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Volume 171 • Issue 135 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, November 18, 2022
ELECTION RESULTS
Yarbrough regains lead over Thomas n 850 ballots still to be
processed in the county Mountain Democrat staff Two candidates in close contention for the last of three open seats on the Placerville City Council have swapped the leading vote count a fourth time. First-time City Council candidate David Yarbrough is now ahead
of incumbent Dennis Thomas by 69 votes. The latest ballot count was released Tuesday evening by the El Dorado County Elections Department. Elections officials note 850 county voters’ ballots remain to be processed. The next ballot count update is expected Friday at 5 p.m. The top vote-getter in the City Council race is Nicole Gotberg with 1,590, or 18.6% of ballots cast. Next
is John Clerici with 1,420, 16.6%. Yarbrough brought in 1,282 votes, 15%, and Thomas 1,213, 14.2%. Gotberg is a geologist and is currently serving on the Placerville Planning Commission. Clerici is a former City Council member and current member of the Placerville Economic Advisory Committee and El Dorado County Planning Commission.
Thomas is a current City Council member and owner of Robinsons Pharmacy. Yarbrough works as a real estate agent. In other contests, it’s becoming clear who is the victor. Brooke Laine has won the El Dorado County District 5 supervisor race with 58.3% of the vote over Kenny Curtzwiler’s 41.2% (7,230 votes n
See City council, page A3
EID revenue $5M short Jesse Saich El Dorado Irrigation District At its Nov. 14 meeting the El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors engaged in an information-only public workshop relating to the 2023-24 operating budget and 2023-27 financial plan. Jamie Bandy, EID’s finance director, outlined an operating budget that showed a nearly $5 million drop in revenue. Coupled with significant challenges from inflationary costs, Bandy said she projects 2022 revenues to be about $4.9 million lower than the 2022 adopted budget. Bandy noted the drivers toward this change in revenues include a $7.1 million decrease in grant revenue that was received in late 2021 (rather than in 2022 as forecasted in the 2022 adopted budget), a forecasted $1.3 million decrease in facility capacity charge revenue associated with the economic downturn and a $1.8 million increase in property tax revenue. At the same time, Bandy projected 2022 expenditures to be approximately $1.3 million higher than budgeted. The increase stems from higher fuel costs, electricity, credit card fees, software maintenance and repair and maintenance supplies. In addition, employee wages are also higher by approximately $1 million, owing to labor negotiations that increased wages greater than forecasted within the adopted budget. Each year EID staff analyzes and prioritizes capital replacement and maintenance costs. Along with that, district staff prepares a five-year financial plan that includes revenue requirements, operating costs and funding needed for annual pay-as-you-go construction projects. EID staff approaches the budgeting process with two overriding priorities: maintaining a reliable level of service to customers that protects public health and safety and the environment while demonstrating fiscal responsibility.
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See EID, page A5
Mountain Democrat photo by Noel Stack
Cross-country walker Joe Hall strolls down Main Street Placerville with his travel cart Sunday afternoon. The Ohio resident is walking across the nation to raise awareness about the ongoing mental health crisis.
Cross-country walker takes on mental health, Apple Hill Noel Stack Managing editor
“T
he love for apple orchards was surprising,” crosscountry walker Joe Hall shared as he adjusted his shoelaces during a break in downtown Placerville Sunday afternoon. “It was crazy, all packed with people.” Hall had just journeyed from Pollock Pines to Placerville via Apple Hill in his trip across the
United States to raise awareness for the mental health crisis in the country. He’s on his eighth pair of shoes — his last pair, he said — and plans to stroll into San Francisco Nov. 22, ending his adventure and celebrating his 40th birthday the same day. The Ohio resident started his walk May 15 at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, averaging about 17 miles each day, and he’s sharing stories along the way via Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
Walking more than 3,200 miles by the end, Hall decided to embark on the journey after battling suicidal thoughts when his life took a downturn in 2020. He had lost his job and suffered catastrophic injuries in the span of just a few months. “Fast forward a little more than a year later and YouTube’s algorithm suggested a video for me — ‘Live Before I Die’ by Mike Posner, a music video chronicling his own n
See WALKER, page A7
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