Chester voters will have another opportunity to decide the future of their fire department. On Feb. 6, the Plumas County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution authorizing a special May 7 election asking voters to approve one of two ballot measures designed to generate as much as $2 million annually to fund the fire department and its ambulance services.
Even the decision to authorize the election — normally a simple procedural matter — has become entangled in the controversy that has plagued the Chester Public Utility District for months. Now the disagreements include a recall effort and complaints to the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Authorizing the May 7 election was stalled Jan. 16 over what Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Hagwood called “a procedural entanglement.” Political allegations continued Feb. 6, when CPUD Chairwoman Kim Green asked Supervisor Tom McGowan to recuse himself.
“He has demonstrated that he is not capable of being unbiased,” she said, citing his involvement in the FPPC complaint. The supervisors took no action on her request.
McGowan, who represents the Chester/Almanor area, asked if approval of the election resolution required a unanimous vote. Hagwood said a simple majority is all that is required.
When Supervisor Jeff Engel moved to authorize the May 7 special election, McGowan voted with the rest of the board. The motion passed unanimously.
Recall effort targets four CPUD directors
The months-long conflict roiling CPUD has shifted from contentious meetings to an effort to remove four of the district’s five directors. Recall petitions were served around Jan. 23 to Green, Steve Voboril, Arthur Tharpe and Steve Graffweg. The charges vary slightly but in general allege “gross mismanagement” and failure to provide first-responder services to the community of Chester.
In her response, Green said she and other directors have worked to understand the root cause of the district’s financial difficulties. She cited the need for reliable funding to cover the costs of the services the district provides.
Voboril, CPUD vice chair, responded that the recall allegations represent “another gross distortion and unsubstantiated complaint by Annika Peacock,” whose signature is first on his recall petition. He cited the May election as a way for the public to decide “what the fire department will look like in the future.”
Efforts to reach Peacock for comment were unsuccessful.
The recall petitions were submitted to the county elections office Feb. 7. The office has 10 days to review them. Scrutiny includes wording, margin and font size on the petition, said Marcy DeMartile, Plumas County elections official.
If she certifies the petitions for circulation, recall proponents must collect the signatures of at least 346 voters registered within the boundaries of Chester Public Utility District.
FPPC complaint targets CPUD general manager
Peacock, a spokeswoman for the ad hoc Citizens Advisory Committee, also filed a Dec. 20, 2023, complaint with the FPPC, which ensures the integrity of California’s political processes. She named Voboril, Margaret Long, the district’s attorney, and CPUD. The complaint listed numerous charges against CPUD General Manager Adam Cox, including conflict of interest and concealing critical communications.
“I may have given verbal permission to use my name. I haven’t confirmed that yet.”
Tom McGowan, Plumas County supervisor
McGowan, who represents the Chester area, signed the complaint as a witness. Asked by The Plumas Sun about his participation, McGowan said, “I may have given verbal permission to use my name. I haven’t confirmed that yet.”
The FPPC found “insufficient evidence of a violation” by Voboril or CPUD.
On Jan. 22, Laura Mandler, an FPPC enforcement division officer, said the commission found nothing criminal about Cox’s behavior. It identified a minor error in the way he completed Form 700, which asks public officials to disclose their personal financial interests to avoid conflicts of interest. Mandler said mistakes are common and Cox has been completely cooperative.
The complaint against Long, of Prentice Long law practice, has not yet been answered, Green said.
McGowan told The Plumas Sun his interpretation of findings of insufficient evidence is that “they just haven’t caught them yet.”
In response, Cox said, “Supervisor McGowan is throwing stones while living in a glass house. My allegiance is to the ratepayers, taxpayers and the public, not to my personal ego.”
Election aimed at financial crisis
The May 7 election will be the second in six months designed to rescue the beleaguered district from financial collapse. A Nov. 7, 2023, ballot measure sought approval of a $350-per-parcel special tax to address the district’s decade-long $1.2 million-a-year deficit. It failed badly, garnering 200 “yes” votes to 381 “nos.” That was far short of the two-thirds majority approval required for passage.
The May 7 special election asks Chester voters to approve one of two ballot measures designed to generate as much as $2 million annually to fund the fire department and its ambulance services. One measure asks voters to approve a $1,500 per parcel annual tax to fund a full-service, full-time professionally staffed Chester fire department. The other asks for approval of a $450 per parcel annual tax to fund a volunteer department.
“It’s an opportunity for a majority of the community to express whether they want a fire department and what type of fire department they want,” Green said.
If both measures fail, the Chester district will provide neither firefighters nor ambulance service.
Neighboring districts provide interim services
CPUD’s financial crisis forced district directors to send layoff notices to all firefighters effective Feb. 28. Ambulance workers were terminated Jan. 1, 2024, said Sam Blesse, who manages the ground ambulance service for Care Flight at Plumas District Hospital in Quincy. In December the county supervisors asked him to report short- and long-term possibilities for providing ambulance services to Chester.
“From a public perspective, you won’t notice the difference.”
Sam Blesse, Plumas District Hospital ambulance service officer
In his report Feb. 6, Blesse said Peninsula Fire Protection District is covering all ambulance calls. A Plumas District Hospital ambulance based in Indian Valley is available as backup, he said.
Blesse and other ambulance officials are working on an agreement that would combine Peninsula Fire and Seneca Healthcare District, working collaboratively to provide ambulance service. He told the supervisors he was confident that they would reach a long-term agreement covering ambulance services for Chester residents.
Eventually, he said, a “hybrid” involving local paramedics could stabilize patients for an ambulance with a crew, which would take them to a hospital. “From a public perspective, you won’t notice the difference,” Blesse said.