Graham accepts new post - Intermountain News

Fire Chief Sullivan
asked to come back
for 2 more weeks
BY MEG FOX
With the Burney Fire
Department fast becoming a
riderless horse and the front
offi ce temporarily closed, Fire
Chief Larry Sullivan agreed
to come back on duty for at
least two weeks.
Commissioner Donna Sylvester
telephoned Chief Sullivan
with the board’s urgent
request in the middle of their
April 10 meeting at the fi re
hall.
“I would rather pay the
chief than have the whole
department fall apart,” said
Commissioner Sally Preheim.
“He accepted graciously
and will resume his duties,
effective 8 a.m. tomorrow
morning for two weeks,” Sylvester
announced.
“He didn’t even hesitate,”
noted Harold Van Cleave, the
department’s former battalion
chief.
Staff has diminished
during the past year and the
troubled fi re department has
been without a fi re chief since
December, when Sullivan left
after a closed session personnel
meeting. The board
announced he would use his
accumulated vacation time
until his retirement in May.
The call for the Chief’s
immediate return came as a
result of Lt. Rick Moore needing
some time to be with his
newborn daughter, Administrative
Secretary Lenetta
Harris being on vacation, and
accumulating issues that only
a chief can handle.
Lts. Jason Moore and Jody
Hughes said in January they
would be available for duty to
help Moore, but apparently
are not now able to.
“Circumstances have
Crisis class
offered by
refuge here
Shasta County Women’s
Refuge offers training for
Certifi ed Crisis Intervention
and Advocacy through
Shasta College. The class
is 66 hours in the classroom
plus an orientation.
This class offers comprehensive
training in understanding
and responding to
domestic violence and sexual
assault.
SCWR will offer this class
in the Intermountain area
starting May 3.
To sign up call Claudia at
335-5388 to sign up.
Deadline to sign up is
Friday, April 19.
EARNIE GRAHAM
New post
-From Page 1
years, also own ranch property
in the area and have
family in Live Oak.
Their daughter Jennifer,
a senior at Burney High
School, will be attending
nearby Sacramento State
University. The Grahams will
also be closer to their son
Albert, III, a student at Cal
Poly, San Luis Obispo, and
their daughter Wendy, who is
in the construction industry in
Los Angeles.
Graham’s replacement
here is Eric Newton, superintendent
of Sweetwater
County School District No. 2
in Green River, Wy.
changed and we don’t have
that coverage,” Commissioner
Donna Caldwell said.
“I’m very concerned. And
I’m very concerned about
the legal ramifi cations of not
having a leader.”
The commissioners are
working towards their goal of
hiring a new chief by July or
August, while the To Do list
that only a Chief can do gets
longer.
In a matter that needed
a fi re chief’s advice – and
signature – the commissioners
talked about whether
or not they wanted to sign
a form from their accountant,
Charles Pillon, CPA,
of Burney, pertaining to the
release of documents used in
his audit report for fi scal year
ending June 30, 2001.
Commissioner Lynn Miller
wasn’t ready to sign at all.
“I have a ton of questions
on this. I don’t know where
these numbers come from.
We have to sign this and I’m
not signing it ‘til I know what
it says.”
Commissioners also questioned
Pillon’s statement with
the audit concerning his April
2 letter about “internal control
over fi nancial reporting.”
“Where is this letter?”
asked Commissioner Ann
Walker and Board President
Sylvester then made copies
to give to the board and audience
saying she had only
received the letter that day.
In the letter, Pillon said
“there are too many accounting
jobs performed by one
person with no known effective
oversight or review by
management.”
Miller agreed that the
offi ce needs internal controls,
but that the answer was
working with the secretary
to improve the system, not
hiring a second person as
Pillon suggested.
He also recommended
that the district implement
an effective budget to actual
review process…”so that no
actual amounts exceed the
budgeted amount for the
fi scal year.”
The commissioners
weren’t ready to accept the
audit, either, and agreed to
ask Pillon to the next board
meeting to explain it.
A fi re chief was deemed
necessary to help Meryl
Guiles, a resident of the
Black Ranch Road area outside
of town.
She once again came to
a board meeting to ask the
commissioners what they
were doing about rising
insurance rates for fi re district
residents who live more than
fi ve miles from a fi re department
and more than 1,000
feet from a hydrant.
“Someone needs to do
something. It’s not doing me
any good to be in this district,”
said Guiles.
“We’ve tabled this until
August when we have a new
chief on line…” said Sylvester,
adding that the board
does not have the expertise
to deal with the Insurance
Services Offi ce (ISO) and
inspections of the area.
The absence of a fi re chief
was also an issue during a
discussion on updating the
rules and regulations.
“We have no hiring policy
whatsoever,” said Commissioner
Walker. “And we
also need an in-house hiring
policy.”
Sylvester decided that,
along with the issue of background
checks, county counsel
should draft the whole
policy.
A chief was needed to
help the commissioners with
a new EMS Support Offi cer.
The board approved the
concept of the position, but
wasn’t qualifi ed to approve
someone for the post.
The commissioners had
questions that couldn’t be
answered at the meeting
concerning the duty roster
and payment for the hours
that Howard Fincher and
Courtney Cleckler have
already put in.
