Sierra Sun Times |
| JOBS-JOBS-JOBS- Sunday Morning, 8:30 AM. New map from CalFire shows the extent of the Telegraph Fire. Many Midpines residents evacuated. Friday the measure for new fire trucks passed. However only 48% of the folks that received ballots responded. About the same as for the primary in June. I really don't understand not voting. The measure only needed 50% plus l vote to pass and received the requisite number. So, it seems, our volunteer fire departments outside MPUD will receive new fire trucks and, it is hoped, sufficient well trained firemen to man them. Fire has always been a fact of life in Mariposa County, as well as all of California. But especially in Mariposa County because of our sparse population for most of my life, a small county budget and Prop. 13 limiting government. It was only after a lot of hard work on the part of the volunteers in Mariposa County that a County Fire Department was formed by the Board of Supervisors. Dedicated firemen and women have held things together under the leadership of three County Fire Chiefs, most notably the current Chief Jim Wilson. But obviously this current fire is too large an event even for County Fire services and thanks to the emergency service system in California, equipment and fire fighters from all of California and often other states and countries, come to our rescue. Many systems work well during such an emergency. The Mariposa County Sheriff's Department has the primary responsibility for the safety of our residents. This includes the Scope volunteers who spend many tiring hours on the line. The California Highway Patrol works to assist residents to find routes out of danger, and holds them from getting themselves into trouble. The removal of livestock of all descriptions is directed by the Animal Control officers with many of them being housed at the SPCA. The Red Cross shelters set up at the High School and Grammar School provides a safe haven for the humans and our valuable Fair Grounds provides a great Fire Camp. All in all the difference between now and 50 years ago are astonishing. While the population was small in those days, perhaps less than 5000 county residents, fires ringed the town of Mariposa. No airplanes and few bulldozers. Many Fire trucks were pre-war and often broke down because they had been in service so long. Safety equipment was a pair of Levis, maybe a fire shirt and regular boots. Standard equipment was a McCloud (like a hoe on one side and a rake on the other) and backpack water cans with a hand pumped nozzle to spray the water. The best attack was to build a fire line and try to hold. I remember wet gunny sacks as a tool. In l961 the Harlow Fire roared out of Nelson Cove on the Chowchilla River and ran almost to the town of Oakhurst. Two were killed and dozens of homes destroyed. I remember a slogan (Century of Progress) that was used somewhere. Our Century of Progress started just a few years ago. Better housing for our government, better roads, Fire and Police, expanded tourist economy, many new homes, larger retail centers providing greater selection and excellent schools. Our progress is just starting. We have a good general plan for the county which emphasizes the rural nature of our environment. We will soon adopt a revised Title 17, which will put all that in place. The first General Plan, adopted in l980, worked quite well for us after we finally finished and adopted Title 17, the zoning code which makes the General Plan. That was in l987. Now twenty plus years have gone by and it is time to finish the update. One of the by–products of the ability to expand the Tourism Industry in Mariposa County, has been and will continue to be the keeping of the unemployment rate in the county lower than neighboring counties. But a concern is raised about the quality of these jobs. Not that we do not want to see jobs at all levels for everyone, it is just the case that we lack a huge opportunity for middle level jobs, better paying blue collar, and higher paying white collar jobs that are not government related. Here is a statistic that is somewhat revealing. The total value of all government activities in Mariposa County produces about $80 million in gross revenue to the economy. The number of individuals involved in that endeavor is a little over 1900. The total value of Tourism related to Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County is approximately $230 million produced by approximately 2100 employees of all classifications. Of the 2100 employees thus engaged the majority are at entry level wages or higher while with government, most are of middle level with some at entry or slightly above. However, Mariposa County still has a few lower paid employees. At one time, and maybe it still exists, we had road workers who could quality for food stamps. The time has come, or even past, when we must take a proactive position. Soon the Economic Development Corp., a private non-profit made up of Mariposa Co. citizens, will approach the board with a program to begin serious economic development outside the tourism industry. It is their intention to form a private/public partnership with Mariposa County for the purpose of JOB creation. Jobs, good jobs with a future, which can appeal to the cross section of our population. It will not be easy because we have become a county that avoids active capital investment. In many ways we will have to start from scratch. The new General Plan calls for Job Based Economic Development the fear has always been that any aggressive economic development will increase the density of land development. There is a large enough inventory of already developed parcels to sustain growth with little further subdividing. On top of that, the General Plan calls for concentric development when more is needed. That means that further land development should be contiguous in order to share infrastructure. Also concentration of development, even 5 ac parcels, allows the delivery of county services more efficiently. One more thing. Once we, as a county, adopt our final documents, it is up to us to ask that they be followed and enforced. Other wise there is no reason to go through all this long and tedious effort. Leroy Radanovich Leroy Radanovich Email: Leroy Radanovich To Read More By Leroy Radanovich: Leroy Radanovich's Mariposa Life Archives |
August 2, 2008 |