Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Michelle Obama is being criticized by some as a “modern-day Marie Antoinette” for her vacation in Spain with the children. The details are here.

I suppose people wanted her to vacation on the “Emerald Coast” of the Gulf, AKA “Red Neck Riveria,” in the wake of the BP oil spill.

Having said that, a more modest vacation probably would have been in order, with our double-digit employment and ongoing recession. I guess some First Families get to kick up their heels — and some don’t — depending on your timing in office.

On the French Riveria, vacationing is in full swing. As you know, the French, including Parisians, check out in August. A survey of about 12,500 people in 24 countries found French employees were the most likely to take advantage of the days granted, with 89 percent using up all of their days, according to Reuters.

Here’s a short video “An afternoon on Nice beach” to remind the rest of us what it’s like (my favorites in this one are the tourist train and lemonade stand at the very end):

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Local Tea Party President Stan Meckler, father of the group’s co-founder Mark Meckler, has an “other voices” in The Union this morning defending the group. It reads in part:

•”Mark Williams (has been) quoted as saying some horrible things. . . The Tea Party Patriots disassociated itself from this group last September because the Tea Party Express would not condemn Mark Williams and left him in a position of leadership.”

•”In Nevada County, we will not allow signs or comments that are uncivil, rude or crude. Unlike those who gave us the middle finger wave during the 4th of July parade, we don’t tolerate such behavior,” Stan Meckler also wrote.

Memories are short — or forgetful. While I respect the group’s supposed mission — fiscal responsibility, limited government, free markets, respect for the Constitution and Bill of Rights and a government that answers to the people — I’d like to point out some details that were omitted:

•First of all, Mark Williams was present at a Tea Party gathering at the Nevada County fairgrounds last year, along with Tom McClintock and many others. About 250 people attended the event.

I’ve never heard an apology or explanation for that.

• Second, here’s an incident I saw for myself (as did my wife and son) and reported when we were riding in the 4th of July Parade in Grass Valley the year before last:

“Why did the guy marching with the Tea Party protesters in Saturday’s Fourth of July parade in Grass Valley have to carry a sign reading, “Bend over for change”?

“Is that the kind of image the Tea Party protesters want to convey to our community, including the children who show up for public events like this? Is that persuasive?”

I’ve never heard an apology or explanation for that either.

In short, the local Tea Party needs to be more introspective.

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The Union’s publisher posted this notice on the newspaper’s Facebook page yesterday:

“I’m looking for a little competition in the Demolition Derby at the Fair this year. I’m seriously thinking about paying the $500 to crash my car into as many others as I can until my car can no longer move. If you are up for the challenge, let me know. It’s just one of those things on the Bucket List. Drive in a Demolition Derby….check that one off.”

I have a much larger Chevy Tahoe SUV with 181,000 miles that would be a more-than-worthy foe. But it runs like a top and we use it to tow our sailboat, which we just dropped into Lake Tahoe for the the rest of the season. We’d also like to conserve our $500 rather than use it for “discretionary spending” in a car wreck. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

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Editor’s note: I’m reposting this item from last year — the first week of August, ironically — because it is as relevant now as then:

Citizens Bank has never been for sale. It was formed in 1995 to provide a strong commitment to the community.

Local long-timers make up the board, and many civic and political leaders are investors and borrowers.

But as the Nevada City-based bank approaches its 15th year, it faces some major challenges.

Recent examinations of its loan portfolio, including the deterioration of collateral values and borrowers’ financial conditions, has led to the restatement of earnings.

The earnings still haven’t been restated — almost two months after the June 17 announcement.

If Citizens’ financial situation deteriorates, the bank might be forced to sell itself.

I’m sure Westamerica would be interested. Ed Sylvester, co-founder of SCO Planning & Engineering Inc. and chairman of KNCO, is a longtime Westamerica board member. (Westamerica acquired Gold Country Bank of our county in 1979).

There’s a longtime rivalry between Westamerica and Citizens.

Meanwhile, a big management shakeup has occurred at Citizens. The chief credit officer is gone, and chief executive officer Judy Hess has been replaced.

Gary Gall, the bank’s new chief executive, is no stranger to engineering banking mergers.

As chief executive of Western Sierra Bancorp, Gall negotiated and completed the merger of six other community banks between 1999 and 2005.

In 2006, Western Sierra itself was sold to Oregon-based Umpqua Hondings for $352 million. The deal more than tripled Umpqua’s branch count in and around Sacramento.

A lot of local shareholders are feeling the pain of the decline. I know some of them.

Citizens is a cautionary tale in owning a regional bank stock: The stock is only as good as the regional economy.

During the boom here, people forgot the underlying problem: We do not have enough jobs to sustain our economy or justify what had been highly inflated real-estate prices.

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