resource and they don’t really provide a lot of good jobs. It’s an extraction, not an addition to the community.”

On the Roseburg cogeneration plant: Valenzuela said, “I am for it. It’s a way to use 100% of the log. It’s a way to generate electricity. There was a reason that the mill was built there in the first place, it has to do with the wind. So there are mitigating factors there that have to do with the [air quality issue]. I am for that project.” Hardy said, “I think that’s a great idea. We need that to get rid of the waste products in the woods, the overgrowth. But I am concerned about the air quality. I felt that there were unanswered questions in the environmental impact review that they glossed over. The filtration system, they just kind of said that it was okay and they didn’t do a lot of monitoring of the air.”
On logging and fire: Valenzuela said, “I am all for thinning projects. You see catastrophic fires almost annually. We need to be proactive to prevent catastrophic fires.” Hardy said, “Projects like Mountain Thin are really necessary where we go in and get rid of the excess fuels in the forest. And they are doing that with surgical precision, which we need to do. But just opening up the woods to the old-fashioned kind of logging, that’s not really practical for today. We need to look at getting a mill opened somewhere so the county can keep more of that money.”

Total campaign costs at this point: Valenzuela says he has spent $2500. Hardy says he has spent $3500.
Endorsements: Valenzuela has declined endorsements from the Republican Party and the Police Officers Association, citing his desire to remain non-partisan. Hardy has received endorsements from the Democratic Party and the Siskiyou County Employees’ Association.

Let your voice be heard in the November 4th elections

MJW — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:42:10 +0000

Oct 6 – Oct 28: Vote by Mail ballots can be requested and mailed during this time period.
Week of Oct 6: County Clerk’s Office to mail ballots to permanent Vote by Mail voters and mail ballot precinct voters.
Oct 20: Last day to register to vote for this election.
Oct 29 – Nov 4: Vote by Mail ballots available in County Clerk’s Office only.
Nov 4: Election Day! Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The Board of Supervisors will make in-lieu of election appointments at their meeting held on this day. Vote by Mail ballots must be received in the County Clerk’s Office or a polling place by 8 p.m.
Nov 5: Official Canvass begins, including counting provisional ballots.
Dec 2: Last day to certify election results.
Dec 5, Noon: Special District Directors/Officers take office. School Board Governing Board Members take office.

Local offices that will be on the Nov 4 ballot and candidates who are running include:
Run-off election for County Supervisor District 2 between Jim Hardy and Ed Valenzuela, and for County Supervisor District 4 between Grace Bennett and Anthony
Intiso.
City of Weed — Council Member, full term, two positions, four years, Dec. 2008 to Dec. 2012; Chuck Sutton, incumbent; Bob Hall.
Lake Shastina Community Services District — Director, full term, two positions, four years, Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 7, 2012; Richard E. Negro, incumbent; Beverly Roths, incumbent; Tony Pavlic.
Mt. Shasta Fire Protection District — Director, full term, three positions, four years, Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 7, 2012; David Libby, incumbent; Charles McDonald, Lane A. Michel, Rick Marshall, Jack Miller.
Siskiyou Union High School, Area 1 — Governing Board Member, full term, two positions, four years, Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 7, 2012; George Winkelman, incumbent; Arlandus Clark, incumbent; Billy Joe Blevins, Jana Blevins, Susan Tavalero.
Siskiyou Union High School, Area 2 — Governing Board Member, full term, one position, four years, Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 7, 2012; Kevin Kreowski, Linda Wallace.
Siskiyou Union High School, Area 3 — Governing Board Member, Full Term, one position, four years, Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 7, 2012; George Chambers, incumbent; Jay Clark.
Siskiyou Joint Community College, Area 4 — Governing Board Member, full term, one position, four years, Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 7, 2012; Norman Shaskey,Milan Vodicka, Barry Ohlund.
Siskiyou Joint Community College,Area 6 — Governing Board Member, full term, one position, four years, Dec. 5, 2008 to Dec. 7, 2012; William Rowe, incumbent; Gregory C. Hanna.

Mt. Shasta City Council Special Meeting

MJW — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:18:16 +0000

During a special meeting of the Mt. Shasta City Council this Thursday, Aug. 21, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, council members will consider the approval of resolutions appointing candidates to city offices in lieu of holding the November municipal election because only one candidate filed per office.
a) Resolution No. CCR-08-XX: Approving the Appointment of Russ Porterfield as a City Council Member;
b) Resolution No. CCR-08-XX: Approving the Appointment of Michael Murray as a City Council Member;
c) Resolution No. CCR-08-XX: Approving the Appointment of Katrina Howard as a City Council Member;
d) Resolution No. CCR-08-XX: Approving the Appointment of Prudence Kennedy as City Clerk and Karen Dettman as City Treasurer.
A public comment session will be held prior to appointment of the candidates for members of the public wishing to address the council.