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VOLUME 172 • ISSUE 22 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2023
Civil rights suit claims racism at El Dorado Odin Rasco Staff writer A Placerville parent has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the El Dorado Union High School District on behalf of her daughter. According to court documents, Ashley Lewis alleges her daughter, a 16-year-old identified as “S.L.” in the suit, experienced repeated attacks, beatings, harassment and bullying at El Dorado High School because of her sexual orientation and African American race. The suit claims “S.L. suffers from vision
loss, headaches, light sensitivity and loss of concentration” and required emergency medical attention following a beating that took place on campus during school hours. The lawsuit specifies attacks that happened Nov. 19, 2021, and March 11, Aug. 16 and Nov. 18, 2022. EDUHSD Superintendent Ron Carruth and Assistant Superintendent Tony DeVille, as well as EDHS Principal Elizabeth Sisson and Vice Principal Justin Gatling were
Mountain Democrat photo by Noel Stack
El Dorado County Chief Administrative Officer Don Ashton is getting ready for his retirement. His last day will be March 3.
■ See LAWSUIT, page A3
Supes remove bias training Eric Jaramishian Staff writer The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors has removed the implicit bias training requirement for boardappointed members of committees and commissions. In discussion at last week’s board meeting, supervisors claimed the training caused issues with their appointees. District 4 Supervisor Lori Parlin said the board has seen “unintended consequences” from the training, including resignation of commission members, added difficulty in recruitment and inconsistent training. Parlin shared that
Don Ashton reflects on his
cao years
Noel Stack Managing editor
the clerk of the board’s office reported a 67% compliance rate for the training. “How much time do we want staff to spend on this chasing down people that aren’t going to take it and what are the consequences?” Parlin asked. “We set ourselves up for inconsistencies in requiring this training. “If the clerk’s office determines someone isn’t doing the training, there is this notion out there that we could just say we are down to an honor system and we can tell people ‘Just say you did it,’” she continued. “What is the point in that?” The training would ■ See TRAINING, page A3
Skis or sunscreen? Retiring El Dorado County Chief Administrative Officer Don Ashton plans to choose both after he turns in his keycard and closes the door on an approximately 30-year career in public service. Ashton, 52, came to El Dorado County in 2011 from Los Angeles County, calling it “the best move of my life, both personally and professionally.” He began his career here as the El Dorado County Sheriff ’s Office’s chief fiscal officer. After a year-and-a-half he moved to the Chief Administrative Office, serving as a principal analyst. About six months later he shifted to the Health and Human Services Agency, first working as the department’s administration and finance assistant director and later as the HHSA director, a title he held for nearly three years. Then came the call Ashton said he never wanted.
“I hope people see the county in better shape now than it was seven years ago.” — Don Ashton, El Dorado County chief administrative officer
“I never had ambition to be CAO,” he told the Mountain Democrat. “There was so much chaos at that time.” The CAO position, among other leadership roles at the county, had experienced turmoil in the years prior to Ashton taking the job. The board hired interim CAO Larry Combs in June 2015. He replaced acting CAO Pamela Knorr, who served from November 2014 until June 2015. Knorr took the temporary appointment after the resignation of CAO Terri Daly in November 2014 after four years on the job. In a unifying effort to promote from within, many El Dorado County department heads and El Dorado County Superior Court judges sent letters of support for
Ashton during the spring 2016 CAO recruitment process. His permanent appointment to the top job came in May 2016 with the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors’ unanimous vote. Ashton credits his wife Anne for pushing him, gently, into the leadership role with an ultimatum: take the job or stop complaining. With his last day March 3, he will leave the CAO role two months shy of seven years — the longest Ashton said he’s ever stayed in one position. “I got bored easily,” he said of his frequent job shifts. “I never got bored being CAO.” Time will tell how the county fared under his leadership, Ashton ■ See ASHTON, page A6
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Yusuf allegedly tried to destroy evidence Odin Rasco Stafff writer The prosecution in a second-degree murder case alleges it has proof suspect Kamaal Yusuf attempted to destroy evidence while in custody. Yusuf faces charges for the 2022 death of a Shingle Springs woman who died of a fentanyl overdose. The 22-year-old man allegedly sold the drugs that caused her death. Yusuf pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment in late January. Miles Perry, an attorney with the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, shared during a pretrial hearing Tuesday afternoon in El Dorado County Superior Court Department 7 that recordings of
calls made by Yusuf from jail reportedly reveal he tried to have evidence deleted from his cell phone. Yusuf called both his mother and brother and allegedly asked them to destroy the possible evidence. Perry also claimed Yusuf repeatedly made calls from jail to an individual who has a no-contact restraining order against him. The restraining order appears to stem from a domestic violence incident involving Yusuf, but no official charges were filed, according to Patrick Hanly, Yusuf ’s attorney. Hanly said the autopsy report on the victim shows her death to be caused by a combination of alcohol and fentanyl rather than just fentanyl as the charges against
his client allege. Perry disagreed with his assertion, saying he will have two expert witnesses appear during the trial who will attest that the cause of death was from a fentanyl overdose. In court this week Hanly again attempted to have a bail set for his client after Superior Court Judge Michael McLaughlin ruled he would be held without bail at the arraignment. Judge Jamie Pesce chose to uphold McLaughlin’s ruling and have Yusuf kept without bail. Yusuf will next appear in court for his preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. March 28 in Superior Court Dept. 7. The identity of the victim has not been released to the public.
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