The Weimarian

Placer Broom Challanges

2013-03-27T16:12:00.001-07:00

It is that time of year again and the Broom must be eliminated. Be it Scotch French, Spanish or Portuguese, Broom is an invasive fire hazard and spring is the best time to deal with it. It pulls up easier and it hasn't had a chance to seed yet. Help out with one for a few hours you might learn a few tricks. Here are a couple of events that I got from the Placer Sierra Firesafe Council.

Saturday April 13th, 8am-noon

Ridge Road Pull

Dutch Flat

Join the 3rd year pull for Dutch Flat. We will be meeting at the Monte Vista Inn and walking down Ridge Road to continue our efforts this year. Site Coordinator, Bill Hart.

Saturday, April 20th, 2013, 8am-noon

Placer Hills/Sugar Pine

Meadow Vista

Join Meadow Vista's first Challenge! We will meet at the staging area at Placer Hills and Sugar Pine Roads. The Challenge site is the property southeast of this intersection. Come join the fun for some or all of the Challenge! April 20th, 8a-Noon. Site Coordinator, Michelle Hamil.

To volunteer on this site or any other site, please register with the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County by either registering

online or by calling 530-272-1122.

Fire Fee Tele-Townhall

2013-03-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I signed up for a mailing list on the SRA Fire Fee. Today I received a notification from Board of Equalization member George Runner that a Tele-Townhall is scheduled for this controversial topic. I recommend attending if possible as there are a few new developments on this topic.

I want to thank George Runner for keeping constituents informed.

Date: April 2, 2013
Time: 6:00 p.m.

Register at www.calfirefee.com/townhall when the tele-conference starts you will receive a phone call that will connect you to the town hall.

Community Centers A Gap in the Process

2013-02-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

Currently there is a bit of public outcry about a Placer County zoning category known as community centers. Community Center zoning is nothing new. It has been with us for a very long time and was intended for things like the old Grange Halls and such. Under the Community Center category a business could be just for entertainment or gathering venues with no agricultural element and is not restricted to ag or residential ag zoning. Community Centers could be located in most of the zoning areas. The reason that they are getting some attention now is that there is a sudden rise in applications. The rise in applications for this rarely used category brought light its deficiencies. You can flush all of the conspiracy theories floating around in the LTE section of local fish wrappers as it is nothing more than folks looking for a path of least resistance and this category was available.

Read more »

More SRA Fire Fee updates

2013-02-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

Just a bit of reading for you. Take it in small amounts if the Fire Fee riles you as much as it does me. No sense having to double down on the blood pressure meds.

Since it is a fee it can't be deducted. I wonder if my anger management therapy can be.

Cal Fire Fee
Fire Fee Update: IRS says Fire Fee payments not deductible

Of course the fee was imposed because of cash strapped government agencies. A little side note: not only do bureaucrats tend to hide money but when the budget axe hits hit they also tend to cut what we need the most. It tends to hasten a return in funding. While I haven't heard of that happening in this agency I certainly wouldn't be surprised.

Sac Bee
Dan Walters Daily: Hidden money and false poverty

You can always tell when a politician is planning for the next run. When things improve you say the problem is solved. You ignore known problems until forced to face up and then you downplay them as insignificant. Its seems to be the Jerry Brown play book since the end of his first year. In the corporate world we called it "managing perceptions" No matter where I see it I call it lying but then I am old fashioned.

Sac Bee
Jerry Brown downplays Cal Fire reports, dubs it 'boring story'

This one is interesting Jerry Brown wants to take fees collected from the SRA and spend them outside of the SRA. A sort of reverse Robin Hood steal from the poor folk in the forest and give to the rich folk in the cities. There are some bills being introduce but lets face it when you look at which party is running the show in Sacramento they are really just some political types introducing themselves to the rural constituents thaqt they were redistricted to. In rural California you can always make a good first impression by trying to repeal Jerry Browns Fire Fee.

