EDC supes resist spending millions on lake clarity
By Kathryn Reed
El Dorado County supervisors practically mocked the idea of spending $11 million a year for the next 15 years to improve the clarity of Lake Tahoe.
Supervisor Ron Briggs said if the county even had that kind of money, “lake clarity would not be on the list.”
Jack Sweeney
Supervisor Jack Sweeney said it would be on his nice to do budget list, but not need to do budget list.
Supervisor Ray Nutting questions why the Lake Tahoe watershed has higher standards than others in the state and doesn’t believe the area is entitled to the federal funding it has received over other jurisdictions.
Supervisor John Knight said overregulation in the basin is responsible for the area missing out on economic growth and equated it to being like Eastern Europe.
Supervisor Norma Santiago tried to provide some depth and understanding to the Lake Tahoe-specific issues that some of her colleagues clearly were not well versed in.
The five-member board came to South Lake Tahoe this week for the annual meeting in Tahoe. The other 51 weeks of the year the board meets in Placerville.
Lahontan Water Board Executive Director Harold Singer got an earful from some of the supervisors in regards to his agency’s desire, and probable future mandate, that the county come up with $11 million a year to stem the flow of fine sediment into the lake.
Ironically, it’s an $11 million shortfall the supes are trying to contend with when it comes to the 2011-12 county budget.
The county currently spends about $6 million a year on stormwater projects in the basin.
What wasn’t brought up until Joanne Marchetta, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, gave her spiel was that working with private landowners the county might be able to attain the total maximum daily load thresholds Lahontan expects to adopt at its Nov. 6 meeting.
After the morning started with Wendy David of Lake Tahoe Collaborative giving a presentation about the woes of social agencies in the basin, the supervisors pointed to her statistics as more pressing issues than the transparency of Lake Tahoe.
David spoke of the 32-member Collaborative’s start in 1992 and its evolution through the years into an advocacy group for those less fortunate. The agencies in the collaborative are dealing with 25 percent of the children in South Lake Tahoe being at the national poverty level, while 80 percent of the Latino population is poor.
Mental health issues will be the Collaborative’s focus this coming year.
“We do not have adequate transition care for patients coming out of jail or Barton Hospital,” David told the supervisors. “We don’t have a 23-hour hold facility here.”
The situation for emotionally disturbed children is precarious with the recently passed state budget that eliminated money for counties to provide aid for this population. Now it could fall onto school districts to pay for these children to receive services.
Chief Administrative Officer Gayle Erbe-Hamlin said, “The school districts don’t have the systems in place to take it on.”
That evening at the Lake Tahoe Unified School District board meeting CFO Deb Yates mentioned the issue to her board.
Both women believe more needs to come out of Sacramento before either body can begin to figure out how to financially meet the mandate to care for these youngsters.
Back at the Board of Supes meeting, Sweeney said he wished he would have known Singer was going to be at the Oct. 12 meeting before he received his packet Oct. 7. Had he been reading Lake Tahoe News, he would have known based on an Oct. 4 story.
In the end, it was agreed a workshop will be scheduled in Tahoe between the supervisors, county staff and Lahontan officials to hash out the lake clarity mandates.
In other action:
• TRPA’s Joanne Marchetta spoke of her agency’s new philosophy of not being the “just say no” agency and instead creating a culture to work more collaboratively with others.
• The supervisors during a lunch stop at Lake Tahoe Golf Course were given an overview of the Upper Truckee River project at that site. The TRPA Governing Board will discuss the matter Oct. 27.
I am happy most of the supes except Norma agree this water clarity issue is ruining the Lake Tahoe economy. Lahontan and the TRPA depend on these funds to keep their jobs intact. It’s time to put a stop to them invading our area and destroying our economic environment. Hurray Supes!
