The Reason I’m Running

At the heart of all of my goals for District 2 and the position as a County Supervisor is something that is very personal to me. I want our kids and young families to be able to build their lives right here in Tuolumne County. I love this community and I want people to be able to live here affordably, find a good job, be able to buy a home and raise their families here. And it doesn’t stop with the young families. I have so many friends and family members who are living here in their retirement years and are also concerned about affordable living. Many of the factors that affect this and our economy come from outside the county level, but I believe that we can find better solutions to stretch our county dollars. My goal is a community that is thriving and enjoying life together, with trust that our county government is accountable and responsibly managed, and county employees know they are valued and respected.

Fire and Public Safety

Public safety is the highest priority of the Board of Supervisors with Fire protection being of greatest concern at this time. Obviously, we live in a very high fire hazard severity zone and I will push to achieve the best fire protection we can afford. I will work to make smart choices for the county budget so we can live within our means while providing sustainable long-term funding for fire. The county simply cannot operate our most critical fire services with one-time money. We currently receive sustainable funding in the form of Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from the county’s largest business – tourism. I will work to boost TOT revenue by supporting Visit Tuolumne County, promoting economic development and seeking other revenue sources. Many fire service calls are for medical aid and I will work to recover insurance reimbursement for those services where possible.

I will work with CalFire, Tuolumne County Fire, our local fire districts, including Cedar Ridge Station 58, Crystal Falls Station 57, the now-shuttered Mono Vista Station 56, Twain Harte Fire and Mi-Wuk Sugar Pine Fire Protection District to leverage resources to get the most bang for our buck, and consider other possible strategies.

I will pursue grant funding for one-time expenses, such as purchasing new fire apparatus, personal protective gear, fire station building improvements, etc. But we cannot rely on grants for funding daily operations. I won’t repeat history like we saw with the SAFER grant and fail to act sooner in finding a plan for when the grants run out.

I will explore options to leverage the resources of other agencies such as the US Forest Service and PG&E fire prevention services which we all pay for with our tax and energy dollars.

Homelessness

The county has been through a long learning process on handling homelessness. The courts have also gone through a transition which has helped local governments address the situation. In the case of Martin vs. City of Boise, Idaho (2018), the Ninth Circuit Court made it very difficult for local government. Then in City of Grants Pass, Oregon vs. Johnson (2024) the US Supreme Court essentially overturned the Boise decision and made it much easier for local governments to reasonably enforce local laws and ordinances. During this time, our county took millions of dollars of state money and bought grossly overpriced properties to address homelessness, then changed gears to give law enforcement more tools, such as Camp Justice.  Also there has been good alignment with TC Health and Human Services (HHSA) to help people who want help and trespass people who don’t. Homelessness is much more under control and much less visible.

My opponent was a proponent of Housing First, a philosophy which included just getting people into homes without addressing drug addiction and mental health issues and which is just not successful. That philosophy also supports harms reduction which means giving people drugs. I believe there needs to be accountability and I totally support helping those that want help and are willing to put in the effort.

Roads

I believe good roads are part of public safety in the event of a wildland or house fire, as they provide egress for residents, access for fire equipment and are vital for all emergency transportation. Many roads are beyond inadequate. And we have too many communities with single road access – I will work to address that most concerning issue.

I am very excited to see the great work Public Works and the roads department have done in the roads repair work they’ve accomplished in-house at a much lower cost.  I fully support that effort and fully expect to greatly expand the number of miles of road improvements, including roadside brushing (which reduces fire risk) and culvert cleaning and repair.

Roads are funded by a combination of General Fund dollars (including TOT dollars), SB-1 gas taxes, Federal highway funds, grants and other sources.  Recently the board has been moving in the direction of distinctly allocating TOT revenue to what it was intended for: to help cover the costs incurred by tourists. This includes Fire, Law Enforcement and Roads, with a portion set aside to keep Visit Tuolumne County funded to bring in more tourists. This is what people understood the increases in TOT to be for

In 2020, Measure Q increased the county’s TOT from 10% to 12% and described the revenue as unrestricted general revenue intended to help address tourism’s impacts on roads, emergency response and other county services. You have my commitment to fully support a fair share of TOT to roads.

I want to aggressively pursue the nearly $30M of state and federal transportation funding held up because of delayed completion of financial audits that have been flying under the radar for a number of years. Administrative delays should not stand between our community and infrastructure improvements. We need old bridges replaced and/or upgraded and our local economy benefits from these projects as well. It’s our tax dollars coming back into the county. I don’t understand why my opponent did not make it a priority to get these audits completed on time. There is no excuse for this. I’m all about bringing in all the Federal and State money that belongs to us and I will work hard to make sure the road blocks are cleared out in a timely manner.

What does a supervisor do?

Believe it or not, there is no job description! Basically, the job is to oversee county operations by directing staff at a high level. Staff brings proposals and the board decides on whether to move on them or not. Often there are choices between alternatives.  My opponent just relies on what staff puts before him. Sometimes it’s a choice between two not-so-good alternatives. Sometimes it’s important to do your own research and see if there is a third choice that is better. I don’t see my opponent doing that, but I will.