How your TOT dollars circulate in the local economy

I'm too excited to remember the timeline now, but awhile ago, Amador County raised the Transient Occupancy Tax from 6% to 10%. The Board of Supervisors gave some of that money to the Amador Council of Tourism, and Executive Director Maureen Funk invested that money in advertising in various media outlets including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Reno GazetteJournal.

Flashback to 1988: I grew up in Reno, and when I was studying high school journalism, I figured I would just go to UNR's Reynolds School of Journalism and be a rich and famous *snicker* writer for the Reno Gazette Journal. Well, life happened and I ended up moving to Sacramento when I was 19 (and to Amador County in 2004). I still worked in journalism of some sort - as a typesetter, marketing/public relations assistant, reporter, and technical writer. Now, I have a day job as an administrative assistant for the Assessor's office, but I still freelance - mostly covering the wine industry in Amador County.

Flash forward to a few months ago: My high school dream came true. I got an email from the special sections editor of the Reno Gazette Journal wanting to farm out an advertorial to me for the Amador Council of Tourism. It seems Funk recommended me; she had the choice of having the RGJ staff write a piece, or farming it out to a local writer. *chuckle*

Funk wanted the piece to have "street cred" so she recommended me - the *a-hem* local writer. Well...If Maureen wants street cred, street cred she will get. I used my maiden name in the byline - just in case any Reno readers remembered me, and I got a quote from one of my high school friends (Margaret Northam) who still lives in Reno but visits Amador County often (her brother writes for the Gold Country Times). I interviewed Tracey Berkner of Taste/Volcano Union Inn, and Jeanne Deaver from the Flower Farm/Deaver Vineyards. Maureen submitted photos from Amador photographer Larry Angier to go with the story.

The magazine came out today, and I got my big, fat check last week, some of which I spent on pretty things at the Clothes Mine, and the rest of the money I'm saving to take my husband out to dinner when he gets back home (he's a helicopter mechanic for the California Army National Guard; he's off doing ... something in camo that smells like JP8).

I cannot tell you how much this means to me. In all honesty, though, this whole dream-come-true thing goes to Maureen Funk for recommending me, and to the BOS for giving her the money to hire me. And to Tracy Lindenberger for having a store that I can easily blow my paycheck on, and to Griffin's Steakhouse because you know that's where we're going - they have awesome food. Oh wait...So does Hotel Sutter. Oh dear, I didn't realize I'd be caught in such a quandary. I love living in downtown Sutter Creek and I love being from Reno, Nev. They are both fabulous, vibrant communities. 

The truth about veterans services in Amador County

Jason Mulford from Victory Village speaks at the Ione Veterans Memorial March April 26, 2014.

In today's Amador Ledger-Dispatch, Pioneer resident LTC Henry H. Arnold, III (retired) published a letter to the editor titled, "Veterans resources in Amador" criticizing the Amador County Board of Supervisors for threatening to "put approximately 20 Veterans and their families out on the street" by not providing sufficient support for Veteran support organization Victory Village. This threat is not true. Victory Village and the County HAVE gotten into some heated arguments, but at no time were any vets in danger.

Over the past few months, I have spoken to Veterans ServicesOfficer Terry Sanders, Nichole Mulford from Victory Village, and Districts 3 and 4 Supervisors Theodore Novelli and Louis Boitano respectively. Here's the scoop....

Victory Village opened in March 2012 to provide housing, education, life skills and physical wellness to military families. The role of the Veterans Services Officer is to work closely with accredited veterans organizations to fulfill more administrative-type needs such as claim filings, benefit counseling, and case management. The two groups complement each other, but do not overlap.

Victory Village got in a brouhaha with the County a few months ago because they were filing benefit claims that are required by law to be completed by an accredited officer, such as VSO Terry Sanders. When these claims are filed through the proper channels, veterans are assured their cases are handled properly, and the County receives subvention funds to offset the revenue loss from providing exemptions from paying some of the property taxes. Additionally, Victory Village opened a business without securing building permits or use permits, which are required of ANY organization - for-profit or non-profit. They even wanted to provide alcohol and drug rehabilitation, which would require additional permits and licensing. The County made them come up to code.

On Dec. 10, Victory Village requested the Board of Supervisors to approve its application for an Emergency Solutions Grant with HUD and HCD. The BOS asked them to come back with a formal application so they would have some actual documentation to use to make an informed decision whether or not to approve the application. The Mulfords did as requested, and on Dec. 16, the BOS approved the request.  

