Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

The still-unfinished Del Oro mural was meant to depict life in a small gold-rush town. But it also is proving to be a small-town civics lesson and will be debated by the City Council on Tuesday.

Back in November, I wrote how Howard Levine of the Grass Valley Downtown Association had quietly posed as a “model” for the mural, a meter reader if you will. The artist wanted some “scale” for the three-dimension mural, so the story goes.

But Howard wasn’t in the mural when it was approved by the City Council. A mural depicting him no doubt would have raised some protests in the public forum.

Howard has ruffled some feathers with merchants over the years, with some people complaining about the association’s policies. On the other hand, he has helped revitalize the downtown.

Instead, Howard appeared once the mural was well underway in his cameo role. Howard and the owners of the Del Oro theater are friends, and they OK’ed the plan.

In February, the city received an enforcement investigation request, indicating there was a change to the mural without proper authorization.

The conditions approved by the council in 2007 were clear: “Any change to the mural design would require the approval of the City Council and the owner.”

But the city staff has concluded: “As for the addition of the human figure to the rear wall (Howard), since it is separate and not part of the primary mural, it is not viewed as a substantial change in the character or context of the mural.” The identity of the “human figure,” the head of the Downtown Association, was never mentioned in the staff report.

Hmmm. How will the council vote? 5-0 or 4-1 to accept the staff report, based on the current makeup of the electeds.

Let’s hope someone raises the inconsistenty, though. People want to have faith that their government is following the rules and not being subjected to small-town political “end arounds.”

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The race for the Republican nomination for the 4th District Seat is already getting rough and tumble, pitting fellow assemblymen Rick Keene against Doug LaMalfa.

The two staunch conservatives have nearly identical voting records, though LaMalfa’s conservative scorecard is a bit higher than Keene’s.

The winner is expected to replace Sam Aanestad in such a heavily Republican District. Democrats can forget about this one.

You may have seen the Keene and LaMalfa campaign signs by the freeway in Nevada City, at the end of the lot owned by Robinson Enterprises. It’s prime campaign-sign real estate.

LaMalfa’s sign, “He’s one of us,” is the same campaign slogan used in his previous assembly race more than five years ago, which stirred up some strong emotions then, just as now.

“Every time I see one of Doug LaMalfa’s campaign signs – ‘He’s One of Us’ – I am transported back to the sweet, sacred days of my boyhood in the deep South. Oh, those were simpler times,” said a sarcastic letter writer in the Chico News and Review back in 2004, when the signs first appeared.

“Doug longs for the old days, when a man could hop in his 357 Boss Mustang after work, take Mary Jane for an evening ride by the levee, and only pay 25 cents a gallon for this basic American right.

“Today, we have to invade dinky towel-head countries to keep them from extorting American dollars for oil. Homos want to get married. Federal agents want to take our guns.”

Added another: “I am confused by Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa’s campaign signs, which proclaim that ‘He’s One of Us.’ Excuse me? Us? Does he mean the handful of federally subsidized millionaire rice farmers in our district? He’s definitely one of them.”

Said another: “Now if I could only figure out who ‘us’ is.”

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