Sac Bee
Gov. Jerry Brown, Republicans float bills to change fire fee

SRA Fire Fee: Quick Update

2013-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

Hopefully you have been keeping an eye on http://www.calfirefee.com/ and this isn't really news. Most of the protests were denied and nice rejection letters were sent to those of us that did protest. The legal action is in process. Oh and they will start mailing this years fire fee bills in March. There are a couple of bills to repeal it once again but no one really expects them to go anywhere.

For those of you that thought local Firesafe Councils might get grant money for prevention from the SRA Fire Fee you might want to read this.

No fire fee money this year for Shasta County fire councils

Upcoming Events

2013-01-23T07:35:00.002-08:00

On Monday I attended a meeting of the Senior Living Group of the Sierra Foothills (SLG for short). Different members share handouts for various events. It seemed a good idea to spread the word. Click on the images to enlarge them. Worthwhile information if my opinions means much.

American politcal myth

2013-01-17T19:09:00.001-08:00

Well gun control is all the rage to talk about for bloggers, LTE writers, pundits and reporters. Having seen more than I ever wanted to on the subject very little from either side of the argument appears to make much sense or even entirely factual. For the most part the discussion has been like most current political discussions, half truth, conjecture passed of as fact, supposition, selective fact finding and spin make up the bulk of it. In short just about everything that I have read both national and local is something that I would expect to find under the north end of a southbound bovine.

I considered fact checking all of the fabrications and writing about it but after starting the process it became evident that it would be at least twenty five hundred words and take about fifty hours of research. That was a few days ago and with the political machines cranking it couldn't be done in a hundred hours now. After doing all of that work no ones mind would be changed by posting facts. You see we now live in a faith based society. I do not mean that in the spiritual sense as in faith in a divine being but faith in the perfection of ones own opinion. Facts are now no substitute for our already preconceived notions. It does not matter what the topic is everyone now easily immerse themselves in the media of people that they share a belief system with giving themselves instant gratification and validation. In today’s fast paced speed of the internet world someone that will validate our preconceived notions are just a click away. Facts, critical thinking and analysis are now all passé and have been replaced by our feelings.

Read more »

Happy New Year

2013-01-01T10:08:00.001-08:00

For those that stayed up late and slept in I thought that I would provide a snapshot of this years first local sunrise. Back in the 70's I made a decision to start each new year with a clear head. Later that decision was upgraded. Every day is the beginning of the next three hundred and sixty five so there is no need to give January first preferential treatment. Missing out on eating at restaurants that double their prices while limiting their menu, drinking until one gets foolish or waking up with a hangover was an easy trade for watching the sun come up.

Going to bed early does not mean one gets to sleep however. For those neighbors that decided to exercise their second amendment rights by making noise with their firearms between midnight and one I have a special morning activity planned. You see its cold out which requires some early riser to cut firewood. What goes around comes around and chores will be a bit more fun than usual on this near perfect winter morning.

Merry Christmas

2012-12-25T05:36:00.002-08:00

Best wishes for a safe and Merry Christmas to you.

Still Here....how about you?

2012-12-22T07:29:00.001-08:00

Well if you are reading this post Weimar is not the only place that was spared the end of the world. Ah, will small wonders never cease? It also means that everyone that sold a book or a TV documentary predicting the end of the world on 12-21-2012 is a crook and a charlatan that should be made to spend the rest of their lives in atonement. Instead they will probably be sucking down umbrella drinks where it is warm while dreaming up the next scam that they can perpetrate on those with little if any common sense. P.T Barnum must have been right when he said “There's a sucker born every minute.”

It has never ceased to amaze me how a generation that had to grow up with duck and cover drills during the cold war can continue to look for things to be afraid of. The fact is that we Boomers are safer than we have ever been before. Violent crime has been on a downward trend for decades, the Cold War is over and we live longer than any other generation before us. It would seem unreasonable that we keep letting unscrupulous politicians and media types scare us into doing really stupid things. Maybe it is just conditioned reflex from all of those duck and cover exercises.

