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– Midweek Edition – VOLUME 173 • ISSUE 93 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2024
BUDGET ADOPTED
County moves some cash, makes adjustments
Stein of the times OKTOBERFEST 2024
Eric Jaramishian Senior staff writer
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors adopted the Fiscal Year 2024-25 $1.06 billion budget Sept. 24, which includes $446.1 million in General Fund appropriations, while making changes on how funds will be managed. County Chief Administrative Office staff presented recommendations changes, including reducing contributions to the county’s capital projects designation in exchange for increasing funding for resource conservation districts by $264,737, bringing RCD funding up to $497,017. The increased contribution was authorized by the board Aug. 27. The change is being driven by three board policies not being met, including the county’s policy of capital projects, IT and disaster expense goals. The funding source has not yet been identified, according to Assistant CAO Sue Hennike. “We were asked to bring back funding options, but it is kind of difficult because there is nothing specific to point to,” Hennike said. Supervisors had mixed feelings on the increased funding to RCDs. While they agreed the districts are influential in responding to fire dangers and other disasters in the county, some expressed concern about the budget’s structural integrity. “The issue is that it doesn’t matter if it comes out of the designation expense .... We don’t have enough for any of those,” District 5 Supervisor Brooke Laine said Sept. 17. “In a time where we have a structural deficit, I voted no because of that, but I will support the budget as it is today.” District 2 Supervisor George Turnboo alternatively has contacted local legislators to ask for funding for the local RCDs, recognizing their importance. “They provide resources to our own force and management projects,” Turnboo said. “We have an upcoming project in Grizzly Flat and we need to be able to fund that project so they have adequate water.” District 4 Supervisor Lori Parlin voted ‘no’ on both dates, also citing concerns about the budgets structural integrity. She did advocate for the purchase of the Georgetown Library, which has a lease ending in 2025, stating the county’s strategic plan wants to move away from leasing buildings. “There may be an opportunity to purchase that building ... if that arises, I would like the county to be ready to jump on that,” Parlin said. “There are so few structures available in Georgetown and that library is a lifesaver for some people because of the services it provides there. Georgetown is very remote and it has needs.”
County residents and visitors from the valley took to Placerville’s Main Street Saturday, Sept. 21, to participate in Oktoberfest celebrations. Put together by local merchants when they discovered the traditional Oktoberfest celebration wasn’t coming to town this year, the event was organized as a stripped-down, small-town street faire. Oktoberfest participants, above, pose bedecked in their finest lederhosen and dirndls. Though local restaurants and food trucks had brats and dogs on their special menus for the event, the weiners that stole the show were the Daschunds who came to Oktoberfest in an array of outfits. Charlie the dog, left, turned heads with his cowboy hat and friendly attitude. Mountain Democrat photos by Odin Rasco
■ See BUDGET, page A9
MAIL LABEL
MESSAGE FROM COUNTY LEADERS
Social media threats to schools have serious consequences Special to the Mountain Democrat Over the past month, a nationwide trend of threatening messages has spread via social media platforms. These platforms, originally designed to be a positive, creative outlet, have been used to propagate fear and anxiety. These social media threats have spread like wildfire throughout the nation and our community as they are shared from user to user without a full understanding of the impact they can have on the community. As a unified community, the law
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enforcement leaders and education leaders of El Dorado County take these types of threats extremely seriously. Any threat directed toward a place of learning, a student or a staff member is thoroughly investigated and law enforcement action is taken when appropriate. The bottom line is this: threats of violence will not be tolerated. They will be investigated and those responsible will be held accountable. Unfortunately, these are days when serious conversations must be had with our children about the consequences of
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posting threatening material online and the lasting effects it can have. Situations such as these are highly costly and disruptive to both the education system and law enforcement. When a threat is received, real or intended as a practical joke, the response is the same. Resources from local school districts, the El Dorado County Office of Education and various law enforcement agencies, from local agencies to federal agencies, are redirected to identify the
2022
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Mountain Democrat
2010 2023
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