$1
including tax
Father’s Day gift ideas Special Pages, 6 & 7
Meet WHS’s French exchange student Features, Page 1
Volume 140, Number 20 — Locally-owned since 1884
The hometown paper of Elvira Lucero
Winters, Yolo County, California, Wednesday, June 14, 2023
City Council approves contractor for city manager search By Jacob Hoffman Express staff writer City Manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa recently announced that she will be retiring from her position this fall, and the city has begun the process of finding a successor. The Winters City Council approved a recruiting firm at its June 6 meeting. Bob Murray & Associates was unanimously approved to undertake the duty of seeking out qualified candidates to bring before the council later this year. Mayor Bill Biasi and Mayor Pro Tempore Albert Vallecillo will serve on an ad hoc committee for the city manager search efforts. Describing the search for a recruiting firm, Trepa said that she spoke with four recruiters and asked three to submit proposals. They were Bob Murray, Peckham & McKinney, and Bob Hall & Associates. Biasi and Vallecillo interviewed all three firms and recommended that the con-
tract be awarded to Bob Murray. The cost will be a lump sum of $24,000 “with up to $6,000 in reimbursable expenses, not to exceed $30,000,” Trepa explained. Trepa said Murray will provide a “turnkey recruiting service, which means that the recruiter will undertake all candidate sourcing and advertising support, they’ll create the job brochure, they’ll post it in all the standard places, and they’ll do direct outreach to candidates, which is the value of going with that recruiting firm.” The city will work with Murray by “posting a community survey” as well as “reach(ing) out to the individual who did the video when I was going through the recruitment process,” which Trepa said she remembers as being effective. Once the recruiter’s screening is complete, they will make a recommendation to the ad hoc committee
See SEARCH, Page 5
Councilman to attend prehearing conference in July By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief
EXPRESS
A prehearing conference for Winters City Councilman Richard Casavecchia was scheduled for Wednesday, July 19, at 9 a.m. Casavecchia, who pleaded not guilty to felony gun charges, appeared in court on Wednesday, June 7 re-
2 Main St., Winters, CA 530.795.4503 buckhornsteakhouse.com
motely by Zoom, with his attorney Michael Wise requesting the prehearing conference date with Yolo County Judge Tom Dyer. Wise did not return a request for comment.
Censure discussion City manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa informed the Express that the censure discussion that three council members requested for Tuesday, June 6 had been pulled by two council members, with the concurrence of the third.
Courtesy photo
About 16 vendors were present at the first Winters Farmers Market along downtown Main Street on June 11.
Farmers market open for season By Crystal Apilado Editor-in-Chief The revival of the Winters Farmers Market officially launched on Sunday as residents and visitors flocked to downtown Main Street to check out the local wares. The Winters Downtown Business Association initially contacted Ahmad (Simba) Baratti of Simba’s Heirloom Farm to coordinate the event. Baratti has experience and knowledge in organizing farmers markets, and Winters DBA will work to market and rally the
By Jacob Hoffman Express staff writer During its June 6 meeting, the Winters City Council discussed increasing certain fees related to the development and the citywide maintenance
We at he r Date
Rain
High
Low
Jun. 07 TRACE
76˚
58˚
Jun. 08
.00
77˚
56˚
Jun. 09
.00
85˚
55˚
Jun. 10
.00
85˚
50˚
Eventos hispanos ....... A-3
Jun. 11
.00
85˚
55˚
Jun. 12 TRACE
89˚
57˚
Opinion ......................... B-3
Jun. 13
82˚
58˚
Real Estate ................... B-2
Rain for week: 0.02 in. Season’s total: 37.64 in. Last sn. to date: 18.51 in.
Classifieds ................... B-4 Community .................. B-5
Sports ........................... A-2
.02”
Winters rainfall season began 7/1/22. Weather readings are taken at 9 a.m. daily by local weatherman Joe Bristow.
State Contractor Lic# 864483
putahcreekcafe.com
assessment district. Winters City Manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa began by explaining what was being discussed. First, the meeting covered the “annual process that we go through to adjust our fees so that they can stay in pace with escalating costs” and though “we did this at a previous council meeting for our regular city fees, the development impact fees are a little bit different — we review cost escalation based on a different metric.” “We increase these fees each year based on the increase in the construction index,” Trepa explained. “So that as we collect money our construction costs go up, the fee that we’re receiving goes up as well so that
Winters Farmers Market organizers want to include more regional vendors with fresh produce and greens.
we have sufficient funds, hopefully, in order to construct those improvements.” Regarding the change, Trepa said that “the public hearing is to evaluate increasing our current fee structure by 5.3 percent, which is the increase that was in the construction cost index from December to December” and would “increase fees across the board by 5.3 percent.” Mayor Bill Biasi noted that based on the provided table, “we’re looking at an increase of about $1,276… compared to what we charged last year.” “As much as I don’t like to increase fees, it’s a necessary evil for keeping up with the cost to build all these things that we have on our wish list
C U ST O M CLEANERS
Service all makes & models Accept all major credit cards Family owned & operated
27990 County Road 90 Winters, CA 95694 www.pearcehvac.com 1 Main St., Winters, CA 530.795.2682
See MARKET, Page 5
Jeff Buchman/Courtesy photo
Council increases development fees
Index Features ........................ B-1
community to participate and attend. The first farmers market event on Sunday, June 11 featured 16 vendors according to Chris Turkovich, Downtown Business Association President and owner of Turkovich Family Wines. “We had a bigger turnout than anticipated. We’d like to add more vendors, especially greens and produce,” Turkovich. ”It was a successful day for the first week.” The number of available booths is expected to grow
116 D Street Davis, CA 95616 530-798-5500
www.smith-funerals.com FD-992
· Dry Cleaning · Laundry · Alterations 184 E. Grant Avenue, Winters (530) 795-1938
of wanting to put in,” Biasi said. Council members voted unanimously to approve the 5.3 percent increase in development fees. The discussion moved to the Winters Citywide Maintenance Assessment District, another part of the annual assessments. As Trepa explained, “The city of Winters established a citywide maintenance assessment district back in 199(7)…it was a forum to be able to help fund landscape maintenance, the right of ways, park maintenance, and street lighting expenses.” “Unfortunately, the fee then and continues today to not keep pace with the cost of
See FEES, Page 5
YOUR AD HERE! Contact David DeLeon at david@wintersexpress.com