As of this blog, all of the Board's concerns have been addressed and are now in the process of being rectified. Victory Village IS open for business. Veterans and their families will NOT be thrown out on the streets.

Unfortunately, District 3 Supervisor Theodore Novelli - a Marine veteran who served in Vietnam and is currently an active member in good standing with the American Legion - is taking a lot of heat from TSPN TV Programming and Marketing Manager Mike Spence who wishes to disrupt Novelli's campaign as he seeks re-election this June.

I have never met Spence, but I have known Novelli since he first ran for office in 2006. I may have not agreed with every decision he has made, in fact, I have been angry with him on certain issues, but overall, he is a good man with a heart of gold and it breaks my heart that anyone would talk smack about him. His other challenger - Lynn Morgan (the outgoing Upcountry Community Council president who led the fight to save the Pioneer IGA store) - is NOT engaging in mudslinging just to win an election. She is taking the high road and I think that's a good strategy, especially in D3. Let us not forget 2006 when Novelli was originally faced against mudslinging competitor Erik Christesen. Novelli won, despite the negative campaigning.

What is truly sad in all this is that veterans - who have served our country honorably - are caught in a political battle over services designed to benefit them, not the people fighting over the D3 chair.

Update April 29, 2014: Jason Mulford from Victory Village supplied the following edits:

We promoted the usage of the US Department of Veteran Affairs online self-serve Veterans claims filing system; Ebenefits.gov.  We encouraged and had a computer that Veterans could use to file their own claims through Ebenefits.gov.  After meetings with various Government officials (local, state and federal) and reading a VA OIG report on Ebenefits.gov we now encourage all Veterans to file claims through Terry Sanders first, and then create an Ebenefits.gov account to monitor the claim with Terry being their accredited agent.  I found that it was in the best interest of every Veteran to use the CVSO while applying for benefits from the VA.  In addition we now require as part of our intake that all Veterans visit Terry Sanders office for assistance.

We did obtain a County Building “Demo” permit, but there was some confusion whether a Use Permit was required.  We argued that under SB 2 we didn’t require one, in addition the County allowed “Halfway Ranch, Inc. (HWR)” to operate a transitional housing facility at the same location for nearly 4 years without a Use Permit. Amador County Behavioral Health even contracted with HWR.  Victory Village is a Transitional Housing Facility (CA H&S Code 50582) and is certified as a Sober Living Environment, for Veterans and their families. We are not a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center; we send Veterans that need such services directly to the Mather VA Hospital and then pick them back up for transitional housing and supportive services at Victory Village. 

The application was complete and the BoS did not approve our ESG grant application’s Local Certification;  2 votes in favor (Oneto & Novelli), 1 vote against (Boitano) and 2 absents (Plasse/Forster).  Final of 2-3 votes in favor to not approve Victory Villages application, this cost our local community $68,000 to help local homeless Veterans.

The BoS did discuss that we were operating illegally and referred to County Counsel whether or not to allow us to operate.

ACTC's Pine Grove Corridor Project - John Plasse's side of the story

In her Nov. 23 blog, writer Katherine Evatt wrote, "Do planning and public participation count? Maybe not in Amador County," taking on the issue of Amador County Transportation Commission member John Plasse calling for a reconsideration vote less than one month after the commission - including Plasse - voted unanimously to approve the Pine Grove Corridor ImprovementProject. The blog went viral on Facebook, and comments criticizing Plasse - including my own - reached the Amador County District 1 Supervisor. On Nov. 26, Plasse asked to speak with me personally to talk about my concerns. During our discussion, he elaborated on his response to Evatt, why he voted the way he did, and why he's asking for a reconsideration vote.

GB: What is your response to Katherine's blog?

