Alturas Council Supportive

John Schreiber, council member

“Everybody’s trying to make it a negative, can’t do this, can’t do that, but something has to be done, you can’t turn your back.

“I think it’s an opportunity for the community. I think it’s not a matter of yes or no, but how do we get it done. Chester has proven himself with us. One member of the council wants Chester to stay here, but you come to a cross roads, you have to pick the best.

“It would be far superior to have him take care of both the city and county and not go to one or the other. The city and county have never worked well together. Maybe this is an opportunity for them to do so.
 
“This is a chance for them to figure they can work together. All I can say about (Supervisor Jeff) Bullock is that he was not a team player with the previous board and he’s not a team player with this board. There’s a lot people who want to say no and not come up with a solution. But we can’t afford that anymore.”

Alturas Council Supportive

Bobby Ray, council member

    “Our first responsibility is to the city. I would prefer that this not happen, but Chester is passionate, and feels he has the knowledge to can accomplish something for the county, and I agree with him. He has the knowledge. To get another chief administrative officer in here (at the county) would take a year. Can he do it, we don’t know. We won’t know unless we go down this path.
    “It’s more workable than bringing in other individuals to accomplish this task. This is nothing new, the county has an offer on the table, and we’ve put it off. We should have done it before, now we’re in the position of backtracking. It’s a question from the city’s standpoint of can we cover our needs with less staff.
    “Chester’s success at the county depends on organization, cooperation and delegation. Will he get cooperation from department heads in the county and also from city staff? Some are team players, some are not.
    “Hopefully we can focus on the positive and support this effort, Supervisor (Jeff) Bullock is the main naysayer. Hopefully the positive shows its face early on, and everybody sees this can and will work, so we can rally behind it. We can’t afford not to.
    “We want to retain Chester’s energy and willingness to help out.”

Alturas Council Supportive

Editor’s Note: In this article and the ones to follow members of the Alturas City Council express their thoughts on the proposal from the Modoc County Board of Supervisors to combine administration and planning services in conjunction with the hiring of the city’s public works director and planner Chester Robertson.

John Dederick, mayor

“I think sharing is a good thing if we can become more efficient by sharing resources.
   
“I’m interested if there will be other avenues of cooperation explored such as streets and roads maintenance. Maybe we can build on that and go further, it could be anything. The city over the past few years has taken over some of the services the county has provided in the past, such as the airport and we share the animal control officer and pound with the county.
  
“I don’t think it’s feasible to share law enforcement at this time, the city is 24/7, the county has a huge area to patrol with a limited number of officers and limited resources. I think neighborhood watch is a good idea.
  
“The city still wants to have input if there are shared services. Reduction in cost without reduction in services will be good. If the cost and revenue is neutral, and services are enhanced it’s still good. If the revenue is less and the cost is increased, it will not be good.
  
“Our first responsibility is to city residents, but we want to see the county succeed.
  
“I think from city standpoint we’re willing to try.”