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C ali forn ia’s Olde st Ne w spaper
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Volume 172 • Issue 109 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, September 22, 2023
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American Christian Heritage Month rescinded Eric Jaramishian Staff writer The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Sept. 19 to rescind a proclamation that recognized July as American Christian Heritage Month. The proclamation brought forth by District 1 Supervisor John Hidahl during the board’s July 18 meeting drew attention and controversy among county residents. The intention of the declaration, according to Hidahl, was to recognize how the United States and its history are rooted in the values of the Christian faith. He previously told the Mountain Democrat he
was inspired by a George Washington documentary and came across a previous proclamation adopted in 2021 by the Constitution Party of Pennsylvania (formerly known as the U.S. Taxpayers Party). Hidahl used excerpts from that document to construct the county’s own proclamation in the spirit of Independence Day. While intended to be ceremonial, Hidahl said the county’s proclamation had “unintended consequences” and he subsequently called for it to be rescinded. “Given the possibility of litigation, which has been posed, the fact that I don’t want the county to spend any funds on a proclamation trying to defend it and that I believe it’s incumbent on elected officials to
correct things and to pull them back if they haven’t achieved their positive influence,” Hidahl explained during the Tuesday board meeting. “The intent wasn’t accomplished and when that happens, that is when we need to reconsider. That is what this is all about,” Hidahl continued, stating his intention on calling to remove the proclamation. During the July meeting residents expressed concern over the proclamation, stating it was dismissive of other religious groups, along with other cultures and ethnic groups, in the county. Additionally, the proclamation came into question for blurring the lines between separation of church n See proclamation, page A8
Legal fights expand on California homeless camps Jeanne Kuang Cal Matters Fed up with homeless encampments, California local officials are seeking guidance from the nation’s most powerful judges. In a legal brief filed Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court, the California State Association of Counties and League of California Cities told the justices that a string of federal court rulings over the last five years that restrict cities’ abilities to sweep camps and order residents off the streets have made addressing health and safety concerns “unworkable.” “The state of California and its cities and counties are engaged in unprecedented efforts to address homelessness through the creation of significant new policy initiatives and funding investments,” the league and association wrote. “However, camping ordinances can be a useful tool in appropriate circumstances in addressing the complex conditions that exist in our homeless populations.” California cities made a similar appeal in 2019, but the court declined to hear that case. It all stems from a landmark 2018 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an Idaho case that was binding on California local governments. Judges then decided that it’s unconstitutional to criminally penalize people camping in public when they lack “access to adequate temporary shelter.” Since then, cities have often landed in court when trying to enforce camping bans, but the organizations said those cases haven’t clarified what’s allowed or required. Also since 2018 and during the COVID pandemic, the state’s homelessness crisis has only worsened, with more than 170,000 unhoused people this year. Most of them are unsheltered, living outdoors because most cities don’t have enough shelter beds. In some cases, unhoused people refuse available shelter beds for a variety of personal circumstances.
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n See homeless camps, page A7
Mountain Democrat file photo by Eric Jaramishian
Cannabis plants are organized by strain at the Cybele Holdings cannabis farm in south El Dorado County May 30. The county Board of Supervisors conducted a review session Sept. 12 with the El Dorado County Growers Alliance in an effort to make changes to the cannabis ordinance.
Cannabis growers ask county to ‘kush’ion permit process Eric Jaramishian Staff writer Commercial cannabis cultivation growers got together in the later part of 2021 to file a lawsuit against El Dorado County, citing unfair application practices during the county’s background check process. That has since been resolved in a seemingly peaceful manner, according to county staff, and one commercial farm got the green light to cultivate cannabis legally. But the jurisdiction’s ordinance on cultivating commercial cannabis needs fine tuning, growers maintain. Helping spearhead that project is Lee Tannenbaum, the CEO of the only county-approved cannabis cultivating farm, Cybele Holdings.
“I don’t believe that the intent of the voters was to have one grower in five years since the ordinance was passed,” Tannenbaum said to the board Sept. 12. “(We) ask at a broad level to make this easier and cheaper for the growers to get through.” As part of an agreement with the El Dorado County Growers Alliance and the county, its leaders are looking into changing the commercial cannabis ordinance to make it easier for growers to break into the industry in the area. However, county leaders still want more data before officially making any decisions. While no executive decisions were made to change the ordinance, which requires a resolution n See cannabis, page A9
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