Katherine Evatt, of Katherine’s Somewhat Randon Thoughts has posted this video by Mike E. “Mikey” Wier. It is a “quick tour” of the Mokelumne River.
Weir’s “Mokelumne video shows not only the river’s beautiful landscapes,” writes Evatt, “but helps viewers understand some of the real threats facing the river today.”
After watching the video, see what you can do to help protect the Mokelumne River.
x-posted from The Bayne of Blog.
Gotta love it when the other side makes your argument for you.
State Senator Dave Cox recently met with Republicans in Amador County telling them about a recent visit with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. During his visit with the Governor,
Cox said he urged repeal of the state law mandating lunch periods and breaks for employees working in California, reminding Schwarzenegger that Teichert Construction Co. recently lost an expensive lawsuit when it was ruled to have illegally denied breaks.
I’m a little confused. Isn’t that the point of the law? To keep employers from denying breaks.
Before their meeting on Wednesday, the Amador County Unified School District Board of Trustees toured a new building at Ione Jr. High School. As wonderful as this new building is, it leaves me wondering about how they — the school board — intends to maintain it. They recently sent the entire maintenance department packing when they laid them all off.
The Ledger-Dispatch reports that the new building cost $5 million, paid with developer fees and state funds. While it is likely the money could only be used for this purpose, it sends the wrong message to the community to be constructing buildings and at the same time laying off the people needed to maintain them.
“In the district, our buildings are fairly antiquated,” said Dr. Bill Murray, the schools principal.
The oldest building on campus was built in 1903. It was the original schoolhouse and is still in use, he said. In fact, classes were held there until earlier this school year. The school’s parents’ club has since raised $3,500 to renovate the building’s interior. The two-room schoolhouse will be ready for use as a library and media center by the beginning of next school year.
And just who does the district think is going to maintain these new buildings and protect the district’s investment? They see no problem with contracting out the work, in spite of the fact that they have employees on re-hire list who, according to California law, must be re-employed.
The students at Ione Jr. High School will benefit greatly from the new building. It is wonderful that the district was able to find a way to provide it to them. Now it is time for the school board to make sure that this investment in the future of our children has a future itself. The school board must rescind the layoff notices and hire back the maintenance employees and assure our children that they will have a safe and secure environment in which to spend the bulk of their day. It cannot be done through illegal maneuvers such as contracting out work previously done by laid off workers, or hiring back workers at inferior pay and reduced benefits. They must be hired back under the laws of the state of California.
What can the community do to hold their elected leaders accountable. Start with a letter, as called for in my earlier post. If there is no satisfactory response, and in light of the illegality of their actions, ultimately a recall may be in order.
Back in February, I wrote about Amador Schools Superintendent Dick Glock’s determination to lead the Amador District down an illegal path. Three months later, Glock continues to run the district outside the law, and what is even more disturbing, he has convinced six members of the seven member school board that California law does not apply to Amador County schools.
In February, under the recommendation of Glock, the school board voted 6-1 to layoff the entire maintenance department. In doing so they were telling the community that the jobs these employees were doing no longer exist.
“According to the California Education Code, there are only two legal reasons a school district can layoff employees; lack of work or lack of funds. In either case, the district is declaring that the position is in fact “gone,” I wrote then. “If it is not “gone” the employees cannot be laid-off. Additionally, positions cannot be eliminated then re-created in order to get around the law. This includes lowering the rate of pay for the positions. These are all matters subject to bargaining.”
“Under California law, the decision to layoff school employees is not negotiable,” I wrote earlier. “However, the affect of those layoffs are. The real question is, given their past record of refusing to talk by claiming no authority, will there be any meaningful negotiations? The union is prepared to take whatever legal action is necessary to assure the district’s compliance with the law.”