JP: I would say that most of what Katherine put on her post - sans the offer to provide the  feathers to tar and feather me with from Mr. Matt Turner, -I believe was the name- aside from that, most of what Katherine put on her post is reasonably accurate. Frankly, Katherine suffers from the sins of omission to a certain extent in her post. If she's trying to put information out there, she did not put out that the vote was to spend an additional $5 million to $6 million to get the Pine Grove project "shovel ready," which would then, likely as a result of the community taking the stance that now that you've got $8 million invested in it, how can you possibly not build it? That would cost an additional $30 million or so to complete build-out. And then that money - what's called the STIP money - State Transportation Improvement Program - comes to Amador County in two-year cycles. To commit that expenditure to the Pine Grove Project would be encumbering all of Amador County's STIP monies, making none available for any other worthwhile projects in Amador County. It would encumber those through the year 2028. So the next 15 years, and other provisions that have been discussed in the background as far as partnering back in the tri-counties MOU with Alpine and Calaveras counties, could potentially extend that encumbrance or commitment of Amador STIP funds into the 2030 years. This is per ACTC staff's presentation to me personally.

GB: When you voted to approve everything in October, why are you changing your mind now?

JP: I voted with the majority in October because we had been in a very lengthy meeting. The Board was of no mind to have a full and complete discussion on this - that was pretty obvious. The only way I or anybody else can request a reconsideration of the vote is to be a member of the voting majority. Those are the provisions for a reconsideration vote. It keeps a member of the minority that lost on a vote from constantly calling for a reconsideration. So I voted with the majority so I could do just that.

I have spoken with Charles Field about this proposal, about the presentation that was given to me by Neil Peacock privately when I began wanting to place this as reconsideration vote. Neil took the time to give me about a two-hour personal explanation of the historical context of the Pine Grove Project and what documents support it and how they support it and why they support it. Again, it was about two hours and Charles Field has advised that if the commission votes to have a reconsideration vote, that we schedule that reconsideration vote for early next year, and plan to have an entire workshop specifically going into the funding timeline, the funding encumbrance timeline, as I just discussed out to 2028 going into the 2030s, which I find very interesting because if the commission needs a full workshop to fully understand the funding commitments that it's making to a singular project in Amador County, then why didn't we have the workshop before we made the initial vote? If it's necessary in a reconsideration, it's necessary in the initial vote. And I don't feel the commission was fully apprised of all the information out there.

If you are interested in providing your input, attend the ACTC meeting Nov. 27 at 9 a.m. at the ACTC office - 117 Valley View Dr. in Sutter Creek. Please see the agenda for more information. 

Use Your Words

I'm a bit melancholy tonight. The junior high that I attended 30 years ago - Sparks Middle School - had a shooting incident Oct. 21 that left one teacher and the 12-year-old gunman dead and two other students in Renown Regional Medical Center.

The motive for the shooting is not yet known, but reports are circulating that the boy might have been a victim of bullying.

According to CNN, the students had been shown an anti-bullying video Oct. 11 - the day before fall break. In the video, a girl brought a gun on a bus threatening a bunch of kids that had bullied her. On Oct. 21, the children returned to school. The gunman brought a Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun from his home. His parents are currently being investigated.

The flashbacks are hitting me hard. I was one of many kids who were bullied. I have worn glasses since I was 8 years old. I was the ugliest kid in school. I wasn't a jock; I was the last kid picked for teams at PE. In fact, I was just an overall dork. The bullies teased me relentlessly. In 6th grade, the main bully told me I was so ugly I should shave my face and grow a scar. That was the nicest thing he ever said to me.  I have had the wind knocked out me, my shirt ripped off my shoulder, and a basketball thrown at me so hard that I couldn't walk for days.

In 7th Grade, the jeers and insults caused me to develop a spastic colon, a condition that made me miss up to three weeks of school at a time. I dreaded going to school. I barely passed that year due to my absences. I was too sick to go to class and my grades showed it.

In 8th grade, a girl threatened to kill me after an innocent joke I made during a field trip. She wouldn't let it go. It was just a joke. I apologized. She didn't care. She still wanted to kill me.

That's when I changed schools and attended Dilworth Junior High on the other side of town, only to meet up with Ms. Bully and the other jerks in 9th grade at Reed High School. She wrote on my locker, "I hate Gwen Bohdan" and accosted me in the hallway, again threatening to kill me - screaming it at the top of her lungs while a mutual friend held her back. A few hours later, we were called into the Vice Principal's office to talk it out, but she had already told the whole school she was going to kick my ass. Her excuse was I supposedly said some remark to her friends - a statement I never made - but she took it as gospel and didn't bother to diplomatically consult me on the issue. Her mind was closed and she wanted to kill me whether her friends were right or wrong.

