About District 4

Fourth District, Calaveras County, CA

Altaville | Angels Camp | Douglas Flat | Murphys | Vallecito

Filling In

As I may have mentioned before, being the only incorporated city in Calaveras County means that each member of the City Council has to represent "cities" in various inter-governmental organizations. There are a significant number of these bodies and only 5 council members. So hardly a week goes by without a meeting or two where one of us has a schedule conflict. We are use to filling in for each other. If there is a particular issue to be discussed at a meeting where I am an alternate or substitute, I'll get briefed by the normal representative on the issue. I like subbing for the others because it gives me a chance to better understand our interdependencies and challenges.

I filled in at the Utica Power Authority meeting on Tuesday evening. The UPA is a joint-powers agency owned by the Union Public Utility District and the City of Angels. Even though the agenda was pretty short, the discussion quickly reminded me of Mark Twain's saying that "whisky's for drinking, water's for fighting." Water rights are a sensitive subject in the best of times and only get touchier during difficult periods. Needless to say these are difficult times. Fortunately, today the fighting doesn't come to blows; as I once joked, we were in violent agreement. Like Twain's quip, there was a fair amount of humor in the venting.

Write Lee.