The Spellman forum at Snaps in Copperopolis Town Square Thursday June 16, 2011 centered around the unstable budget, not only of the county but of the state.
At first the county anticipated a 4.5 million dollar cut in their budget, but now predictions are much closer to the 5 million dollar mark says Spellman. The original 4.5 million dollar shortfall was based on anticipation of the county either receiving VLF (Vehicle Licensing Fee) funds or other funding to make up for the loss of the VLF. But that did not happen, causing the potential shortfall of 5 million.
Spellman said that recently tension is high and finger pointing is becoming more common. With each Supervisor trying to do what is best for their district yet trying to manage to keep an eye on what is best for the county as a whole is causing much angst.
Spellman said that the county assessor has recently come under attack for possibly under-valuing homes in the county. He said that Tryon publicly stated that Leslie Davis (County Assessor) “ is on a personal crusade to destroy the county.” Spellman however applauded Leslie for “following the law” stating that there are caveats for when “times are bad.”
In addition to the budget, redistricting was discussed.
June 28, 2011 will be the last day for public comment regarding the redrawing of district boundaries. The Board of Supervisors will most probably have the redistricting on the agenda the first session in July and if adopted, the new district maps will be effective 30 days after adoption.
What that means to Copper…Tom Tryon will be our new Supervisor possibly as soon as the first week in August.
Spellman is planning on hosting a Town Hall meeting in the early part of August to create a relatively smooth transition for Tryon, introduce him to his constituents and open the floor to questions for Tryon. Spellman says he hopes that Tryon will show and that he (Spellman) will still be available to the people of Copper if they feel they do not have adequate representation or are not getting questions answered.
At the time of this printing Tryon had yet to return any emails from the Copper Gazette regarding redistricting or the possibility that he may be the new Supervisor for Copperopolis.
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