According to Marcie Bayne, Senior Labor Relations Representative with the California School Employees Association (CSEA), the union that represents Amador School’s Classified workers, “Under the law, when this [a layoff] occurs, there are certain procedures which must be followed. We have a collective bargaining agreement (contract) with the school district which clearly outlines the process. It is written in clear language. At this point the district is unwilling to follow either the contract or law. Now that the worker’s are either laid off, have taken lower paid positions or retired, the district is contracting their work to outside vendors in violation of the law. Those outside vendors are also not from Amador County.”
When these layoffs were voted on, community support for employees was overwhelming. Yet, the school board ignored the wishes of the voters who put them in office, and sided with the hireling, Glock. The board is supposed to tell the superintendent what to do, not allow itself to be led down an illegal path on his say-so.
Once a layoff occurs, any work that is subsequently needed in the laid off positions must be offered to employees who have been laid off in order of seniority. Hired back positions must be at the same pay and continue as if the employee never left. The district is barred, under the law, from laying off employees and then contracting out for the same or similar work. Yet, Glock and six of seven board members think they are above the law.
In February, Bayne promised, “If they fail to bargain with us in good faith, we will take appropriate action”.
The employees and their union – CSEA are asking the community to help them take appropriate action. They would like letters written to the school board members asking them “why they are allowing Superintendent Dick Glock and Personnel Director Nina Neville to violate the law and the contract and create a chaotic learning environment for students, teachers and support staff.”
“Ask the Board why they are sending work outside the county when they have employees who once did that work and should still be doing that work,” request Bayne.
You can write to the School Board as a whole – Mary Walser is the president of the board OR you can just write to your area representative on the board.
Pat Miller, the lone board member who has been supportive of employees and the community, and opposed the layoffs, also needs to hear from the community. The letter to him should thank him for his support and be about convincing his colleagues to do the right thing — make the Superintendent abide by the contract.
Calling the board members would also be a good way to communicate your message.
Bayne is also asking letters to the editor be sent to the Ledger-Dispatch.
“We believe the District is intentionally creating chaos among the staff and teachers,” says Bayne. “When we did lay-offs last year (Before Glock) they were done by following the contract and the legal process and were very sympathetic to the issues of the laid off workers. This year – not so. The difference – a new superintendent. We need a leader in our school district who cares about our students, teachers and staff. The county has suffered enough unemployment already with the closing of Prospect Motors, we don’t need anymore.”
Contact information for the school board can be found at http://www.amadorcoe.org/School_Board.htm and includes email addresses and phone numbers. Letter can be mailed to the school district at 217 Rex Avenue, Jackson , CA 95642, attn: Board member’s name.
Letters to the editor can be sent by email to editor@ledger-dispatch.com or mailed to P.O. Box 1328, Jackson, CA. 95642.
The Amador County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to oppose the proposed expansion of Pardee Reservoir. They said their opposition extended to “any other variation on a Pardee expansion if it had the same impacts as East Bay MUD’s current proposal,” according to Katherine Evatt writing at Katherine’s Somewhat Random Amador Thoughts.
I think it’s the first time in the nearly 30 years I’ve lived here that our board of supervisors has actually voted in favor of protecting the Mokelumne River. I may be wrong, but I can’t think of any other examples.
No one can really blame him. Rep. Dan Lungren can’t take the heat and support his recent votes against veterans, children, and the needs of his constituents in general. To avoid any hint of criticism or being held accountable Congo Dan resorted to controlling the questions asked at a recent town hall in Elk Grove reports D. A. Gougherty for Elk Grove News.net.
“Lungren made it clear that the format of this ‘townhall’ meeting would not include direct questioning from the audience. Rather constituents were to fill out a questionnaire and submit for indirect questioning by (Elk Grove Mayor Patrick) Hume.”
Congo Dan clearly knows he is in trouble and will likely face a much bigger challenge in 2010 than Democrats have been able to muster in the past two elections. Candidates are starting to come forward, with 2006 and 2008 challenger Bill Durston sitting 2010 out. The Democratic field is not yet set, but may be soon. More news will be coming in the next few weeks.
