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The NEWS index
Some items from The Rio Linda Elverta News, August 4, 2005:
Park Administrator is hired
Community Council Applicants feted
Water Board attorney changes his story
Editorial - Water District & Town Hall meeting
PG&E Responds to discrimination claim
The Gray 'Dynasty'
Published in Rio Linda Elverta News August 4, 2005 - Scroll for other articles

Community Council Applicants fetedRio Linda Elverta News August 4, 2005

County holds town hall meeting

by Jay O'Brien

Sacramento County's Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) hosted a town hall meeting July 26 in Rio Linda. The meeting attracted 32 attendees. DNS is a new department of the County's Municipal Services Agency.

First District County Supervisor Roger Dickinson, whose district includes Rio Linda Elverta, welcomed the attendees, saying "What we are embarking on here, in parts of the unincorporated area of Sacramento County, is the creation of local community councils, which will in fact have decision making authority, and we're starting with a variety of planning issues within the domain of the jurisdiction of the community council, and the decisions that the council makes will be final... It will be fundamentally different from what most of you have been accustomed to with the Community Planning Advisory Council (CPAC), which of course has been strictly advisory as the name suggests."

Community Council Applicants 7/26/05
(L-R) Zack Arbios, Jeff Bair, Norma-Lee, Jim Rogaski, Hal Morris

All five applicants for the Rio Linda/Elverta Community Council seats were in attendance. They are Hal Morris, Norma-Lee, Jim Rogaski, Zack Arbios and Jeff Bair. Our Council will have five members. Four of the applicants are presently members of our CPAC, plus Norma-Lee. Norma-Lee, who served as our Honorary Mayor, is active as a community advocate, working closely with County enforcement staff members.

Our Community Council will be seated in October.

Also attending the town hall meeting were Cheryl Creson, Municipal Services Agency Director, and Victor Morrison-Vega, DNS Director. Other County staff were present, showing the County's support for the new Community Council concept.

Many of the questions from the audience concerned the effort to incorporate Rio Linda Elverta into a city; even though that is out of the council's purview, the council applicants fielded the questions, generally expressing a cautious approach and an intent to wait for the completion of the ongoing feasibility study.

CPAC Chair Hal Morris supports the new concept. Morris said, "I think it's a great thing because it gives us more local control."

After the question and answer period, the audience met the applicants, one-on-one.

Our new Community Council will have decision-making authority over land-use issues such as cell phone towers, kennels, and private schools, taking over authority from the County Planning Commission. Additional responsibilities include local control of issues currently managed by the Zoning Administrator and the Subdivision Review Committee. These areas of authority were delegated to the council by the County Board of Supervisors.

The County says that with additional experience, the council's authority could expand to include local transportation issues such as parking lots, stop signs and speed bumps.

The County's community council project is designed to bring local control over many quality-of-life issues facing residents and business owners in four pilot areas: Rio Linda/Elverta, Arden Arcade, Carmichael, and Fair Oaks.  The new councils will replace existing CPACs in each community.

Three days after the Rio Linda town hall meeting, the County announced that the June 17th filing deadline has now been extended, with no new formal cut-off date. This allows additional candidates, who were not interviewed by the community at the July 26 town hall meeting, to apply for and be appointed to Council seats.

For more information, visit the DNS website at http://www.dns.saccounty.net .

Published in Rio Linda Elverta News August 4, 2005 - Scroll for other articles

Henry Agonia Park Administrator is hired

Henry Agonia takes reins


by Jay O'Brien

At a special meeting called on August first, the Rio Linda & Elverta Recreation and Park District (RLERPD) Board of Directors entered into a contract with Henry R. Agonia. Agonia, of Agonia and Associates, will work on an interim basis until a replacement Administrator can be hired.

RLERPD has been without an Administrator since Kathy Long resigned, over two months ago.

Agonia will take over the day-to-day operation of the District, finalize the Budget, prepare and document Board meetings, and conduct interviews to select a new Recreation Supervisor. He will also facilitate the hiring of a new permanent Administrator.