Shortly thereafter, my mom made arrangements for me to switch to Sparks High School - the best move I could have made because SHS rocked. I had a great three and a half years there.

This was all during a time when my dad - a card-carrying member of the NRA - had guns in the house. I was raised to respect firearms. He tried to teach me to shoot when I was about 10, but the rifle was too heavy and my poor eyesight made it hard to focus on the bull's eye. Nonetheless, guns were locked up in a safe place.

As my teenage years progressed, music started influencing me greatly. I listened to all the hard rock/heavy metal groups, including Judas Priest - the band involved in a lawsuit over subliminal messages after the 1985 suicides of two Sparks boys who quoted their cover of Spooky Tooth's song "Better By You, Better Than Me" in the suicide note. The suit was dismissed, but the stigma attached to music and violence was right up there with Marilyn Manson being associated with the Columbine High School Massacre of 1999.

In 1988, I ventured into the field of Early Childhood Education, and taught preschool for the next two years. We were trained to teach our students to "use their words" when confronted. I have to say, that's the best advice I could give anyone: Your language skills will carry you further than any fist or firearm. In the real world, you can't beat up or shoot a client or coworker who wants to argue.

In the decades since, I have learned that bullies will always be around. Yes, it's important for us to teach our children not to be bullies, but you can't rely on someone else to educate their children. You only have yourself.

If you or your children are faced with a bully, remember you can't change the other person. Bringing a firearm to school only makes the bully a martyr and you don't want elevate the jerk to the level of innocent victim.

Firearms are great when someone wants to physically harm you, but using them against someone who teased you? Uh...no.

Blame the bullies. Blame the music. Blame the gun laws. But when it comes down to it, it's your finger that pulls the trigger.

I don't believe tougher gun control legislation is the answer because criminals will never obey those laws. We already have rules making sure parents store their weapons properly. I had lunch today with a friend who brought up a good point: If we arm teachers, will they have the muscle memory to use the weapon when a situation occurs? You can't just give someone a gun and expect him or her to fire it adequately.

Affordable and accessible mental health care would be ideal, but in the meantime, we are all stuck with doing the best we can with what we have. So here's my advice: Teach your kids to accept outcasts because we're going to grow up to totally rock this planet. We may not have the money, looks or social status, but we're productive members of society and we have mastered the arts of compassion and responsibility.

To the jerks who caused me so much grief over the years: Your time as a bully is short lived. I survived your petty little games, and now at age 43, I have an acid tongue that can verbally annihilate you or anyone else. Once we get to be our age, you all are has-beens. Success is almost the best revenge. Telling you off in a mass of $10 words comes pretty close, but not caring about you at all tops the list. Thirty years later, I'm happy now - way happier than I would have been if I knocked you all off and would either be dead or in prison. To quote the 1983 Martin Briley song, "You ain't worth the salt in my tears." And you sure as hell ain't worth the lead in my gun.

Celebrate fall with the Fiddletown Schoolhouse Breakfast

Autumn is the perfect time to enjoy the colorful fall foliage and a hearty morning meal out in the country.

Visitors are invited to attend the Fiddletown Preservation Society's all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet and bake sale Sunday, Nov. 3 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Fiddletown Community Center. All proceeds benefit the restoration of the original one-room Fiddletown Schoolhouse on American Flat Road. Once restoration is complete, the schoolhouse will serve as a community learning/cultural center for small concerts, art and historical exhibits, and other public and private events.

The structure was built in 1862, and served children in grades 1 through 8 until 1955 when the school closed and students began attending school in the town of Plymouth six miles away. The FPS began restoration efforts in 1964. The inside renovation is mostly done. The inside plumbing is complete - lines from the building to a septic holding tank are in; however the building still does not have a hookup to a septic system. The schoolhouse still needs repairs to the failing foundation on the north side where the wall is bowing out. Guests will be welcome to visit the schoolhouse during the breakfast.

Prices for the breakfast are $10 for adults, $3 for ages 6 to 16 and $1 for ages 5 and under. Menu includes: French toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, bacon and sausage, pastry and muffins, fresh fruit, milk, orange juice and coffee. A separate bake sale will also be available for guests to take home a piece of Fiddletown country goodness. Additionally, the group is selling a new publication - Fiddletown Schoolhouse Memories - based on interviews with former students of the Fiddletown/Oleta School conducted by historian Elaine Zorbas.