I remember the title of a book from the early 70’s by Ram Dass that was titled “Be Here Now”. I never read the book but title always made sense to me.

Time for that second cup of coffee and then get to those chores that should have been done yesterday. I can't use that end of the world excuse today. .

End Of The World...again

2012-12-21T07:25:00.000-08:00

According to 12% of the people in this country this will by the last post in the Weimarian. Of course I have considered making many Weimarian posts the last one and it never seems to work out as planned.

This prediction has followed the standard timeline end of earth predictions. First we have a long period of wild theories. Next we go through the factual debunking of those theories one by one. It all ends with the same people that predicted the end saying that it really means the end of an era and change not the physical end. Of course during this process they have scared the people into doing some really stupid things. NASA came up with their debunking website because they were being questioned as to the exact time so that a weak minded few could plan when to put their pets down and worse. A teacher found out that a family was planning a group suicide and had to turn them into the authorities. In a fast paced world such as we live in now era’s end every few months so you could throw a dart at any calendar and make that claim. People that have earned money on books, TV shows and other media tools bringing in lots of money just to show us how stupid we can be.

What bothers me the most is that while we burn resources getting ready for things that will never get here we allow problems that have to be dealt with every day go without solution?   Studies have shown that while we fear things that might happen in everyday life we dread things that we cannot control. They have also found that dread actually causes pain. Maybe that is why we will spend more time on anomalous tragedy or even unlikely upcoming tragedy when day to day tragedy is something that we can live with.

What I know for sure is that the coming of the end is predicted far too frequently for something that never seems to get here. Media types have once again made a huge amount of money by scaring us and we will not even bother to give them the shunning that they so richly deserve. I think that the courts should make them pay for all of the bunkers and survival goods purchased in the last four years. I really appreciate free speech but there are times when I which the constitution used the term intelligent free speech instead.   Of course with that clause we would have the quietest government in the world, television would be dull, letters to the editor would not exist and most blogs would see the end of the world.

Give it a rest

2012-12-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

It seems that after every tragedy involving firearms, political hacks on both sides of the gun control argument start beating their war drums. It is a perfect food for a news media that seems to earn its living trying to scare the public into sleepless nights. You see even in times of great tragedy we just can’t seem to stop looking for something that will reinforce our preconceived notions about politics. When tragic events happen I tend to avoid news on the subject for a few days to a week. It is simply too easy to get caught up in the hype and lose perspective. I

If you are looking for wisdom from pundits, politicians or journalists on public policy issues you may want to aim a bit higher. Folks in those three job categories work more with current public opinion than long term solutions. Legislators do outrage very well but they tend to be bad at solving complex problems that affect us every day. Trying to come up with answers to complex public policy issues with a backdrop of individual tragedy is an errand designed for fools. We should discuss complex policy issues with two things only, principles and cold hard logic. Involving our emotions can only lead to something that we already have too much of, bad policy.

It is a good time to think of just how precious life is. It is a good time to tell those close to us how much we love them while they are near. It is a really bad time for discussions about public policy on gun control. Later we can discuss public policy over a copy of the constitution and a spread sheet.

For those that just can’t stop looking at every event through political glass I would at least ask one favor. Stop using the pain of your fellow citizen to further your political agenda. Nothing good can come from it.

Placer Hills Fire station closing

2012-11-21T16:48:00.003-08:00

According to this article at the AJ Placer Hills will begin monthly alternating between the the Meadow Vista and Weimar stations and continue for the next four months. It is a result of Measure E getting a majority but not enough votes to pass the 2/3 majority requirement. Fire is not the biggest concern at this time of year but paramedic medical response times are expected to double. I guess we will get to see the impact of that election up close and personal.

