May 20, 1965 (20 pages)

Pah aarp ARENA rea A Tee MARE i. orate ae ee May 20, 1965 EDITORIALS NEVADA CITY IS LEARNING THAT ECONOMY CAN BE A TWO WAY STREET Ne.vada City councilmen were informed last week that the city was in a rather precarious financial tondition and the major reasons for this were flaws in the preparation of the current budget and mistakes in bookkeeping. This is unhappy news for any city to hear, but we feel that it is better to hear it now than later when the situation could be worse. There was some balking on the part of some of the council members when it was suggested that additional help was needed to straighten out the fiscalaffairs ofthe city. It was even suggestedinsome quarters that hiring a man to look atthe city's money situation. was-an-extravagance.It shoultdnow be abundantly clear that this could not be further from the truth. The fact is that as more hard financial figures are compiled it will, become even more evident that hiring of a part time accountant was a wise move. One other truth has come out of the current financial situation and that is that no city can continue to provide expanded city services and at the same time cut the tax rate. The current budget was based ona seven cent tax cut. ‘ While tax cuts may make taxpayers happy at budget time, sooner or later in the fiscal year some of those same taxpayers are going to come along and ask for this or that service and when itis discoveredthat there is no money left their happiness of a few months back will quickly turn to anger. With budget sessions now looming on the horizon, these may be good things to remember. IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR NEVADA CITY TO HEED ITS ADVISORS As anarea grows the demand for more services grows on the government of thatarea. As these demands grow the job of sorting our what is right, wrong, legal and proper also grows and the job of the part-time city councilmen bebecomes more complicated. The job ofacity councilman also becomes more dangerous for there is a greater area for error in judgement. It can also be simply a matter of not being able to know everything. The answer to this growing problem is tosecure expert advise, but this is only part of the answer. To really solve the problem, the governing body must secure expert advise and then take the advice given. Last week the Nevada City Council asked its city attorney for a ruling the use of general fund monies to build aroad which would benefit only those residents with property adjoining the road. Hesaidthen, as he had several times in the past, that in his opinion it was not proper. The council went ahead and did it anyway. Several months ago the city council asked its attorney for opinions on the Coyote Street zoning variance case. On several evenings before this in lengthly proceedings, the city attorney had clearly outlined the grounds for a grantinga variance and indicated that this one test of hardship had not been ‘shown. The city council went ahead anyhow and granted the variance and now finds itself facing a law suit. We sometimes wonder why the city spends the taxpayers’ money and the attorney's time to seek legal opinions and then ignores them. To have the city properly run, it should have expert advice on many matters, but obtaining this advice is a waste of time if the council fails to heed it. The city's past experience should prove this. IN THE FOOTHILLS VEIN WILL WE GET A COUNTY ENGINEER THIS TIME’ Tne latest Nevada County Grand Jury joined a distinguished group of grand jury members of the past several years in recommending that the county set up a department of public works headed by a qualified engineer. The board of supervisors, unlike many in the past which filed this recurrent recommendation in the handiest drawer, quickly directed controller Tom Trauner to make a feasibility study of the proposal, Tuesday Trauner presented his recommendations to the supervisors and they are supposed to come up with some sort of recommendation or action Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how this time worn, but much needed idea fares this time. *eeoenee eee @ THE CONVENTIONS have been coming to Nevada City with such rapidity lately that it is becoming difficult to keep them all sorted out. The latest news out of Los Angeles where the California Council for Retarded Children held its state convention last week isthat the Nevada County Council has snagged the bid for the Northern California Sheltered Workshop Conference tobe held sometime this summer. It has been customary to hold this convention in Sacramento, but the Nevada County Council is presently negotiating to have the 150 parents and specialists in the field of vocational training come to Nevada City for the one day affair. eeeeeee nee FOR THOSE who are angered at the stickness of Smokey the Bear and take a dim view of the stern —= NY) 2 hi . faced gents in green who patrol, worry about and improve our federal lands inthe Tahoe National Forest, here is some food for thought--receipts in the forest in 1964 were $1, 199, 926 from Nevada, Placer, Sierra, and Yuba Counties, Since the headquarters for the huge national forest is in Nevada City and employs a sizable staff, this government facility puts a big hunk of money into the local economy every month. In additionto this, more than $59,000 of the $1 million in receipts received by the forest last year were returned to the county earmarked for use in our local schools and roads, So, if you get pinched for not having a fire permit ornabbing a Christmas tree without a bill of sale, feel guilty, feel angry, feel for your wallet and feel glad we have the National Forest around our area. CALIFORNIA ---Don Hoagland PROBLEMS ARE A PART OF LIFE IN CALIFORNIA In California, mere than in other places, when you are talking about problems, you are usually talking about potentials in the very same breath, Our traditions, the character of our people, our wealth, the flexibility of our social and political system, all these--and our warm optimistic sunshine as well--, encourage usnot only to talk about our problems, but to find solutions to them as well, There are areas inthe United States where the population is static or declining, where the only change is not growth, but decay, where opportunities for young people are meager, where the sun just doesn't shine. There are even some places where real estate isn't a very good investment. Most of us, I think, although we might complain bitterly about the problems being caused here by population growth, economic growth, undirected urban change, prefer to find a certain exilaration in the whole California process, wherein tomorrow, if we work hard enough, learn enough, become big enough people, we just might be able to achieve a state that is bright, beautiful, and booming --all three, world without end, “Each morning, at dawning, birdies sing and everything,’ runs the song, It's the “and everything” that gets you: that's California, So instead of talking about problems, we seem to talk about potentials--the other side, the bright side of the coin, Thus in California creating a coordinated transportation system suited to carrying people and goods, 4) *13938nN Aqunoy epeaen’** cg6rt ‘oz Aew'’

