Breaking Radio Silence
Jeff
had some folks ask me "Did you take me off the list?". Good to know
folks are staying up to speed. My last post to the group was just
after the passage of measures O & P and there has been quite a bit of
activity since then so lets see if I can condense this.
MCMS (Hospital) - As you might imagine this is still THE issue of the
moment. Even with the passage of the District and tax measures there
is still an enourmous amount of transition work to be done to get the
District up and running as an independent agency and to transfer the
license from the county to the District. We have had some senior
level personnel changes, mostly due to the fact that the folks that
are leaving worked their tails off to get us this far. Stan Oppegard
is the new interim CAO and has vast District Hospital experience and
comes highly reccomended from Dick Hathaway of Plumas District
Hospital, the folks Judy and I went and visited in early 2004 prior to
my even being elected. Stan is a straightforward business minded
individual whose vast industry contacts and steady hand are just what
we need during this transition period. You may have seen information
in the paper re cash issues and I will let you know that those are a
reality for any business entity. Those short term issues have been
resolved through a combination of getting more of the outstanding
receiveables in and with the initial receipt of much of the tax
funding.
General Plan - Trinity County has hired Susan Price to the position of
Special Projects Coordinator specifically to update the General Plan.
Susan comes highly reccomended and has decades of experience in
planning, project development and community interaction. She will be
working directly for our CAO Larry Layton out of the Trinity County
Court House and will bring great energy to this project. We expect
this process to start moving forward ASAP.
Transportation and Airport Projects - Due to a few rules and regs it
is best if I do not specifically comment on any projects that have not
yet been through the environmental process. I would encourage
EVERYONE to get up to speed on the following projects.
Weaverville Airport Relocation, Westside Connector
As many of you know I was in favor of delaying the federal document to
certify the Eastside Connector project until the General Plan is
updated. This has a lot more with giving the citizens of the county,
and this community, an opportunity to be on the front end of the
planning process rather than reacting to projects as they are
proposed. It is my belief that the planning process should determine
the projects rather than the revers.
If anyone has individual questions on how to get more information on
any of these projects I would encourage them to go to the county
website www.trinitycounty.org, get in touch with me directly or
contact the Trinity County Planning Department at (530) 623 - 1351.
Federal and State Actions - Several things that the Board Of
Supervisors is currently watching and trying to influence. I'll
bullet point them.
Roads and Schools - Funding from the Feds to our local schools, road
department
Congress is currently trying to attach a 1 year extension to the
continuing appropriations
bill in early March. If this doesn't happen many schools in
California will be closing and
for Trinity County our road department and schools will be severly
impacted. This is funding
for a long term understanding with the Feds from 1908 in exchange for
allowing National
Forest designations within Trinity County.
Prison Reform - Currently California is out of compliance with Federal
standards re prison overcrowding. So much so that there is a push to
send inmantes with 3 years or less on their sentence back to local
jails from the county of origion. This could have a severe impact on
our jail and General Fund. Lots of activity on this from Correctional
Officer Unions to County Sheriffs etc.
Sex Offender Placement - Trinity County, unfortunately, has one of the
highest per capita placements of these parolees in California. Some
additional legislation re methodology coming down on this and I am
involved in those discussions.
NOW THE POSITIVE STUFF.....YES IT EXISTS
The California State Association of Counties, the Regional Council of
Rural Counties and NORTEC are all great organizations to get our
voices and needs heard.
This year I was elected to CSAC's Executive Committee as one of 2
people representing California's 23 rural counties. Additionally I
am chairing CSAC's Ag and Natural Resource Committee which addresses
issues key to much of Trinity County.
Supervisor Roger Jaegel is chairing RCRC's Ag and Natural Resource
Committee this year.
Supervisor Wendy Reiss is charing the NORTEC group this year.
Our relationships with the State and Federal Government
representatives, our other local agencies like TPUD, WCSD, etc have
never been stronger. It is my hope that we are finally in a position
to elicit some much needed resources (financial, organizational, etc)
for the county as a whole and start being more proactive in issues we
are addressing. I think that the work that the citizens of this
county, the Board of Supervisors, county staff and our partner
agencies like the Trinity Public Utilities District have done over the
last 2 years has delivered us to being in this position.
We are also working on many other projects including: Broadband
Expansion, Cell Tower service and tower expansion, Affordable Housing,
Solid Waste Redesign, Emergency Services Coordination, Long Term
Financial Planning, Expansion of Weaverville Community
Forest.........and more.
My apologies for the extended silence and the long update. Will try
and make future posts more frequent and shorter. Also please
check out my updated website @
http://www.trinitydistrict2.com
Thank you again for your continued support and involvement. It has
made a difference.
Jeff Morris
Trinity County Supervisor - District 2
je...@weavervilleinfo.com
www.trinitydistrict2.com