With over thirty years experience in public parks and recreation management, Agonia's experience includes service as the Director of California State Parks, serving Governors George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson. He has been in charge of several city and special district Recreation and Park Districts and presently is under contract as the Executive Director of the California Association of Recreation & Park Districts.

Agonia started work August 2nd. Welcome to Rio Linda, Henry!
Published in Rio Linda Elverta News August 4, 2005 - Scroll for other articles

Water Board attorney changes his storyRio Linda Elverta News August 4, 2005

But the facts remain

by Jay O'Brien

In a letter to this reporter, Rio Linda/Elverta Community Water District (RLECWD) health benefits attorney Richard Chiurazzi denies a statement he made at the July 18, 2005 RLECWD Board meeting before retiree and employee health benefits were killed by the Board. For more details, see previous article "Water Board kills employee and retiree health benefits", The NEWS, July 28, on page 1.

RLECWD Board President Darrell Nelson, during the public comment portion of the 3PM meeting on July 18, recognized this reporter. I said, "I have a question for Mr. Chiurazzi, if I may." Nelson replied, "Well, you need to ask the Board." I continued, "Ok, but this is really asking him. I received a copy of a memo that is apparently signed by him, and I would like him to take a look at this and see if this is his." I then handed the document pages to Chiurazzi.

Chiurazzi looked at the pages, then said, "I don't know exactly what this has to do with the closed session other than it appears that this is some pages of a document that I delivered in closed session to the Board, protected by the attorney-client privilege. It was meant for only Board members, protected by the attorney-client privilege, and not to be disclosed to anyone else.  So, I might want to ask you, I'm not going to make any comment upon this because this is protected by the attorney-client privilege, I might want to ask you, who gave it to you and whether or not you committed any criminal misconduct by obtaining a copy of it."

Following Chiurazzi's suggestion of my "criminal misconduct", I replied to Chiurazzi, "May I have that back, please?", to which Chiurazzi said, "Can you tell me who gave it to you?" my answer, "No", resulted in Chiurazzi confiscating the document. Chiurazzi said, "Well, I'm not going to give it back to you, because it's not, you shouldn't be in possession of it to begin with. You should not be in possession of this document to begin with."

I told the Board at their 7 PM meeting the same day that Chiurazzi had no right to confiscate the document from me, and that it should be returned. Board President Nelson replied, "We'll discuss that with the attorney and get back to you."  As Chiurazzi's letter to me does not mention Nelson's statement in the 7PM meeting, I mailed a letter to Chiurazzi asking him if his letter is intended to satisfy Nelson's commitment.

Chiurazzi's letter to me, dated and postmarked July 25, 2005, was sent to the wrong address. As the Post Office knows its customers, the letter was delivered in spite of Chiurazzi's error. The letter referred to the July 18 Board meeting where Chiurazzi confirmed a document The NEWS had received was, in fact, his. This was reported in The NEWS July 28, "Secret document leaked", on page 6.

In his letter, Chiurazzi says, "On Monday July 18, 2005, you produced a few pages of this document and proudly asked me if I was the individual that signed one of the pages. I did not answer the question as it appeared to me that you had improperly come into possession of the document."

Chiurazzi's letter further confirms what Chiurazzi now says he didn't say. Chiurazzi misstates the question that was asked, denies his statement made in response, and further confirms that the document was, in fact, one he prepared for the RLECWD Board.

Chiurazzi's letter provides an original signature for comparison to the document that was leaked to The NEWS, and his grammatical errors, as were present in the leaked document, further confirm his authorship.

The letter Chiurazzi sent is on Chiurazzi's letterhead, not the RLECWD's. Chiurazzi, in his letter, states that he "would expect you to return all copies of this document to the Board in a sealed envelope." As his letter asks that a document be provided to the Board, Chiurazzi is representing his client, the RLECWD Board. It will be interesting to learn how much RLECWD will pay Chiurazzi for preparing his error-laden letter.