Pah aarp ARENA rea A Tee MARE i. orate ae ee May 20, 1965 EDITORIALS NEVADA CITY IS LEARNING THAT ECONOMY CAN BE A TWO WAY STREET Ne.vada City councilmen were informed last week that the city was in a rather precarious financial tondition and the major reasons for this were flaws in the preparation of the current budget and mistakes in bookkeeping. This is unhappy news for any city to hear, but we feel that it is better to hear it now than later when the situation could be worse. There was some balking on the part of some of the council members when it was suggested that additional help was needed to straighten out the fiscalaffairs ofthe city. It was even suggestedinsome quarters that hiring a man to look atthe city's money situation. was-an-extravagance.It shoultdnow be abundantly clear that this could not be further from the truth. The fact is that as more hard financial figures are compiled it will, become even more evident that hiring of a part time accountant was a wise move. One other truth has come out of the current financial situation and that is that no city can continue to provide expanded city services and at the same time cut the tax rate. The current budget was based ona seven cent tax cut. ‘ While tax cuts may make taxpayers happy at budget time, sooner or later in the fiscal year some of those same taxpayers are going to come along and ask for this or that service and when itis discoveredthat there is no money left their happiness of a few months back will quickly turn to anger. With budget sessions now looming on the horizon, these may be good things to remember. IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR NEVADA CITY TO HEED ITS ADVISORS As anarea grows the demand for more services grows on the government of thatarea. As these demands grow the job of sorting our what is right, wrong, legal and proper also grows and the job of the part-time city councilmen bebecomes more complicated. The job ofacity councilman also becomes more dangerous for there is a greater area for error in judgement. It can also be simply a matter of not being able to know everything. The answer to this growing problem is tosecure expert advise, but this is only part of the answer. To really solve the problem, the governing body must secure expert advise and then take the advice given. Last week the Nevada City Council asked its city attorney for a ruling the use of general fund monies to build aroad which would benefit only those residents with property adjoining the road. Hesaidthen, as he had several times in the past, that in his opinion it was not proper. The council went ahead and did it anyway. Several months ago the city council asked its attorney for opinions on the Coyote Street zoning variance case. On several evenings before this in lengthly proceedings, the city attorney had clearly outlined the grounds for a grantinga variance and indicated that this one test of hardship had not been ‘shown. The city council went ahead anyhow and granted the variance and now finds itself facing a law suit. We sometimes wonder why the city spends the taxpayers’ money and the attorney's time to seek legal opinions

and then ignores them. To have the city properly run, it should have expert advice on many matters, but obtaining this advice is a waste of time if the council fails to heed it. The city's past experience should prove this. IN THE FOOTHILLS VEIN WILL WE GET A COUNTY ENGINEER THIS TIME’ Tne latest Nevada County Grand Jury joined a distinguished group of grand jury members of the past several years in recommending that the county set up a department of public works headed by a qualified engineer. The board of supervisors, unlike many in the past which filed this recurrent recommendation in the handiest drawer, quickly directed controller Tom Trauner to make a feasibility study of the proposal, Tuesday Trauner presented his recommendations to the supervisors and they are supposed to come up with some sort of recommendation or action Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how this time worn, but much needed idea fares this time. *eeoenee eee @ THE CONVENTIONS have been coming to Nevada City with such rapidity lately that it is becoming difficult to keep them all sorted out. The latest news out of Los Angeles where the California Council for Retarded Children held its state convention last week isthat the Nevada County Council has snagged the bid for the Northern California Sheltered Workshop Conference tobe held sometime this summer. It has been customary to hold this convention in Sacramento, but the Nevada County Council is presently negotiating to have the 150 parents and specialists in the field of vocational training come to Nevada City for the one day affair. eeeeeee nee FOR THOSE who are angered at the stickness of Smokey the Bear and take a dim view of the stern —= NY) 2 hi . faced gents in green who patrol, worry about and improve our federal lands inthe Tahoe National Forest, here is some food for thought--receipts in the forest in 1964 were $1, 199, 926 from Nevada, Placer, Sierra, and Yuba Counties, Since the headquarters for the huge national forest is in Nevada City and employs a sizable staff, this government facility puts a big hunk of money into the local economy every month. In additionto this, more than $59,000 of the $1 million in receipts received by the forest last year were returned to the county earmarked for use in our local schools and roads, So, if you get pinched for not having a fire permit ornabbing a Christmas tree without a bill of sale, feel guilty, feel angry, feel for your wallet and feel glad we have the National Forest around our area. CALIFORNIA ---Don Hoagland PROBLEMS ARE A PART OF LIFE IN CALIFORNIA In California, mere than in other places, when you are talking about problems, you are usually talking about potentials in the very same breath, Our traditions, the character of our people, our wealth, the flexibility of our social and political system, all these--and our warm optimistic sunshine as well--, encourage usnot only to talk about our problems, but to find solutions to them as well, There are areas inthe United States where the population is static or declining, where the only change is not growth, but decay, where opportunities for young people are meager, where the sun just doesn't shine. There are even some places where real estate isn't a very good investment. Most of us, I think, although we might complain bitterly about the problems being caused here by population growth, economic growth, undirected urban change, prefer to find a certain exilaration in the whole California process, wherein tomorrow, if we work hard enough, learn enough, become big enough people, we just might be able to achieve a state that is bright, beautiful, and booming --all three, world without end, “Each morning, at dawning, birdies sing and everything,’ runs the song, It's the “and everything” that gets you: that's California, So instead of talking about problems, we seem to talk about potentials--the other side, the bright side of the coin, Thus in California creating a coordinated transportation system suited to carrying people and goods, 4) *13938nN Aqunoy epeaen’** cg6rt ‘oz Aew'’