Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

Officials are trying to identify the type of shark that killed a 19-year-old bodyboarder at Surf Beach off the Central California Coast. It is the 12th fatal shark attack confirmed off California waters since 1950.

I’ve swum in the ocean my entire life and never thought much about a shark attack until “Jaws.” A fatal shark attack at Solana Beach two years ago got our attention because we swim there every year in the summer. There are no sharks in Lake Tahoe, we remind our son, adding that the risk of an attack when he swims in the ocean are very, very slim. We’ve been to Australia, and many of the beaches still have “shark nets,” supposedly to protect you.

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All of John Stoos fussing about the gold mine on this blog prompted me to go look at the Emgold website. And sure enough, Tom McClintock and Dan Logue get a mention for supporting it.

“The I-M Project will clean up a legacy mine site that has set idle for over 50 years. The Project is supported by Dan Logue, State Assemblyman, and Tom McClintock (United States Congressman) because of the benefits it will bring to Grass Valley, Nevada County, and the state of California,” the website reads.

This is something voters would no doubt want to consider when they go to the polls. The next two years are shaping up to be a “battle royale” around here.

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Here’s one that slipped by the local media: Though facing a budget crisis of its own, the City of Grass Valley is recommending that the Council temporarily defer some development impact fees for the initial phase of the Wolf Creek Village project. The decision is expected at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled council meeting.

Though I understand the tough economic times and am a big fan of this project, I always wonder about the wisdom of this “rules are made to be broken” mindset.

Though the circumstances always differ, think of examples such as Dark Horse in the unincorporated county or Walgreen’s in Grass Valley when a project falls short of completion — despite the best of intentions. Then “we the people” are on the hook. It’s the “electeds” job to guard against this.

These impact fees are to pay for services (drainage, fire, park and recreation) provided by the City-and County once residents move in.

“The unexpected 2-year delay when our financing went on hold has made the project budget especially tight,” according to a letter send to the city by the developer. “We estimate paying the impact fees at the end of construction instead of when we pull building permits will save the project approximately $10,000 in interest on the bank loan.”

It adds, “We do not believe it is appropriate to have to pay these fees 18 months before residents move in.”

“In 2008, when we thought we are the verge of starting construction before the banking collapse, the project paid $237,942 in water and sewer fees, $21,562 in Quimby Act Fees, $13,362 in Regional Traffic Fees, $75,181 in school fees, and $65,037 in building department plan check fees. We have now had to pay two years of additional interest on the funds used to pay these fees. In the last two years, the impact and other city fees remaining to be paid have increased by $28,000. This has put additional hardships on the project.”

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The Bee is working harder to promote its blogging network, alongside its own reporting. Here’s an example: Their article on Sunday, “Looks like a cakewalk for McClintock in GOP country.” (Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in the district by 67,000, or 45.80 percent to 30.34 percent, according to the secretary of state’s report of Sept. 3.)

Next to it (under the grocery store ad) is my earlier post Travelin’ Tom McClintock. It’s a package of content, and they’re “monetizing” it with ads.

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“November 2 is the most important election we may have in decades! We must take back our country and our state! If you are asking yourself ‘What Can I Do to Help’, here is your opportunity!” according to Rich Ulery, vice chairman of the county Republican Party.

Rich is one of the classier spokespeople for the local GOP — and should be more visible than the name-calling, “flame throwing” hard right blogging contingent to help win the “middle.” But when can we dispense with this “take back” kind of rhetoric? Do you think the GOP would have let the banks and automakers fail? They would have launched a “bailout,” too — but just called it something different. Please.

“October 30 is Super Saturday!

“We’ll meet at our Republican Headquarters in the Fowler Center between B&C True Value and Save Mart at 9:00 AM. Join us to walk neighborhoods, talk to voters, and distribute door hangers with the names of our Republican candidates.

“Or, you can help us make hundreds of phone calls to Republicans to ensure that all Republicans turn out to vote! Absentee ballots are already out and are being returned to the elections office. We need to make sure that all voters cast their ballots at the polls on election day or return their absentee ballots on time.

Our Country, Our State and the Nevada County Republican Party need YOU!
Let us know that you’ll be available to help!

Rich Ulery
Vice Chair
Nevada County Republican Party”

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Although President Obama will not say so, there is at least a plausible argument that he might be better off if they lose the midterm elections, as The New York Times reports.

“The reality of presidential politics is that it helps to have an enemy. With Democrats controlling the White House and Congress, they shoulder responsibility for the country’s troubles,” according to the Times.

“No amount of venting about George W. Bush or the filibuster rule has convinced the public otherwise. But if Republicans capture Congress, Mr. Obama will finally have a foil heading toward his own re-election battle in 2012.”

We’re starting to hear this argument more and more in the media. It worked for Bill Clinton.

“If the Republicans capture both House and Senate, the odds of Obama winning in 2012 go up,” added Steven M. Gillon, a University of Oklahoma professor and resident historian for the History Channel who wrote “The Pact,” on the 1990s showdown between Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gingrich. “If the Democrats keep both houses, then Congress will hover over him and he’s going to have less room to maneuver.”

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Defections from Meg Whitman’s ranks on the part of women, Latinos and nonpartisan voters have fueled a surge by Jerry Brown in the race for governor, according to a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll.

This is the key point: “Nonpartisan voters, whom Republicans had counted on to overcome the Democratic advantage in voter registration, moved away from the two Republican candidates, and moderate voters also tilted toward the Democrats,” the poll said.

(As I’ve suggested before, the tea party extremism and hard right rhetoric has been instrumental in helping —not hurting — the Democrats in our state. After all, most of us are in the “middle” politically.)

Brown, the Democratic attorney general and former governor, led Whitman 52 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, the poll found. His advantage has more than doubled since a Times/USC poll in September.

Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer held onto her 8-point margin over Republican Carly Fiorina in the U.S. Senate contest. Boxer’s 50 percent to 42 percent lead was statistically unchanged from September’s 51 percent to 43 percent edge.

Exit question: What has the local GOP done — if anything — to win over voters who are “in the middle”?

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The Bee’s Dan Morain has a column this morning pointing to an issue that has been raised here repeatedly: The California Republican Party is in “deep trouble now by any measure.”

Public attitudes are dim, registration is sliding downhill, and as for fundraising, “The party would face foreclosure if it weren’t for a billionaire angel or two,” Dan writes.

“Interparty splits are everywhere.” And guess who it points too? Our very own Congressman Tom McClintock.

•McClintock refuses to endorse Meg Whitman for governor, he observes.
•And McClintock and the California Republican Party endorsed Prop. 23.

“Take a look at Proposition 23′s opponents: the sitting governor, the GOP’s candidate for governor, and former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, among the most venerated living members of the Reagan White House. The head of Google gave $200,000 to defeat Proposition 23. Bill Gates gave $700,000. Tesla Motors, developing new electric vehicles at a factory in Fremont, gave $25,000.

“Maybe the Grand Old Party ought to think twice when it finds itself aligned with Texas oil companies, and against George Shultz, Google, Bill Gates and Tesla.

Nah.”

“Ronald Reagan would be booted out of the Republican Party if he had to comply with the strictures that have been laid down by the Republican Party in this state,” said Republican Doug Elmets, a Sacramento public affairs consultant who worked in the Reagan White House.

The big tent that Reagan envisioned has become a pup tent, at least in California, Dan writes.

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