Chiurazzi's letter may be viewed at http://rlenews.com/05/050804a.html .

Following attorney Chiurazzi's recommendation, on July 18 the RLECWD Board of Directors passed a resolution withdrawing from the Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act (PERS medical) effective at the end of the contract year. All of the present RLECWD employees, plus retirees Mason Adams, Tom Ray, Mike Phelan and Jerry Wickham are affected by the Board's action.

The RLECWD Board of Directors could reconsider their action to dump PERS medical at their August 15 meeting, scheduled for 7 PM at the Depot/Visitors Center, 6730 Front Street, Rio Linda. The public is welcome at Board meetings.
Published in Rio Linda Elverta News August 4, 2005 - Scroll for other articles
ThisNThatWe received a letter from a resident for publication that accuses reporter Jay O'Brien of breaking the law by not disclosing "which board member gave him the (Water District) memo." We chose to not publish the letter as it is potentially libelous. The memo in question is from the Water Board's attorney Richard Chiurazzi that was leaked to The NEWS and reported last week. We have asked the writer to provide a reference to the law she suggests was broken by O'Brien.

On the subject of the Water District, and what the Board has done to the employee benefits. The Board has taken away one benefit - health insurance upon retirement - without consultation with the employees or the employee association. In addition, their attorney has suggested that the Board take away the present 7% retirement contribution, thus lowering the employee's take home pay more than 7%. Is this what Rio Linda/Elverta wants to do to the people who are responsible for the safety and quality of their drinking water?

After spending a couple hours of my valuable time attending the Town Hall meeting that introduced the five nominees for the new Community Council concept, I find now it could be a waste of time. Nominations were closed, supposedly, but apparently things have changed. After community members and I interviewed the five nominees, it seemed that we were satisfied with them as representatives for the Community Council. Now I understand that nominations have been reopened which could mean that we could end up with representatives that we don't get an opportunity to interview. Sounds like an "end around" to me. It would seem to me that if 4 of the nominees have served extensive time on the Community Planning Advisory Council, they would be logical choices with planning experience to represent us. Anyway, stay tuned because I'm sure that there will be a lot more to report on this issue.

Hopefully I will be able to find more time and have the space to write this column more often. But once again,- I just ran out of time and words, but certainly I've given you some food for fodder, so you might want to chew over some of it. So with that, it's 30 for me and 73 to you, and drive carefully. Don't make it your last trip, or mine either.
Published in Rio Linda Elverta News August 4, 2005 - Scroll for other articles
PG&E Responds to discrimination claim

Credit review avoided with seasonal service

by Christy Dennis
PG&E News Department
San Francisco

PG&E's response to (Jay O'Brien's) article in the Rio Linda News Elverta article (Thursday, July 28, PG&E Discriminates against SMUD):

Pacific Gas and Electric Company does not discriminate against any of its customers. However, we take every customer concern very seriously, including your claim regarding discrimination against SMUD customers. As you stated in your article, PG&E has implemented a new tariff as approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (Decision 05-06-029).  Effective July 1, 2005, customers who use less than nine therms of gas per month will incur a minimum transportation charge of approximately $3 per month.  Currently it costs PG&E approximately $10 per month for basic customer service costs--including maintaining the gas service line, gas regulator, meter as well as labor costs of meter reading, billing and call centers. This minimum fee applies to individually metered residential (excluding low-income customers enrolled in the CARE program).

It is important to note that according to the American Gas Association, 149 gas utilities throughout the nation, including Southern California Gas Company, have minimum monthly charges. PG&E's revenue-neutral charge is designed to re-align costs among residential customers. Previously, medium and high-use residential customers were subsidizing these fixed costs for small customers or those using natural gas on a seasonal basis.