For more information, contact Fiddletown Preservation Society President Alice Kaiser at (209) 245-6042 or via email at alicekaiser@hotmail.com. Be sure to visit the FPS website at www.fiddletown.info.

Further reflections of 9/11

The weekend after the twelfth anniversary of 9/11, the California Army National Guard held its Volunteer Resilience Training and Volunteer Awards Ceremony at the Sacramento Armory. Although the events of 9/11 were not part of the agenda, I personally couldn't help reflecting on everything that has happened over the past dozen years.

Note: I am basing this blog on my own experiences: Studying almost every major religion in the world, taking an International Terrorism class a few years ago as part of my degree program at Regis University, falling in love with a soldier currently deployed in the Middle East, and becoming a volunteer for the Guard. This discussion will NOT be about any conspiracy theories that have circulated about the Bush and Obama administrations, OPEC, the World Bank, et cetera. I am also assuming that Islam itself is a peaceful religion, and most Muslims do not hate Americans and instead want to be free of the terrorists (who are raping and massacring their own people) just as much as we do.

Let's start with religion. The conflict between Muslims and Judao-Christians stems from Genesis 11-17. Abraham is believed to be God's Chosen One who would lead His people to the Promised Land. He and his wife Sarah were both elderly, but Abraham needed to be the "progenitor of nations," but since Sarah was unable to bear children (so she thought), she told Abraham to conceive a child with her Egyptian handmaiden, Hagar. Hagar bore a son named Ishmael. Thirteen years later, Sarah miraculously conceived a child and named him Isaac.  Muslims believe Ishmael is the rightful heir to the Promised Land, while Judao-Christians believe Isaac should inherit the land. The problem is that Abe never signed a deed transferring ownership from him to either Ishmael or Isaac. So that's why we're in this holy war. Ergo, there will never be a resolution because God/Yaweh/Jehovah/Allah has yet to officially endorse any religious sect through a means all sides will recognize.

Moving on to International Terrorism class: Islamic terrorists hate America because they think we are Satan. They still begrudge the USA for siding with Israel after Jewish terrorist group Irgun Zvai Leumi bombed the King David Hotel in 1946, which led to Israel gaining its independence from Britain in 1948. From there, we have the whole Palestine thing, which gets messy and confusing. Suffice to say, Israelis and Palestinian Arabs are still fighting for control. 'Murica is siding with Israel because they are our ally. Terrorist groups in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, Syria and other places side with the Palestinian Arabs. Disclaimer: I do not know which side, if any, non-terrorist Muslims/Arabs sympathize with.

Ever since Israel became its own state, Islamic terrorists (jihadists) have tried to distract us by claiming we are too materialistic, have loose moral standards, and let women like Miley Cyrus out of the house. Unlike most wars, the jihadists are not fighting for the freedom of their people, but rather to break down our economy, destroy our sense of security, and convert us all to Islam (from there, we get to fight a civil war over whether we want to be Sunnis, Shiites, or Sufis). I assure you, none of that will happen. Here's why: Americans are resilient - the more you try to fragment us, the closer we grow to each other.

The first word in our country's name is UNITED. We may bicker among ourselves and criticize our leaders, but we are all proud to live in the United States of America. We band together whenever an emergency hits and our spirit grows stronger whenever the stars and stripes fly. Regardless of your relationship with the Divine, you vote, pay taxes and serve in (or at least support) the armed forces. Therefore, you are a patriot.

Enter the love story between me and my soldier and how he volunteered me to work for the National Guard as the Family Readiness Group Team Leader. I'll spare you the sappy details, here's what I learned: Deployment is hard. Our loved ones are gone for months at a time. We have to raise our children by ourselves. We deal with homelife issues alone. Our service members are sleeping in tents and enduring primitive living conditions and most of all, risking their lives so we can sleep soundly back home.  We never know when they're going to get a chance to talk to us, and we pray that they come home with all their limbs and not in a flag-draped casket. Through it all, we're okay. We are resilient.

We all stick together. Every tear has a shoulder to fall upon. Whether it's a natural disaster or a terrorist bombing, we rally behind the victims, survivors, families, and community.  

I have made so many friends since my soldier deployed - over social media and in real life. It has been such a rewarding experience.

No jihadist can take that away from us. We are patriots and we love our country. Love is stronger than terror.