“I get tired of hearing
we don’t have a chief,” said
Walker.
Spring musical on stage
THE INTERMOUNTAIN NEWS • APRIL 17, 2002 • PAGE 9
NEWS PHOTOS / Ron Harrington
PHOTO / Anna Strickland
Burney Junior-Senior High School students are starring in the spring musical, Lumberjacks and Wedding
Belles, directed by Janice Barnes, at 7 p.m. April 25, 25 and 27 at the Liz Polley Performing Arts Center
at the District Offi ce in Burney. Tickets for numbered seats are $4 per person and are available at Burney
High School.
Student shares opinion on state land buy
EDITORIAL
By NATALIE MARTIN
(Written as part of her Fall
River High School Senior
Project in journalism)
Vote yes for Proposition
40, for Clean Water, Clean
Air, Safe Neighborhood
Parks, and Coastal Protection.
Who wouldn’t want to vote
for this? Of course people
want these things, but what
it doesn’t say is that it gives
the state government power
to spend $2.6 billion on privately
owned land like the
Shintaffer Ranch.
Small towns like Fall
River don’t need cleaner air
or better water, in fact, by
buying the Shintaffer Ranch
the State of California will
ultimately pollute the water
by letting the levies that separate
the land and river go.
When the levies are
broken, the water level is lowered
resulting in an increase
in the water temperature. As
the temperature rises, the
mosquito and insect population
increases.
Mosquitoes bring many
problems. Not only are they
troublesome, but they also
carry diseases.
Public Health agencies
believe that mosquitoes
can transmit encephalitis
and other harmful diseases
throughout the world. Mosquito
control issues was
discussed at the February
13 meeting in Fall River
Mills about the purchase of
the Shintaffer Ranch by the
surrounding landowners and
Ranchers.
It was stated that the state
Department of Fish and
Game would take care of the
mosquitoes by spraying them.
But spraying mosquitoes pollutes
the air and since it will
be over water, spraying also
will pollute the water.
The water is an important
part of this community. Not
only do more than 35 families
drink right out of the river, it
is also used by children of
Race to the finish
all ages as a summertime
activity.
The families who drink out
of this water, including my
own, will need new ways of
getting water to their homes.
The increase of both temperature
and bacteria will make it
unsatisfactory even to bathe
in. The increase in bacteria
will not only affect the water
but also the air. The entire
area around the Shintaffer
Ranch will have the stench
of a mucky swamp. That’s
an enormous difference from
the clean crisp air we have
today.
One of the stated reasons
for buying the Shintaffer
property was to create a
wildlife habitat. I live directly
across from the Shintaffer
Ranch and, as I look out my
window, I can see water covered
with beautiful birds, the
home and habitat for more
than 20 species.
Another reason given for
acquiring the land is to set
up a place for fi sherman to
launch their boats. Once
Athletes from Burney, Fall River and Big Valley high schools are slated to
compete Saturday at Shasta College in the John Frank Memorial meet.
Last Saturday, Fall River runner Jack Arnold, in top photo, and Burney JV
runner Paige Logan, photo above, took part in the Hornet Classic at Enterprise
High School in Redding. Arnold took second in the 800m.
the government owns this
property, some believe, they
are going to set it up so the
fi sherman have access every
two miles. This isn’t needed;
Fall River already has numerous
places to launch boats.
My father, a river front
landowner, has not once
refused his boat launch to
anyone who has called and
asked fi rst. There are many
places along the river like
this.
Once the government
owns our water, they can say
who goes on it and what kind
of boat is allowed.
Fall River doesn’t need
hundreds of boats on our
river. The ecosystem of our
river has stayed preserved
from its natural springs at
Ahjumawi all the way to the
Fall River dam. It needs to
stay preserved.
With boats comes garbage,
waves that erodes the
levees, and they may bring
other harmful prospects that
our water has not yet been
subjected to.
The government is buying
up California. Once all of
our land is taken, what else
is going to be affected? The
government takes our money
and then buys our own land.
They are slowly going to buy
and control everything.
If money needs to be spent
to save our resources, spend
it in LA instead of Northern
California were the ecosystem
will be destroyed.
Even though Proposition
40 passed a few weeks ago
and the State bought the
Shintaffer property, I strongly
believe that our community
needs to stand together
and make sure that not only
our river rights, but also our
rights to clean water are
upheld. We need to fi ght for
the levees to be maintained
and for the purity of our water
and air.
Girl, gal book club
started by library
The Fall River Valley
Library has started a Girl and
a Gal Book Club (G&G Book
Club).
You must be in the fourth,
fi fth or sixth grade this school
year and be accompanied by
a female adult to join.
The group meets on the
fourth Monday of the month
to discuss a book and share
a potluck dinner.
The book chosen serves
as the dinner’s theme.
Most of the books will deal
with girls, their lives and ability
to overcome adversity.
The fi rst selection is
“Matilda” by Roald Dahl.
The library has several
copies of the book to borrow,
and for a nominal fee, books
to purchase.
This month’s selection is
$1.
The library hours are
Monday 5:00 to 7:00 and
Tuesday-Saturday 10:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
For more information
phone the library at 336-
6445, Lynn 336-5433 or Phyllis
the librarian 336-6749.
Space is limited so sign up
soon.