May 16, 2022 - Some recent letters to the editor suggest that Rosemarie doesn’t have Mariposa County first and foremost in her mind, that she has an agenda other than doing what’s best for this wonderful county. I have to speak up to set the record straight.
I was the person that for years that attended the state-level tree mortality meetings with Supervisor Smallcombe. I was the one who traveled with her to the Governor’s office, the OES office, to other California County OES meetings to collaborate with other officials to identify assistance. I co-chaired with her the local Tree Mortality Committee that brought together over 10 agencies to help this county in time of catastrophic damage due to 3 million dying trees. This committee was emulated by other counties experiencing similar tree loss.
At the first meeting in the Governor’s Office, before the Emergency Declaration or the formation of the State Tree Mortality Task Force, Supervisor Smallcombe brought a large bag of dead pine beetles. This evidence of our reality drove the point home to the Chief of CalFIRE, head of OES and the Governor’s staff on the gravity of this region-wide disaster. Within one week we had a disaster declaration and a few weeks later a State Task Force was formed. She co-chaired the Insurance subgroup when it was formed and served on several other committees.
Just like with tree mortality, Supervisor Smallcombe has worked hard to reduce the impacts of several disasters that have affected Mariposa County. Another example is the 4 year drought and dry wells. Supervisor Smallcombe played a critical role utilizing her leadership and regulatory background to help ensure the State’s proposed regulations fully considered impacts on our rural communities. How do I know? Because Supervisor Smallcombe and I collaborated to write the documents sent back to the State.
Supervisor Smallcombe has shown incredible perseverance in times of opposition. She was a trail blazer utilizing her ability to bring people together for the good of this county and has done this with a fiscally conservative approach not seen in other supervisors or counties. How can I say this? Because I was there.
Without a doubt this District 1 Supervisor has been absolutely the very best and deserves to be re-elected so she can continue to serve the people of Mariposa County.
Don FlorenceMariposa County, CA