Congo Dan is being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) – aka D-trip. Though I and others are not thrilled with the robo calls, it looks like CD-03 is finally getting some recognition as a vulnerable Republican target. This is especially true due to Lungren’s poor showing in 2010. He was unable to muster 50% of the vote. In political terms, Lungren is close to being on life support.
Then there’s the 2010 census to consider.
Another not so small consideration is the 2010 census, the proposed process of which Lungren roundly criticized during the meeting. Given that Lungren could not muster a simple majority, should Lungren hold on in 2010, 2012 will surely see the third’s congressional lines redrawn to include a greater swath of urban landscape, i.e., more liberal – not an area exactly conducive for Lungren’s particular brand of conservatism.
On Wednesday the Amador Co. Board of Supervisors honored Rep. Dan Lungren. One has just got to wonder why. Why would the supervisors of a county that Congo Dan has virtually ignored and treated with absolute disdain choose to honor him? Kool-Aid, the drinking thereof, comes to mind. Congo Dan has been an artful liar who has masterfully used arrogance, manipulation and hypocrisy to work his way into the good graces of just enough people to squeak out another term, very likely his last, in congress.
Congo Dan will do or say anything to keep his tenuous hold on office.
To put it lightly, the Amador Co. supes are dupes to have honored Congo Dan. Amador deserves better.
According to the Amador Co. Ledger-Dispatch, “the board will present the congressman with a resolution recognizing his continued support to county priorities.”
What support? He has done absolutely nothing for the county. For starters, when it came time to bring projects and money home to his 3rd Congressional District, Lungren first got earmarks worth millions. He did it purely for show so he could say he was supporting the folks back home, at the same time knowing he would later vote against these same local benefits. When it came time to stand up for his constituents and actually vote for the bills containing the earmarks, Congo Dan voted against his district by voting against the final bills. He would love to have us believe he supports us, but the proof is in the abysmal voting record.
The FY2010 budget contained money for the Pine Grove corridor project on Highway 88. This would have brought money and jobs to Amador County. It also contained money for one of Amador’s most deserving constituencies — veterans. Congo Dan isn’t satisfied with just saying no to everything from creating millions of new jobs to providing the largest middle class tax cut in history. Now he is targeting America’s veterans with his ‘just say no’ ways. By opposing the FY 2010 budget, Lungren has now said no to increasing funding for veterans’ health care and other benefits by more than 11 percent. As Judy Hotchkiss put it, instead of honoring Congo Dan, “they should cite him for hypocrisy.”
“Representative Dan Lungren’s rhetoric about supporting our veterans doesn’t match reality when he rejected a budget that strengthens the health care and other benefits America’s brave veterans earned through their service and sacrifice,” said Jennifer Crider, Communications Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Representative Lungren put loyalty to party leaders before loyalty to America’s veterans who served and sacrificed for our country. The last thing veterans need is more of Representative Lungren’s just say no ways.”
Congo Dan is not an honorable person, and he certainly doesn’t deserve to be honored for failing to represent his constituents. The Amador Republicans invited Congo Dan to speak the evening of the supervisor’s meeting. I doubt he was held to account for his failures to Amador County; not by his own party. Meaning that Amador Republicans have failed Amador County as well.
Fortunately, we will have another opportunity to remove Congo Dan from office in 2010. There is already one Democratic candidate in the running. More on that later, but those reading this who are interested in CD-03 might want to attend the May 5 meeting of the Democratic Club of Amador County.
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) has announced it will hold another foothill public hearing on a plan to expand Pardee Reservoir. The hearing will be on Monday, March 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in San Andreas at the San Andreas Town Hall.
On Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. the Amador Co. Board of Supervisors is meeting. On the agenda is “discussion and possible action relative to the proposed expansion of Pardee Dam and expansion of Pardee Reservoir.”
Last week a meeting in Amador County drew an overflow crowd of about 150.
