Former Siskiyou County District
Attorney, Pete Knoll, has resigned. As this is an elected position, the Board of
Supervisors (“Board”) has the duty of appointing a replacement to complete Mr.
Knoll’s term of office until the end of 2006. Before he left, Knoll appointed William
Cornell as acting D.A. to serve until that appointment is made.
Thirteen candidates have applied for the position. A screening panel
made up of retired Superior Court Judge James Kleaver, Gene Fink – representing the
Bar Association, former Grand Jury Foreman Robert Cameron and County Counsel Frank De
Marco met to review the applications. A list of six names was recommended to the Board for
further interviews. The list was broadened at last Tuesday’s Board meeting to eleven
candidates: Joe Allison, James Andrus, Larry Arkfeld, Christine Chenevert, William
Cornell, Bruce Hahn, Jay Linden, Thomas Toller, Gregory Weston, Christine Winte, and John
Quinn.
The screening committee will interview candidate’s on January
31. This has been tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Board of Supervisor’s
Chambers at the Court House. This is an open process and several Supervisors plan on
observing. Following the interviews, the screening panel will make a report of its
recommendations. It is anticipated that the Board will hold its final interviews at a
meeting open to the public the week of January 14.
If you have any questions that you would like presented to the
applicants, please let me know at 468-2824.
In other news, February 8 at 1:30 p.m. at the Yreka Community
Theater, the Board of Supervisors will hold a public meeting for the purpose of discussing
the potential for siting and operation of Indian gaming facilities in Siskiyou County.
Local tribes have been invited to speak – the Karuk, Quartz Valley and Shasta tribes,
as well as the Alturas Tribe. The public is also invited to provide input into the
discussion. The City of Yreka will hold an evening meeting at 7 p.m. at the Theater
On another note, State Senator Battin has reintroduced a surplus
property sales bill, SB 25, which would authorize the sale, exchange, lease or transfer of
specific parcels of state property. The bill includes as surplus the 140 acres of Deadwood
Conservation Camp in Scott Valley. http://leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html
Plans are in the works for the 2005 Scott Valley Bluegrass festival
to be held at the Etna City Park July 16 and 17. Crafters
who would like to be included in this year’s event should contact Lisa English at
468-4078 for information.
On a final note, the Governor has announced proposals for
restructuring of State government. http://www.lhc.ca.gov/lhcdir/reorg/GRP1.pdf To start with, he proposes to eliminate 88 boards
and commissions. (Most to be absorbed into agencies.) They include: California Commission
for Economic Development; Board of Forestry and Fire Protection; Integrated Waste
management Board; Mining and Geology Board; Board of Behavioral Sciences; Contractors
State License Board and many medical and dental boards.
The Governor also proposes to integrate the Youth and Correctional
Agencies into one Corrections and Rehabilitation Department. In a future article, I will
talk about the new State budget and anticipated cuts to funding for rural law enforcement.
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