Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

This is a big election day in California, and the country (and county) is watching:

For the Nevada County elections page, click HERE.

For state results, click HERE.

Update around midnight: So far, local results show Miller leading Hodge for District 3 Supervisor; Moon, Smithers and Foster in a close race for Sheriff (expect a runoff); Newell over Jennings in a close race for DA, and Diaz in a big lead for clerk-recorder.

“A rough estimate of ballots remaining to be counted is between 12,000 and 15,000 ballots,” YubaNet is reporting.

The Nevada County Elections Result Map is here: https://gis.nevcounty.net/electionresults

Statewide results show Newsom and Cox in a runoff for governor, and Feinstein in the top spot for Senator with the second spot undecided.

Our Sierra FoodWineArt magazine gave out our annual high-school scholarship award to a Bear River High student on Monday night (congratulations Sarah DeRise), but it was bittersweet as we learned that Nevada Joint Union High School District Scholarship Coordinator Barbara Ross is retiring.

Barbara, who is charming, resourceful and highly knowledgeable,  has been a champion for our college-bound students since 2000 — helping them navigate the all-consuming college, financial aid and scholarship process. Barbara also has been an officer in the Rotary Club of Penn Valley, among other volunteer efforts.

I first met Barbara when I headed up the local chapter of the Cal Alumni Association scholarship committee about a decade ago. We worked together on the UC Berkeley scholarship, geared toward incoming Cal freshmen from our local schools.

Later, Barbara helped inspire us to create a scholarship for our business that was geared toward aspiring journalists. We have committed at least $2,000 toward that effort.

Barbara has been the District Scholarship Coordinator since November 2000, according to her Linked-In profile. She also has been responsible for fund development.

I was highly  impressed with the scholarship program she helped build — remarkable for a school district of our size.  “Welcome to the NJUHSD Scholarship Program,” the website reads. “The entire college, financial aid and scholarship process can be difficult and seemingly overwhelming.  This packet will give you suggestions on how to navigate through the senior year more effectively.”

The program goes “wide and deep” across our community, thanks largely to Barbara’s enterprise. Last night,  I counted 92 scholarships alone that were awarded to Bear River High students.  A list of district scholarships is here.

Thanks Barbara for being a tireless champion of our college-bound students! Her replacement is Kimala Breaux DeSena, a guidance specialist at Nevada Union High who has deep roots in our community.

 

“The state that spawned the ‘Reagan Revolution’ and Richard M. Nixon just experienced a watershed moment — the California Republican Party was officially relegated to third-party status,” according to Politico.

“In the culmination of the withered state GOP’s long slide toward near-political irrelevance here, new voter registration data released this week show the once-robust party trails behind both Democrats and ‘no party preference’ in the nation’s most populous state. The California Republican Party is now outnumbered by independent voters by 73,000, according to Political Data Inc., which tabulates voter file data from county registrars.

“The new figures come as the state looms large in the national battle for the House, with a handful of Republican-held seats poised to play a pivotal role in November.

“Among California’s 19 million registered voters, the latest statistics — as of 15 days before the June 5 primary — show that Democrats now make up 8.4 million or 44.6 percent of the electorate.

“That compares with 4,844,803 no-party-preference voters, or 25.5 percent of the state’s voters and 4,771,984 Republicans, who both make up about 25.1 percent. The California Secretary of State’s office is expected to release its own official count later this week.

“A decade after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — the last elected GOP statewide official — was lambasted for warning his fellow Republicans that their party was ‘dying at the box office,’ the new numbers underscore the collapse of the GOP in California. The ranks of Republican voters have disintegrated by 10 percentage points since 1998, when they made up 35 percent of the voter rolls.

“Democratic numbers have also declined, though not nearly as dramatically — the party made up 46.8 percent of the voter rolls a decade ago. By contrast, the percentage of “no party preference” voters in the state has more than doubled in the past two decades, the latest data showed.

The rest of the article is here.

From the blog of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine:

Nevada County Arts Council invites the community to a significant meeting on Thursday, June 7, at 10 a.m. The California Arts Council will hold one of its five annual public meetings here in Nevada County. Council Members – among them those appointed by Governor Jerry Brown – along with senior staff members including California Arts Council’s new Executive Director, Anne Bown-Crawford – will be arriving from different parts of the state for an all-day convening at the Miners Foundry in Nevada City.

