From the office of El Dorado County Supervisor Norma Santiago

Surrounded by oversized Post-It Notes depicting her many accomplishments and projects, Supervisor Norma Santiago hosted a casual and informative community chat at the county library Oct. 1 to bring concerned citizens up to speed on county goings on, and to hear what issues are on the minds of her constituents.

“I will be holding several of these kind of casual events to check-in, face-to-face, with my constituents”, says Santiago. “Most of the ideas and accomplishments you see posted here, on these walls, were brought to me by you, the community; that’s where my greatest resource lies, in the people of this community.”

Participants in that Thursday’s Chat Night with Norma brought input and queries that covered a spectrum of issues; from Geo-Tourism to bike trails, and from the proposed state Constitutional Convention to staffing shortages in the county.

The El Dorado County Supervisor began the evening with her top priority, Economic Development, and its diversification at the lake. Outlining several programs that she successfully funded are three exciting projects: GeoTourism, Prosperity Plan and Filming.

GeoTourism is a new philosophy. It is defined as tourism “that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. GeoTourism adds to sustainability principles by building on a destination’s geographical character, its “sense of place,” to emphasize the distinctiveness of its locale and benefit visitor and resident alike.”

(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable/about_geotourism.html)

El Dorado County funded a GeoTourism asset inventory process throughout the east and west slopes, a project that is the first of its kind in the region. More information on that and more is available by contacting Supervisor Santiago’s office at: bosfive@edcgov.us, or (530) 621.6577.

The Prosperity Plan is a concept to establish a basin-wide economic development plan by identifying business clusters that generate jobs, outline opportunities for economic growth, move the Tahoe Basin towards greater economic sustainability and to identify potential diversified economic engines. With the successful award of federal funding, a Prosperity Plan Steering Committee will now choose a consultant to piece the entire plan together and present it back to the community.

Exciting progress has been made to assist film and media companies in processing permits rapidly by partnering with the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and combining all US Forest Service improved recreational sites under one environmental document. Supervisor Santiago has been recognized statewide by the California On Location Awards as a finalist for achievements in the expansion of filming in California under the public employee category.

“I am a huge advocate for on location filming, the jobs it creates, the promotion of beautiful Lake Tahoe and diversifying our local economy. The film and media industry is a clean industry that benefits everyone”, commented Santiago in a recent interview.

Oct. 11, Supervisor Santiago will be flying to Hollywood to accept her award.

If you would like to talk further about these and other subjects, please contact the office of Supervisor Norma Santiago or her assistant, Judi Harkins, at 800.491.6642, or (530) 621.6577 or (530) 573.3411.