Experience Wisdom and Leadership

2012-11-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I attended a Placer County Board of Supervisors meeting. The beginning of the meeting was set aside for each Supervisor to recognize community service by those in their districts. I am sure that the print media will cover this so I will not cover all of the event. I did however want to recognize our own local prize in Applegate, Dave Wiltsee. Dave's public service history would take too long to list but he has slowed down to a seat on the Weimar/Applegate/Colfax Muncipal Advisory Council, Older Adults Advisory Council, Seniors First Board and Chairman of the Senior Living Group of the Sierra Foothills.

I came to know Dave by working with him in my own community service endeavors and his expertise at getting things done is extraordinary. He is a tireless worker to make things better for the community that we live in. Right now much of his effort is toward enriching life for our local senior residents. Under Dave's leadership the Senior Living Group of the Sierra Foothills has driven a program for improved senior transportation in the Dutch Flat, Alta, Gold Run area and raised money for the Colfax area Meals on Wheels program. The group is also holding senior dinners for the residents of Canyon View Apartments in Colfax to open lines of communication so they can be connected with existing programs and assess needs for new programs.

I attended the early part of this meeting to add a couple of hands to the applause for the people receiving Gold Coin awards from their local Supes. Later I had lunch and a chat with Dave. We could have discussed sports or politics but we didn't, the conversation was about senior friendly recreation sites and how a web page for the Senior Living Group could be used to enrich the senior experience in our little corner of the county. We talked about what might be done to help area homeless. A community should count itself fortunate to have someone with the experience, wisdom and leadership of our own Dave Wiltsee.

(Note: The official Placer County Press Release for Dave and all other Gold Coin recipients is here
and the Auburn Journal has an article on the topic here.).

Time to send those emails

2012-11-21T09:05:00.001-08:00

We opened the PG&E bill and there was an insert informing us that public hearings will be held about the SmartMeter Opt Out program th imposed on PG&E by the CPUC . Specifically the CPUC is deciding what expense those that want to opt out should bear. If they get this wrong it could me rates would go up for all users to cover the cost of this program.

Folks we are bombarded with wireless signals all day everyday no matter where we are. This has been going on since at least WWII. The idea that a few minutes a day from this particular frequency is any worse than walking down the street and getting it from every house that has wireless internet or cordless phones is in this humble writers opinion laughable at best. Just think about AM bands, FM bands cellular bands, radar or satellite transmissions and leaky microwave ovens that hit us everyday. Just about every thing with a plug on it emits some form of EMI including the very transmission lines that bring us power and wires in the walls of our homes. One of the concerns about PG&E using this frequency was on a public band and it interferes with other equipment that was already in use so transmissions from this frequency are not even new to us. No one pays to shield opt outers from other wireless technologies but for some reason we are having hearings that might make our power bills a collection point for a Luddite welfare fund.

If you don't want the potential of your PG&E going up you should let the CPUC know that under no circumstances should ratepayers bear any expense for those that want to opt out of the SmartMeter Program. I have seen postings from Opt Out proponents and they plan to make their position known so you have two choices make your point as well or whine and complain about the increase when you open a bill in the future. There will be only five public hearings with four of the five being held in Southern California but you can make your feelings known via telephone, mail or email. I will post the information below.

(Refer to A.11-03-014 SmartMeter Opt Out Program)
Public Advisors Office
505 Van Ness Ave
Room 2103
San Francisco CA 94102
1-415-703-2074 or 1-866-849-8390
public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov

Few weekend newslinks

2012-11-17T12:34:00.003-08:00

After noticing a few stories worth sharing I got nostalgic and decided to post a few newslinks. The first one is on IVN where you can link out to a wonk worthy tool about biomass availability.

Another at IVN talks about campaign finance relative to the Citizens United decision. Getting a law that works around that decision is difficult but my opinion is that the first order of business is to remove anonymity from those 501C organizations that they collect money under and then transfer to a PAC A little sunlight is usually very helpful to disinfect a system. A better method might be to just sever the ability to connect the two altogether.