Thanks for being at the meeting and capturing the general attitude towards SLT by the Supervisors. I have always been impressed with Norma and Judi and now I’m even more impressed with their passion and advocacy for our district. The rest of the Board of Sups seemed dismissive in their attitude to the 3 speakers I saw first thing in the morning. Many in Tahoe complain about the County forgetting about us; this meeting confirmed it for me. Go Norma!!!! Represent!
Supes who do not understand the importance of the Lake to the local economy need to be voted OUT.
Seriously.
Idiots.
It makes cynical political sense for the four non Tahoe supes to scapegoat Tahoe. They don’t need our votes and their districts are very different than here.
The political borders of this county are terrible.
Lake Clarity has to be a forefront issue if we are to even have a tourist economy here in Tahoe. The problem now is that that funding is not being spent on wise projects that actually improve the lake. A small percent of the funds actually go to projects that have a direct benefit to the lake. The Lake Tahoe Golf Course is not a water quality project. Who brought them there?? There are much bigger fish to fry than that. Stormwater is the issue… Meanwhile roads are falling apart. The comment about the private BMPs meeting the TMDL is not correct… It may help a little, but it is not gonna solve the problem, especially the way its setup now. Nothings prioritized… Its the roads people and the winter sand.. The roads causing a majority of the loss of Tahoes clarity. And that is where all the future funding needs to go. Lahontan may have good intentions, however the funding levels they refer to are unrealistic.
A reminder !!! Sweeney found money for the Briggs to Nowhere!!! so did Honest John.
Supervisor Jack Sweeney has always called it the way he sees it. You got like his true intention. Too bad he’s not on our council, got be better than either remaining two current members that blow smoke rings ,talk in circles, make oral contracts to the amazement of his peers, residents that pay the bills for here.
The political borders of this county are terrible and with any commonsense thinking we should be part the county not a city ran by too many agencies that feel like they are the only one that count.
Cut off all the funding to these tree huggers, you see some more people joining the 25% of poor people, they will pick up leave.
Joanne Marchetta could be on the first flight back to India no one would bat an eyelash.
Now it could fall onto school districts to pay for these children to receive services. They aren’t going to waste a dime on this, football lighting more important than feeding the poor, people need to get this straight. People need to remember their place in society, some got it all, and some got more than others,Some are starting to struggle, some are down, out. In time of war and depression people need to step back from big time cost.(does anyone remember we are at war,millions out work)Your bickering about water clarity,there are some true realities that we all need to fix first)?
Sacramento doesn’t have the funding anymore, you are living in the past, it’s a new world order, there are many things now days that just don’t matter to the Money machine in the capitals across the country anymore. Remember, it’s not a “Democrat” vs. “Republican” thing. It’s a Progressive vs. Conservative thing. Progressives, no matter which party, are who are responsible for this explosion of massive government and government intervention. Not all Democrats are Progressives and not all Republicans are Conservatives. We have to weed out the Progressives in whatever party they’re in and stamp out this cancer of governmental intrusion into our lives.
TOO many people in the state of California, not enough aid to go around the table , some cities ,counties, are going to have to go hungry special when it comes to the over bearing EPA and all its agencies that waste money like water down the sewer.
Take a bike ride around town, up to the Heavenly Village, the y area shopping, up, down, 50, there’s no one here…Things are suppose to get better, we are all still waiting and probably will be waiting for some time to ever see what we all experienced 5 years ago.
America has changed its course and too many old past habits like feeding, clothing the poor, medical aid, grants for cities to build their own private get you jolly are an antique culprit of the past prosperity .The money machine working overtime to print while the soup lines are growing longer.
I know many people taking the full unemployment payments, while at the same time raking in 800 in cash a week in the underground economy.
“Trial lawyers joined forces with environmental activists and sought to regulate through the courts what science could not support within the EPA regulatory process,”
“Locals and tourist have never felt more challenged and threatened in their livelihood than they do today from the continuous onslaught of regulations and requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency,”
Fat bureaucrats cruise porn sites and then use that inspiration for screwing the public.