This rate structure change was not intended to penalize customers with only one commodity--such as in your case. You are correct, if a customer with both gas and electricity closes one of their accounts they are not subject to a credit check. PG&E has now put a system in place so that a customer who stops service, even if they only have one commodity, is not subject to a new credit review.  However, if a customer is going to renew service within a 12-month period (seasonal users), we recommend they do not stop service temporarily. This adds additional cost because a gas service representative must make two visits--to turn off and restore service. PG&E does not want to increase customer costs because some customers are trying to avoid paying the minimum transportation fee.
Published in Rio Linda Elverta News August 4, 2005 - Scroll for other articles
Helen & Donly GrayThe Gray 'Dynasty'

by Norma-Lee

The 64-year love affair between Helen and Donly Gray reads like a Norman Rockwell painting. Helen, born in Nebraska on 12/21/24, saw Donly delivering strawberries in his yellow roadster and vowed she would marry him. Donly saw a friend's motorcycle (Ray Slight) parked in Helen's driveway one day so he stopped to chat. Once he saw Helen, Ray became a possible rival for her affection and Donly, a native Californian for several generations, vowed to win Helen. Little did he know, he already had.

Married on June 29, 1941, the couple moved in with Donly's father in the big house on Pleasant Grove Road; the house burned down four months later. A new house was built there at the location of Gray's Nursery where Donly's father had revived the Dawn Redwood, once thought to be extinct. This was not the first Gray's Nursery, however. Donly's grandfather, Harvey, started that one more than one hundred years ago in Hanford, California.

At the time of their marriage; Donly was earning $12 per month at McClellan Field packing parachutes. Helen was a high school student but her only ambition was then as it always had been; she wanted to get married and have at least six children. Ultimately, the couple had seven: Gloria, Donna, Shirley, Donly III; Bob, Jane, and Duane. Today, they also have 18 grandchildren and 21  great grandchildren. Helen certainly fulfilled her goal of surrounding herself with a large and loving family.

Three years into the marriage, Uncle Sam invited Donly to join the action of World War II. The year was 1944 and his only involvement turned out to be the invasion of Okinawa. That, of course, virtually marked the end of the second "war to end all wars" and Donly was thankfully, soon back home with his wife and three daughters.

While he was in the Merchant Marines, Helen was asked to sing with Bunny Crites' big band entertaining soldiers at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. A former member of her high school choir, Helen was known for her beautiful voice. Both she and Donly also played an instrument. While Helen played violin in her high school band, Donly fiddled for country barn dances. They left their musical careers behind them though as the years, the children, and the work took precedence.

While raising their seven children, the senior Grays were involved with Little League, Bobby Sox, and 4H. Helen was a trustee for Alpha School and they are both members of the Lions/Felions, Historical Society (stop by and see the pictorial history of the Grays), and the Grange. Donly is a member of the Rio Linda/Elverta Chamber of Commerce, and past Mayor three times, and along with Bob Bastian, he helped to produce the Lions Club sponsored Rio Linda Rodeo for 17 years. If all that wasn't enough to keep them busy, there was the nursery that provided trees at both the wholesale and retail levels, the thousand acres of rice they grew, and the 20,000 bales of hay they produced annually working side by side.

Do they waste time wondering what might have been? Not at all because they both are living the lives they always wanted. Helen has her large family who, with only a couple of exceptions, are all doing very well. In fact, when lung cancer threatened her eight years ago, her family gathered around her. and told her to forget what the doctors were saying and fight. Fight she did with their loving support and here she is today because that large family wasn't ready to let her go. Donly, a very proud patriarch, had the work that he loved and needed as much as his family and has fueled him for more than 85 years.

Comfortable in the beautiful and spacious home they built on the Locust Road property they bought from Donly's father, he and Helen graciously reminisced about their blessed lives with me. They each shared their life philosophy. Donly says, "Marry a good woman and save your money for your old age; you'll need it!" Helen says for a successful marriage, you must love and respect each other and remember that respect is just as important as love. Based on their success, I think she's right.
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