Supporting the arts The Placerville Arts Association keeps creativity alive. New s, etc., B1
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Volume 171 • Issue 99 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Candidate lists finalized Andrew Vonderschmitt Staff writer With a Board of Supervisors District 5 runoff, open seats on the South Lake Tahoe and Placerville city councils, a multitude of school board and special district contests and 11 measures on the ballot, El Dorado County residents will have a lot to think about beyond the state and national elections this November. In the city of Placerville a total of nine residents pulled nomination papers for a City Council seat with one individual pulling papers one day before the extended filing deadline. Eight of those candidates qualified while one resident opted out. Duncan Allen, Sean Briggs, Ruth Carter, John Clerici, Paul Godwin, Nicole Gotberg, Dennis Thomas and David Yarbrough will appear on the ballot in November. Councilmember Patty Borelli has decided not to run for a fourth term. “Sixteen years is a long time,” she said of her tenure. “I absolutely have loved doing it though.” Borelli had considered not seeking reelection at the end of her second term. “I just didn’t feel as though the city got a lot accomplished,” she said. “It was for reasons that were beyond our control.” She said the Great Recession in 2007 held the city back. “I just wanted to see more things
Photo by Sel Richard
Patrons of The Purple Place line up Sunday for one last meal before the El Dorado Hills roadhouse closed.
The Purple Place closes Sel Richard Staff writer
“Truly the end of an era.”
Much to the chagrin of many across the region, an El Dorado Hills institution shut its doors after all. Owners Mike and Denise Hountalas closed The Purple Place Bar & Grill on Sunday. After eight months of lease negotiations with property owner Amy Anders, Mike and Denise admit they were unable to afford Anders’ terms to secure a new lease for the property they have occupied for the last 16 years. “We offered to buy the property and she didn’t want to sell it to us,” Denise told the Mountain Democrat. “We offered to sell The Purple Place to her and she didn’t want to do that.” According to Denise, negotiations ended when Anders demanded a rent increase of more than 240% and a large unspecified common area maintenance fee in addition to structural improvements contributions totaling $200,000-plus. “It’s just not economically feasible,” said Mike,
— Jon Yoffie, EL DORADO HILLS RESIDENT pointing out that Green Valley Center is an older structure that needs substantial updating to meet current building standards. The 20-year lease ends Sept. 30. Mountain Democrat reached out to Amy Anders but she has not yet responded. The Purple Place, known as El Dorado Hills’ original roadhouse, first opened in 1955 and was purchased by the couple in 2006. At the time, Diana Anders was owner and landlord of the Green Valley Center property. Upon Diana’s passing in 2012, her daughter Amy inherited the property and has since been the acting landlord. Over the years, Mike brought his long history operating successful restaurants throughout San Francisco, Sacramento, Denver and New Orleans n
n
See Candidates, page A7
See Purple Place, page A6 Photo courtesy of Cal Fire
Both ground and air resources worked to contain a south county fire Monday.
The buck stops here — sheriff, Crews contain auditor ask to drop $1 DMV fee barn, spot fire “El Dorado County leaders should do Noel Stack Managing editor
Recognizing that every dollar counts, El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini and AuditorController Joe Harn teamed up to remove a PLACE ADDRESS LABEL HERE
$1 vehicle registration fee that provides law enforcement with funds to enhance fingerprint identification capabilities. The fee — originally imposed in 1998, suspended in 2013 and then reinstated in 2016 — brings in approximately $150,000 each year. “The sheriff and the auditor-controller have determined that the county does not need the revenue generated by this fee for the continued maintenance of its automated fingerprint identification services for at least one year,” states a letter signed by both elected officials and sent to the Board of Supervisors. At Tuesday’s board meeting, the supervisors unanimously supported
Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
what they can to slow the meteoric rise in the cost of living.”
A Monday afternoon fire that started in a barn and shed near Ranch Camp Road in Somerset spread to vegetation and spotted on a nearby hill, burning about 1 acre before firefighters put a stop to the flames. The Pioneer Fire Protection District was dispatched around 12:20 p.m. Additional air and ground resources followed. Crews were able to contain the fire to the barn and shed area until an ember ignited a second fire, a spot fire, on a hill 400 yards away, according to Pioneer Fire Protection District Chief David Whitt. Damage was limited to the two structures and their contents, which included tools. “It was a good stop by the firefighters,” Whitt said. “They did an unbelievable job with the hose lays, scratch lines and fighting the fire.” Whitt noted the cause of the fire was unknown. The Cal Fire El Dorado-Amador Unit, El Dorado County Fire Protection District, El Dorado County Sheriff ’s Office, PG&E, U.S. Forest Service – Eldorado National Forest and El Dorado Hills and Rescue fire departments all responded to the incident.
— Joe Harn, El Dorado County auditor-controller suspending the fee until further notice. Andy Nevis, president of the Taxpayer’s Association of El Dorado County, commended D’Agostini and Harn for bringing forth the item approved as part of the board’s consent calendar. “It’s not too often that we see someone who has … a legal right to collect this fee saying, ‘You know what, we don’t need that right now so we’re going to give the taxpayers a break,’” Nevis said. “It is only $1 per vehicle per year but, that said, every little bit helps.”
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It will take the Department of Motor Vehicles three to six months to stop collecting the fee, according to the letter. This fee elimination is one of several proposed by Harn. Earlier this summer he pitched cutting DMV fees by $10 per vehicle — the $1 fingerprint identification fee; a $1 DUI and vehicular manslaughter prosecution fee; a $6 Air Quality Management District fee; a $1 abandoned vehicle abatement fee; and a $1 fee that goes n
See DMV, page A6
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