Over at Western Farm press they have at least one reason you can expect your meat and dairy items to rise in price. The EPA thinks that last year's drought isn't that much of a problem. Funny they guy that I get my eggs from had to raise from had to raise his price based on feed going up so it has already affected my economy.

Pew has some post election survey material that is pretty interesting. You can see what people want but I doubt that it is what they will get. The old axe that starts with "wish in one hand..." comes to mind as I read it.

No point being made today it's just for fun.

SRA Fire Fee: 32% of Fire Fee Bills Have Gone Unpaid

2012-11-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

According to CalFireFee 32% of the bills have not yet been paid. A certain amount of this was assumed to happen as some of the homes are vacation homes. The billing process has also been less that efficient with many errant bills being sent out.

Some people have said that they will just not pay the illegal tax disguised as a fee. This is not a wise course. As much as we despise cynical political moves such as this one. We have decided to give unto Jerry that which is Jerry's and paid the tax electing instead to show our frustration on the party that perpetrated it while filing out our ballots. It is practice that I would expect to continue until the tax is removed. Other than that we have placed our faith in the court action hoping for a judge that has more sense than the Governor and legislative leadership have shown.

On another note according to Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery mentioned that Placer County will be joining the legal action against the tax disguised as a fee. Nevada and El Dorado County have done the same. Placers habitable structures include a county firehouse in an area where the fire service is contracted out to Cal Fire. The people sleeping in that structure are Cal Fire employees. Nothing like a bit of irony to start the day.

Outreach event from the Senior Living Group

2012-11-15T09:15:00.001-08:00

On Monday Oct. 29, SLG (Senior Living Group of the Sierra Foothills) held its "Soup, Salad & Song” event at Canyon View senior community in Colfax. Over 25 residents came to enjoy a good meal, socialization and a sing along.

The delicious chicken pot pie soup was donated by Mimi’s Café from Lincoln, the dessert from Starbucks in Loomis and Roseville while other supplies such as bread, salad and the beverage were donated by non-profit WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?). Music was provided by local talent and CORE Charter School music teacher, Tom Wernigg.

Eva Schnittger, Junia Babylon, Tom Wernigg, Jerry Babylon, Nadia Calvo, Elan Vitkoff, Dave Wiltsee, Tonya Roberts, Suzanne Roberts.

The success of the event exceeded all expectations of the SLG members and the manager of Canyon View, Nadia Calvo. It met the goals of the group, especially in the area of Social Interaction and Recognition Worth. The residents were so enthused that the members of the SLG made a decision right on the spot to hold another dinner on Dec. 10 with turkey and trimmings and Christmas carols and holiday sing-a-along on the menu!"

Dave Wiltsee, SLG member and leader said: "The Canyon View dinner was a smashing success and as a result, the SLG has started building the foundation of a lasting relationship with the residents and the management. I believe the 25 or so folks attending genuinely appreciated our reaching out to them as a group and as individuals."

The Senior Living Group is and all volunteer group dedicated to working on senior issues. It has spearheaded increased transportation for seniors in the Dutch Flat Alta region and held a Lasagna Feed fundraiser to support Meals on Wheels for Colfax Seniors. The groups current project is to reach out to area seniors to gain a knowledge of their needs, provide education as to available solutions and the development of new solutions. They meet monthly on the 3rd Monday of each month from 3:00 - 5:00 pm at the Colfax Greek Bistro.

Bob Litchfield's new blog

2012-11-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

When the Auburn Journal shut down the user publication portion of its website a few very worthy resources were lost to us. One of those lost resources was Bob Litchfield's posts on in the Story section about homeless individuals. I got wind of where we can continue reading this material and asked his permission to notice it to my readers. You can read his posts at a blog titled:
Until They Have Faces http://auburnhomeless.blogspot.com/ .

