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Posts published by “Jim Shields”

Museum Follies

Last week, we discussed the Supes aversion to priorities. I cited three examples (Board approval of thousands of dollars of retroactive pay raises for four county officials, $117 million worth of damaged, neglected roads, and…

Water Works

For the past three years, I’ve been urging the Board of Supervisors to assert their leadership, via the dormant county Water Agency, in the critical area of water issues and policies. At Tuesday’s weekly meeting,…

Fishing For Dollars

Patti Campbell, Richard Shoemaker and David Colfax are to be commended for their actions at last week’s Supes’ meeting. They righted a wrong, and you can never be wrong when you are setting things right.…

Money Talk

The Board of Supervisors were told Tuesday the county’s finances are in pretty good shape following a mid-year budget review.  The real question, though, is how long will that healthy condition last? According to Acting…

Public Policy Gone Haywire

Bad public policy is like the proverbial ghost; haunting elected officials — and the public they represent — long after its ill-conceived implementation.  The lure of easy money in the form of so-called “free” tax…

The Elephant on the Table

Yes, as many of you have let me know, this column — actually a version of it — now appears every Friday in the Ukiah Daily Journal.  Counting this rag, plus the Anderson Valley Advertiser,…

A Look Inside the Budget

Smooth sailing. Piece of cake. Easy money. Compared to the not too distant past, last week’s wrap-up of the 1999-2000 budget was a pain-free experience. Well, almost painless, as county unionized employees are still wondering…

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