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– E S T. 18 51
– Weekend Edition – VOLUME 174 • ISSUE 72 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2025
Franklin moves on as chambers adjust to budget cuts Shelly Thorene Staff writer
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ody Franklin, former executive director of tourism with the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce, is putting 17 years of experience to good use in a new position as tourism and travel trade director with Choose Folsom — the tourism arm of the Folsom Chamber of Commerce. The position was created for her after she lost her EDC chamber position due to the county’s recent budget cuts. Franklin said she got the news while at a conference, meeting with tour operators on behalf of Gold Country. “I knew there was a Board of Supervisors budget meeting but I thought I was in good shape, having been there for 17 1/2 years,” Franklin shared. “(El Dorado County Chamber CEO) Laurel Brent-Bumb was at the meeting and she texted me and said to call her later.” On Feb. 11 Franklin learned her position had been eliminated and her contract would end June 30. “It gave me some time to re-group to see what I wanted to do. Also I wanted to button things up with Visit El Dorado because we have contractors, media, a wine group that we were doing media for,” Franklin said. “I had some time, also, to figure out what the
Mountain Democrat photos by Shelly Thorene
Jody Franklin begins a new chapter as the tourism and travel trade director, a position created just for her at Choose Folsom — a division of the Folsom Chamber of Commerce —after losing her position as tourism director with the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce due to budget cuts. chamber was going to do.” In the February budget meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1, District 5 Supervisor Brooke Laine dissenting, on a hybrid option, which also cut Transient Occupancy Tax funds to outside agencies in economic development and promotion: El Dorado County Visitor’s Authority, $279,398; El Dorado County
Film Commission, $150,750; El Dorado Hills Chamber Welcome Center, $110,320; Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce, $78,950; Tahoe Prosperity Center, $30,000; Wagon Train $15,000; 50 Economic Alliance Membership, $6,000; Growth Factory, $50,000; Greater Sacramento Economic Council, $63,149; Arts & Culture, $75,000; and Save the Graves,
$10,000. “When I first came on board, there was a dysfunctional effort on tourism. We hunkered down and grew the program through the efforts of Sue Russell. She retired and Jody Franklin came onboard,” Brent-Bumb told the Mountain Democrat. “We have had to stand at that podium and justify and re-justify, prove over and over again in spite of all the numbers that show substantial return on investment every contracting cycle, and we’ve never been respected for our efforts; $279,000 was one of the lowest tourism budgets in the region. Tahoe has a huge visitor and convention bureau. They were not impacted by this.” Visit California, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the state as a premiere travel destination and also the official marketing arm for California tourism, tracks and reports tourism data reported from counties. According to its data, visitors to El Dorado County spent $1.066 billion from 2014 to 2023, which supported 14,120 jobs and brought in local tax revenue of $56.6 million and state tax revenue of $49.9 million during the ■ See CHAMBERS, page A4
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Memorial wall ceremony planned in Placerville Joseph Thuesen
Special to the Mountain Democrat On Sept. 10 at 6 p.m., the SSgt. Sky MoteDetachment No. 697 of the Marine Corps League will host a memorial wall dedication and remembrance tribute event to honor all Americans who have SSGT. SKY MOTE given the ultimate sacrifice during the Global War on Terrorism at the Veterans Memorial Building, 130 Placerville Drive in Placerville. The event will include the unveiling of a special memorial to remember SSgt. Sky R. Mote, a Navy Cross recipient (posthumously) and local U.S. Marine, who died in 2012, in the Sangin district, Afghanistan. SSgt. Mote was born June 6, 1985, a native of El Dorado, a 2003 graduate of Union Mine High School, and joined the Marine Corps in July 2003. SSgt. Mote deployed in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. ■ See WALL, page A5
Placerville welcomes interim finance director Andrew Vonderschmitt Features editor
At the regular City Council meeting on Aug. 26, Natalie Tornincasa was named interim finance director by the council, bringing a familiar face into the city’s top financial role. NATALIE TORNINCASA “I am happy to announce that in closed session, the City Council elected to make Natalie Tornincasa our interim director of finance,” said Mayor John Clerici as part of the closed session report. “If you’d like to come up, Natalie, and say something, you can.” Tornincasa, who has worked with the city for the past three years, said she was “honored to accept this appointment” and expressed “sincere gratitude and appreciation for the trust and confidence” placed in her. She credited colleagues for their support and guidance throughout her career. “First and foremost, I want to thank Dave Warren for his mentorship and guidance over the last two years,” Tornincasa shared. “I also want to thank El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce CEO Laurel Brent-Bumb has harsh words for county leaders after budget cuts eliminated funds for tourism promotion.
■ See FINANCE, page A5
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