“h” you seriously should get your medication adjusted, you are getting worse, if that’s even possible.
ok kk
lol. C is not kk but I am and I kinda see your point in what you wrote of which most is true in todays real world. My only question is what’s the alternitive to fixing these problems you point out. This is one rant from you that I can say I pretty much agree with, what is one to do?
(ἑκατόνταρχος) comments crack me up!
Kenny you can crack the translation,can’t you?
okkk never mention you,your imagination running wild with lights,action,take!
ἑκατόνταρχος ….a-Wa-nobah-dah
ma-e’en
za-nee…..macoche
I don’t think even google knows what I just told you to do,But maybe?
WITS ARE AMUSING BUT I’M OFF FOR A GAME OF SNOOKER FOR SCRATCH.GOOD EVENING..
I am not very Religious but those are ancient words from the Bible?
ἑκατόνταρχος is Greek for centurion. As in the rank or position in the Roman Legion. I believe the word you have used is the plural for a similar word in the original new testament Greek for the individual who stabbed Jesus with a spear on the cross (a centurion). But I may be in error as I only know a little Greek.
But are you saying he stabbed you in the heart?
Bless you ski, you need to sit more in the quietness of the moment read the GOOD BOOK.
a-Wa-nobah-dah ma-e’en za-nee -ski is Native American lango. IT’S ALMOST LOST IN A WORLD OF NEW AGE.SKI DO YOU THINK YOU COULD READ MORE OF THE THINGS THAT COULD SHAPE YOUR REAL NEEDS (MAKE YOU HAPPY BEYOUND ANYTHING MONEY CAN BUY YOU).I KNOW YOU’RE A GOOD PERSON,WHY DIDN’T YOU RUN FOR COUNCIL? Nothing to fear but fear itself. I DON’T SEE YOU AS A BAD MAN, BUT VERY ambition. I much rather you had ran than the ones that hold seats with city jobs, past council members, rich wife’s of doctors ,lawyers, who haven’t practice what they preached in the past, to know they will only turn around follow the agendas for a few who made our paradise a mess. I do believe anyone who lived here experienced the town when things were so good, knows just what we all loved has been tarnished by greed, corruption, that still has a hold on about every corner open.
I apologize to the people who I tick off. There’s a hidden meaning in lot things I write. The motivation is to get your mind thinking of the many different ways express themselves, carry over the energy to do the right thing, create thought .Damn can’t people hear the working of be original.
Yes, some things being said are shocking, humiliations, ugly, paint a picture of dirty politics. The bottom line to controllers is to win baby, win. Some the best people running don’t have awards for service, or degrees in business, or lived the so called good life of service. We need people who had to give up things for their neighbors ,kids ,play among the normal residents who you see everyday working the coffee machines, stocking the grocery store, sweeping the streets cause the city too cheap to man the sweepers .Real people, do real things, for other real people.
Louis, YOUR RIGHT, BUT NOTHING CAN PIERIOUS MY HEART! My skin pretty damn thick, society did that. It does it to all people, no matter of race, religion, sexual preference or social class or POLTICAL VIEWS. There’s a lot things the past holds for the future. We live in a very impatient world, does anyone read history anymore?
I just wish we could have an honest council, that from one damn time, would listen to all the people, who have tried to invoke sound ideas be Heard!
For so-so, Long, we stood before the button pushers, only to be sweep under the table get back to more SCREWED upped projects, while the majority of the real Peoples stand realizing these elected robots don’t give a hoot about the peoples wishes. Take off your mask show us who you represent. If one takes the time to look at who endorsed the candidate, you’ll see some very same old hats with wallets open to support their wants. This is not the key to change, but a snow job to the same old bartender, pouring the same old lousy drinks at a “Costly Price”.
OK,COME ON Centurion, I’M READY TO KICK YOU WHERE IT COUNTS!