If you are familiar with this work hopefully you will continue. If you have not been a reader I suggest you give it a try.

The end of silly season

2012-11-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

Our mails in ballots were dropped at the post office last week. All the decisions were made months ago so we only have our procrastinating ways to blame for the many recent flyers and few robo calls that we have endured. My registering as decline to state has reduced the amount of organic animal based fertilizer spread in our direction. However it didn’t seem to stop the elephants from spreading a pile of voter guide around my mail box.
Read more »

SRA Fire Fee: Last ditch effort for repeal.

2012-08-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

I noticed this piece at SFGate. Based on the last paragraph I wouldn't get my hopes up.

"If all of this actually makes it through the Legislature, it will be up to Gov. Jerry Brown to approve. He already has said he would sign the tuition break bill, but he also has pushed hard for the fire fee, so the Republicans aren’t the only ones who will get their arms twisted on this."

But what the heck its Friday you can be an optimist if you want.

Assembly moves to repeal fire fee

(Adding another link from the Sac Bee same topic.)

Gut-and-amend bill links repeal of fire fee with corporate tax hike

(And another from U-T San Diego)

Democrats link tax hike to repealing fire fee

SRA Fire Fee: What to do when the bill comes in.

2012-08-13T08:46:00.001-07:00

The Sac Bee had an article on SRA Fire Fee bills this morning. In the article there are a couple of links and some advice on what to do when the bill comes. I will list the links and let you read the advice for yourself. I plan to follow George Runners advice and file an appeal. We have very little recourse and this one is important enough to me that I will take all action is available. I will also let this single issue influence every vote that I cast in November. I do not expect every reader to get that excited but this one. This fee is so politically cynical that it merits an equally cynical response.

Here are the links

California starts sending out fire protection bills

CalFireFee.com

Fire Prevention Fee

SRA Fire Fees: Ken Pimlott attempting to defend the indefensible

2012-08-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

Today I found an op-ed in the Marin Voice by Director of Cal Fire Ken Pimlott. The point was an attempt to defend the SRA Fire Fees. Mr. Pimlott's attempts to make the point that only those in the SRA that are paying these fees will benefit for them. That position is either completely misinformed or just plain dishonest. I can use my own situation as an example but the the example is repeatable throughout California. I live less than a mile from the City of Colfax as the crow flies. There is absolutely nothing that can be done to protect my home that will not benefit the residents of Colfax just as much as it will my parcel yet the residents of Colfax are immune to the fee. I have spoken to people where the difference between who will pay and whom will not is a matter of across the street.

SRA Fire Fee: Bills and advance notices in he mail

2012-08-09T05:05:00.002-07:00

There seems to be some chatter in the MSM about advance notices sent out by the BOE about a confusing advance notice about SRA Fire Fees. The Press Enterprise cover it pretty well You can read about it here.

This fee is something that I will keep in mind when I cast my vote for Prop 30 in November.

SRA Fire Fee: RCRC pushes back...again

2012-08-02T16:24:00.002-07:00

Since the press releases went out that the SRA Fire Fee bills are starting to mail the MSM is finally giving the issue some attention. I have a Google Alert sending in links on the topic and it is working overtime. Here are a couple of links where the Regional Council of Rural Counties is making their voice heard. The first is from Sierra News Online. RCRC Pushes Back Against Rural Fire Fee The second one has clips from a KNCO radio interview with an RCRC lobbyist on the topic. Regional Council of Rural Counties Opposes Fire Fee. Not connected to the RCRC but if you want to see an inept discussion on the topic you can check out this Sac Bee opinion piece. Both writers appear to have gone to the rhetoric drawer and not bothered to study the issue. Head to Head: Should California abandon the wildfire prevention fee?. Oh well have fun and keep this issue foremost in your mind when you cast that vote for Jerry Browns tax plan, I know that I will.