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ENLARGE
Jeff Pelline
I admired Supervisor Sue Horne's hutzpa this week in deciding to "just say no" to a three- to eight-fold increase in fees for new residential building to help pay for road projects during the next 22 years.
Though supporting the concept of the traffic mitigation fees, Horne criticized the timing.
"It was very ill-timed considering the economy is in the tank," said Horne, the only supervisor who voted "no" for the significant increases. She pointed out that young families trying to buy a home will be most hurt by the increase.
Later in the week, Horne told me: "We all know the need for the road projects. But the fee increase is so steep, and due to the fact that there is very little building going on presently, why do we want to add to the pain of building at this time? There will be little total dollars added to the road coffers, because there is not the volume of work to generate any significant total dollars. Why not wait until the economy turns better and look at it then?"
Well said. No doubt we need to spend money on road repair, but an eight-fold increase (gadzooks) sends the wrong message to residents. (Yes, yes, I know Horne's husband is a contractor, but other supervisors also have ties to builders).
Though supporting the concept of the traffic mitigation fees, Horne criticized the timing.
"It was very ill-timed considering the economy is in the tank," said Horne, the only supervisor who voted "no" for the significant increases. She pointed out that young families trying to buy a home will be most hurt by the increase.
Later in the week, Horne told me: "We all know the need for the road projects. But the fee increase is so steep, and due to the fact that there is very little building going on presently, why do we want to add to the pain of building at this time? There will be little total dollars added to the road coffers, because there is not the volume of work to generate any significant total dollars. Why not wait until the economy turns better and look at it then?"
Well said. No doubt we need to spend money on road repair, but an eight-fold increase (gadzooks) sends the wrong message to residents. (Yes, yes, I know Horne's husband is a contractor, but other supervisors also have ties to builders).
To quote Johnny Carson as "Carnac the Magnificent," I was starting to wonder if the Rood Center was "hermetically sealed" to the grim realities of our economy. Here's what's happening outside: a downturn in real estate, vacant store fronts, slowing rate of growth of property tax receipts and declining sales tax growth.
Last month, supervisors approved increases in some county fees - including double-digit ones - for the building, environmental health and planning departments, among others.
Last year, they approved pay raises for county employees, including a double-digit increase for the county executive officer.
The supervisors haven't raised their own pay, but the grand jury thinks they deserve a 36 percent pay raise. The supervisors annual salary of $39,447 is "inadequate," though it still exceeds the average annual salary per worker in Nevada County of $37,893, the grand jury said.
To be sure, inflation is omnipresent and our hard-working county workers - as well as our supervisors - deserve pay raises. The county also has a healthy reserve.
In addition, the county fee structure was Byzantine in many cases, and a flat-rate structure makes more sense. (I found it curious, though, that affluent Banner Mountain had one of the lowest mitigation fee rates - just $706.). In some cases, the increases hadn't come for a while either: Five years in the case of traffic mitigation fees.
Last month, supervisors approved increases in some county fees - including double-digit ones - for the building, environmental health and planning departments, among others.
Last year, they approved pay raises for county employees, including a double-digit increase for the county executive officer.
The supervisors haven't raised their own pay, but the grand jury thinks they deserve a 36 percent pay raise. The supervisors annual salary of $39,447 is "inadequate," though it still exceeds the average annual salary per worker in Nevada County of $37,893, the grand jury said.
To be sure, inflation is omnipresent and our hard-working county workers - as well as our supervisors - deserve pay raises. The county also has a healthy reserve.
In addition, the county fee structure was Byzantine in many cases, and a flat-rate structure makes more sense. (I found it curious, though, that affluent Banner Mountain had one of the lowest mitigation fee rates - just $706.). In some cases, the increases hadn't come for a while either: Five years in the case of traffic mitigation fees.
To me, however, a better approach would have been gradual increases - not double-digit pay hikes for a CEO or eight-fold increases in fees. Otherwise, this increases the perception - real or not - that government is out of touch.
I'll miss Horne's involvement as an elected official. Her race against Dan Logue for the 3rd District Assembly seat was a grueling, mud-slinging contest.
To be fair, it takes two to sling mud, and both candidates fell into the rabbit hole of "negative campaigning."
Horne seemed relaxed the other night when my family and I saw her at the Music in the Mountain's Fourth of July concert.
She confirmed what I'd heard: She's getting more involved in the local GOP. She's on the county's Republican Central Committee and helping to revamp the group (which has become a bit stale). She's also been appointed to be the Northern California Co-Chair for Women for McCain, working with 26 rural counties.
The local GOP could use Horne's passion and experience. I know many Republicans who are going to vote for Barack Obama or Charlie Brown, because they feel let down by the Republican party.
I'll miss Horne's involvement as an elected official. Her race against Dan Logue for the 3rd District Assembly seat was a grueling, mud-slinging contest.
To be fair, it takes two to sling mud, and both candidates fell into the rabbit hole of "negative campaigning."
Horne seemed relaxed the other night when my family and I saw her at the Music in the Mountain's Fourth of July concert.
She confirmed what I'd heard: She's getting more involved in the local GOP. She's on the county's Republican Central Committee and helping to revamp the group (which has become a bit stale). She's also been appointed to be the Northern California Co-Chair for Women for McCain, working with 26 rural counties.
The local GOP could use Horne's passion and experience. I know many Republicans who are going to vote for Barack Obama or Charlie Brown, because they feel let down by the Republican party.
During the state Assembly race, it was disturbing to hear Horne's critics claim she somehow didn't have the chops to be a state legislator. "She cried in public," one said.
The argument sounded profoundly sexist to me, smacking of a "good old boys network" that some people think helped elect Logue, not Horne. To her credit, Horne never played that card. As for the weak-kneed allegations, let's not forget that Horne led the charge to defeat NH 2020, one of the most contentious issues around here in years that - of course - deteriorated to personal attacks.
I'm a fan of women in politics and in government. I doubt that Horne and the late English novelist and feminist Virginia Woolf have too much in common politically.
But in her famous book-length essay "Three Guineas," Woolf makes a persuasive argument about the ability of women to solve our world's problems, including war. Though written in 1938, it still is relevant 70 years later. "To fight has always been the man's habit, not the woman's," she wrote.
We need politicians who can reach across the aisle and strike a compromise, not just pound sand. We also need politicians who understand what seems to be a mounting chorus of discontent with status-quo government. I suspect Horne will run again for public office, and her own timing will be better next time.
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
The argument sounded profoundly sexist to me, smacking of a "good old boys network" that some people think helped elect Logue, not Horne. To her credit, Horne never played that card. As for the weak-kneed allegations, let's not forget that Horne led the charge to defeat NH 2020, one of the most contentious issues around here in years that - of course - deteriorated to personal attacks.
I'm a fan of women in politics and in government. I doubt that Horne and the late English novelist and feminist Virginia Woolf have too much in common politically.
But in her famous book-length essay "Three Guineas," Woolf makes a persuasive argument about the ability of women to solve our world's problems, including war. Though written in 1938, it still is relevant 70 years later. "To fight has always been the man's habit, not the woman's," she wrote.
We need politicians who can reach across the aisle and strike a compromise, not just pound sand. We also need politicians who understand what seems to be a mounting chorus of discontent with status-quo government. I suspect Horne will run again for public office, and her own timing will be better next time.
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
