Happy New Year!

In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells]

by Lord Alfred Tennyson, (1809- 1892)

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Lost Jobs - Job Opportunities

Obama Stimulus Money May Benefit
Out of Work County Employees


Modoc County’s cash flow projections are temporarily improving, but a close look at the main reason for the upswing reveals hardship and struggle for local people. To cut costs twenty-five county employees have been laid off, or had their hours reduced in the last quarter of 2009.

The road department lost 10 employees, public works laid off two people from buildings and grounds, the sheriff’s department let three employees go, and the ag department eliminated one inspector.

In addition the treasurer, auditor and assessor’s office lost one employee each. The CAO’s secretary was fired, and the CAO was dismissed. One employee in the building department is now on half time.

Add to this the four insurance “billers” who were laid off by Modoc Medical Center when the hospital contracted with consultant Kelly Maldonado of Fresno, to do the hospital’s billing...


Editor's Note: Read the rest of this story in the January issue of the Modoc Independent News, available for free Wednesday, Jan. 6 at locations throughout Modoc County.

Modoc County Bed Tax

An Unexplored Source of Revenue


Modoc County is in worst shape financially than any other rural California county. But in these tough economic times all the counties are looking for ways to increase revenues. One area that is being explored by many counties as a potential funding source is the Transient Occupancy Tax, or TOT, also known as the county motel or bed tax.

Shari Schapmire, Mendocino County Tax Collector, recently compiled a Transient Occupancy Tax Questionnaire. Schapmire queried all the counties in the state about their TOT. Among the questions she asked were, “What is your TOT rate?” and “Is your TOT used solely for the general fund?”

Modoc County Treasurer Cheryl Knoch shared Schapmire’s Questionnaire results with the board of supervisors at its Dec. 22 meeting.

Of particular note to Modoc County is the fact that its TOT, the tax on motel rooms, is 4 percent, the lowest of all the counties in the state that charge the tax. This tax has been in existence in Modoc for at least 30 years and in those years it has remained at 4 percent.

Modoc’s neighboring counties charge more. Lassen’s TOT tax is 10 percent, Shasta’s is 10 percent and Trinity County’s is 5 percent.

It is estimated that the Modoc County TOT tax generates approximately $28,000 per year in revenue to the county. The TOT tax in the City of Alturas is 10 percent and in 2005, the latest figures available, it generated $133,705.

-- Barbara March

Barclay Justice Center Goes to State

Cantrall Fears Loss of Parking


It’s been seven years in the coming, but on Dec. 22, the Modoc County Board of Supervisors, with Pat Cantrall the lone dissenter, brought a long procrastination over payments to the state to an end and voted to turn over the Barclay Justice Center to the state of California.

In 1998 a California state Task Force on Court Facilities was charged with examining issues related to the courts, including making recommendations as to which level of government should be responsible for court facilities in the future. It issued its final report on Oct. 31, 2001.

SB 1732, issued in 2002 and charged with enacting the task force recommendations, says that responsibility for trial court facilities should be transferred from the counties to the state. It also says that the transfers should be completed by June 30, 2007.

For the past seven years Modoc has ignored that state law.

Other stipulations in the state law include that, “counties will not be entitled to compensation for the transfer and that counties shall provide funding for facility and operation costs to the state based on historic funding patterns through a ‘county facility payment.’”

The county facility payment which has been a source of debate among the county supervisors for the past seven years, means that Modoc County will pay the state $30,000 annually, according to Assistant CAO Darcy Locken.

Locken urged the board to agree to the transfer at the Dec. 22 meeting, and said that relinquishing the Barclay Justice Center relieves Modoc County of the responsibility and liability for the building.

Supervisor Cantrall objected and expressed concern over the possible loss of county employee parking spaces.

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Modoc County Patriots Tea Party

Freedom Isn’t Free

Are you concerned about our county’s financial future? Do you want your voice to be heard?
Now is the time to stand up and be counted.


Speak out about lower taxes, fiscal responsibility,
term limits and restoring common sense to all government entities,
including Modoc County.

For example, Medicare will be cut by 500 billion dollars and be insolvent by 2017.

It’s high time this country charts a course back to a republic called
the United States of America.

Come join with us, united we stand, divided we fall.

The Modoc County Patriots Tea Party meets the second Sunday of each month at the Veterans Hall in Alturas. from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. This month's meeting is Sunday, Jan. 10.


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Modoc-gate

Book Review


Editor’s Note: This book has been frequently referred to on the Modoc Independent News daily blog and reviewed in the newspaper. We are sharing it with everyone who has concern for Modoc County’s financial crisis.


When Government Fails:
The Orange County Bankruptcy

By Mark Baldassare

University of California Press, co-published with the Public Policy Institute of California, 1998

Granted, the first thing you will say when you start reading this book is, “Yeah, but Orange County went bankrupt in 1994 because its treasurer made bad investments. Modoc is different.”

And you will be right. Modoc County is different. It is facing the possibility of bankruptcy because, as the State Controller’s Office has said, the board of supervisors illegally used money from the treasury -- not because the treasurer made bad investments.

The emphasis is on “illegal.” (As a direct aside, the Modoc County Board of Supervisors has yet to be accountable for its actions.)

What Orange and Modoc counties have in common is the “B” word, otherwise known as bankruptcy.

Of significance was Orange County’s eventual appointment of a highly trained and experienced chief executive officer who had the authority to clean house -- top to bottom, an action Modoc County has yet to take.

Eventually, there was a turnover on the Orange County Board of Supervisors which was also implicated in the mismanagement of the public’s money. But in the end, the blame for Orange County’s bankruptcy went to more than just its elected officials. It also involved the public, and we quote from the book:

“The Orange County voters, who expressed so much anger at their county leaders for letting them down, cannot themselves escape blame for the financial disaster. They voted for the county treasurer who gambled with the taxpayers’ funds. They elected the members of the Board of Supervisors who failed to provide oversight and showed themselves lacking in leadership during the fiscal crisis.”

Sound familiar?

Reading “When Government Fails” will provide a primer for anyone who wants to understand the ramifications of when a county goes bankrupt, what can be done about it, and how disenfranchised the citizens were when the county went down.

-- Ray A. March