Spellman Forum Re-Cap from 7-21-11

Spellman held his last public forum in Copperopolis as District 5 representative Thursday July 21, 2011. The BOS is expected to adopt the new district realignment soon. Thirty days from the BOS adoption, the realignment is enacted and Copperopolis will be in District 4 with Supervisor Tryon as their representative. Redistricting occurred ten years ago, while Terry Bailey was District 5 Supervisor. At that time Copperopolis was tentatively placed within District 4 with Tryon as their Supervisor. The final redistricting did not affect Copper and it remained in District 5. While many rumors surround the reasoning behind the lines not being redrawn, none can be substantiated at this time

When asked if the community would be able to contact him if they felt they needed support or information, Spellman stated, "I am personally and absolutely committed ... I was elected to represent the people of Copperopolis and I will continue to be available for the community."


The topic of layoffs in the Sheriff's Department was raised. Spellman reminded all that he was a staunch supporter of law enforecment and the protection of the citizens of the community, he also pointed out that he was the one nay vote when it came time to make cuts within the SO. At a recent BOS meeting Sheriff Kuntz approached the Board questioning their ability to over-rule his layoff selections to stay within a 10% budget cut. (Kuntz had submitted a list of employees for lay off that he felt would not undermine the functioning of the operation of the Sheriff Department, the BOS created their own list - the lists were not the same.) Spellman reported that Sheriff Kuntz had since seeked legal counsel and has representation from within the state Sheriff Association. Spellman said that a three page response had been presented to the BOS citing case law showing that the BOS can, on an executive level pass a budget, but once the budget has been allocated that the Sheriff has 100% right to work within that budget to implement personnell layoffs. Spellman said that Kuntz's priority has always been to keep deputies, further stating that with the recent response from the StateSheriff Association the "Board of Supervisors has no option but to comply."

Discussing the recent signing by Governor Brown of the Williamson Act trailer bill AB 1265, Spellman stated, "the landowners have contracts with the county" if the BOS acted upon the new bill "the landowners can sue for breach of contract."

Spellman wanted to remind the people of Copper that the programs and issues he has begun working on in Copper he will continue to work on. He can be contacted at dspellman@co.calaveras.ca.us