Nevada County Arts Council is part of a program called the State-Local Partnership Program with the California Arts Council. As such, it will be welcoming other regional arts councils and commissions from across central and Northern California, while its Executive Director, Eliza Tudor, outlines several reasons for community members locally to attend:

“Your attendance will show the California Arts Council how significant our two state designations as California Cultural Districts in Nevada County are for us! For the arts community. If you have ever been funded by California Arts Council this is our opportunity to show interest and appreciation. And for those that haven’t but that want to understand the possibilities for your organization or project in-the-making, this is an ideal forum to listen and learn.”

She adds: “During the public comments part of the agenda, there is also an opportunity to speak from the heart in support of our California Cultural Districts – whether we are from Grass Valley, Nevada City or Truckee – or to ask questions of our own connected with the work of California Arts Council. It will be an opportunity to listen in to presentations to the Council, and to conversations on key topics of significance in California today.”

BriarPatch Food Coop will be generously sponsoring tea, coffee and muffins at the start of the day, in an on-going partnership with Nevada County Arts Council that supports community building and engagement.

Tudor adds: “We are grateful to our community for being such great partners with us on this new adventure for both Grass Valley-Nevada City Cultural District and Truckee Cultural District. Together, being part of the very first cohort of California Cultural Districts, and the only rural county with two, we are shaping this new state program for future generations. Let’s show our appreciation!”

More information on the California Arts Council’s meeting agenda can be found at http://www.cac.ca.gov/aboutus/councilmeetings.php.

Join The City of Nevada City and the Future of Nevada County (FoNC) for a public workshop this Saturday, June 2, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., City Hall, 317 Broad St., to discuss and envision a downtown community gathering place.

City officials have identified two potential streets that satisfy needs for emergency vehicles and vehicular traffic; York Street and lower Commercial Street.

FoNC is hosting this public workshop to serve as a conduit between the public and city officials; ensuring opportunity for community members to provide feedback for the city’s upcoming beautification project in downtown Nevada City.

A facilitation method will be used to ensure that each individual has the opportunity to share their opinion in small groups so that, as a whole, community members, business and building owners alike can share concepts, concerns, and ideas for the city’s consideration.

A variety of features for a public space are available for the community to discuss and select such as wider sidewalks, shade trees, kid friendly space, local art, bicycle racks, and additional seating to name a few. This information will be gathered from the public workshop and a second workshop will follow in a month to share public feedback.

For those who can not make the public workshop or would simply like to share their ideas, an online survey is available for residents here (https://form.jotform.com/FoNC/resident-survey) and Nevada City merchants here (https://form.jotform.com/FoNC/merchant-survey). The community is highly encouraged to give their feedback.

FoNC was born out of a void just over a year ago.  A new generation wanted to create a formalized space to come together and be empowered within their very own community. The group formed from a common desire to create a space where the topics close to their hearts could be discussed and followed up by meaningful action.

“FoNC members consist of young professionals, activists, educators, business owners, environmentalists, artists, and social justice advocates, along with their mentors,” stated FoNC member and Nevada City business owner Rachel Luck. “We discuss, explore, and act on issues about which we feel strongly: environmental sustainability, access to local government, diversity and inclusion, indigenous rights, affordable housing, economic development and jobs, and the cost of living. We are oriented towards and interested in addressing the root causes of these issues.”

FoNC members are highlighting in this public workshop the importance of the process itself. They believe that community input is key to the success of any project and feel that the process is the most important element in this community-building event.

—Reinette Senum

 

“As Starbucks shuts down its stores for racial sensitivity training, overt racism by Roseanne Barr overtook the day’s headlines, leading many to look at the tone of racism and incivility set by Donald Trump,” as MSNBC is reporting. “Chris Hayes and Joy Reid talk with Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to President Barrack Obama, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.”

The video is here.

Each year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2655 hosts a moving Memorial Day service at Pioneer Park, near our home in Nevada City. The turnout continues to grow.

This morning, a C-130 Hercules flight engineer recounted a poignant story of flying into Hanoi to recover the remains of 11 soldiers who had died in captivity in Vietnam, and Mayor Duane Strawser remembered four Nevada City veterans. We heard taps, a biplane flying overhead, and a 21-gun salute. The annual Local Heroes’ Bridge Tour got underway later in the day.