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WEEKEND JULY 10-11, 2010 Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com When wives earn more See Inside USA Weekend RED BLUFF Little League Sports 1B Mostly sunny 101/69 Weather forecast 8B By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer The Tehama District Fair- ground and Red Bluff officials have met several times to discuss the issue of the cost of traffic control, but have so far been unable to come up with a solu- tion with which both sides are completely happy. Events at which people trick- le in, such as the Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale, do not require traffic control compared to big- ger events and new events that are unknown, such as the recent Crawdad Festival, said City Manager Martin Nichols. Promoters for the Crawdad Festival paid about $3,600 for the event held Friday through Sunday of Father’s Day week- DAILYNEWS TEHAMACOUNTY DAILY 50¢ T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Fairboard, city at odds over traffic control end, however, there wasn’t a need for traffic control and pro- moters were refunded about $2,700 back, Nichols said. “Almost 200,000 people vis- ited the fairground last year,” said CEO Mark Eidman. “I have to believe that people bought enough food and gas and stayed at enough hotels to pay for traf- fic control.” The two sides have met three times and plan to meet again within the next few months to discuss the issue, Eidman said. “We’re all in the same place,” Nichols said. “At this point in time the council is just making critical choices. We’re trying to balance all these issues and the council’s got to look at what’s best for the city. Is it better to have an officer doing traffic con- trol or covering a burglary?” Red Bluff is facing a $1.3 million shortfall in its general fund and will be laying off a records specialist and a dispatch- er from the police department. The police department has seen a cut from about $300,000 to about $200,000 within the last few years, Nichols said. “We really are at a critical juncture,” Nichols said. “We’re trying to take a limited amount of money and stretch it.” While Red Bluff Police had 10,000 to 12,000 calls 20 years ago they now have about 30,000 calls a year with fewer officers. “We have fewer police offi- cers now than in the ‘80s,” Nichols said. “In the past the city has absorbed the cost (of traffic control). We are just literally Grand Opening looking under every rock for everything we can do.” Eidman said while he under- stands the city’s position, he still hopes to find a solution that is fair and equitable to all involved. “We understand their bud- getary issues but we need to be able to bring new events in with- out undue cost,” Eidman said. “This has opened the lines of communication but my ultimate fear is that (adding cost for traf- fic control) will drive away existing events or new events.” At the latest meeting about two weeks ago there were about 20 people representing the big- ger events at the fairground, including Bull Sale, Red Bluff Round-Up, West Coast Monster Trucks Championships, Red Bluff-Tehama County Fourth of July Celebration and the Craw- dad Festival, Eidman said. Part of what makes finding a solution difficult is that traffic control for the area in front of the fairgrounds has to be done by someone with an encroach- ment permit from Caltrans, Nichols said. Its requirements are stricter, which presents a cost issue for whomever does traffic control. Organizing a trained group of volunteers from a service orga- nization was suggested, but this would be both time consuming and costly, Nichols said. A traffic signal could be installed, but that, too, would be costly — the signal at Cedar and Main street cost about $280,000, See ODDS, page 7A Brown will seek Nov. re-election By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Councilman Wayne Brown has announced his intention to run for re- election to the Red Bluff City Council in the November 2010 election. He has served two years as mayor and two years as mayor pro-tem in his six years on the council. He was appoint- ed to the council in 2005 to fill a vacancy when then-councilman Gregg Avilla was elected to the Tehama County Board of Supervisors. Brown was reappointed to a second term after run- ning unopposed in 2007. He is the council representative to the Downtown Wayne Brown See BROWN, page 7A Man dies after being thrown from his truck A man was thrown from his pickup truck and killed fol- lowing a crash at 11:40 a.m., Friday, on Rancho Tehama Road at Gallatin Road. Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb California Area Director of Indian Health Services Margo D.Kerrigan talks with Dr.Margaret Alspaugh, Executive Director and a Rheumatologist with Greenville Rancheria Tribal Health Care Clinic Friday, while trying out the arm press in the exercise room at the grand opening for the clinic’s new building. The building will house billing, outreach community health representatives, family, drug and alcohol counselors and psychiatry. Also included in the building are Tribal Council Chambers, a small conference room and behind the building 30 parking spots. For more information on the clinic call 528-8600 or visit the Web site:www.greenvillerancheria.com. The elderly man, whose age, name and hometown were unavailable, was not wearing his seat belt, said California Highway Patrol Officer Phillip Mackintosh. The man was driving his pickup west on Rancho Tehama Road when he ran off the north side, got back onto the road and lost control of his vehicle. The vehicle went through a fence and hit a power pole before throwing the man, Mackintosh said. Nothing further was available. — Staff Report Minimum wage order would affect local workers By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer More than 270 state employees could soon be working for minimum wage in Tehama County, but few police and firefighters are among the ranks. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered federal minimum wage pay, $7.25 an hour, for all state employees paid by the hour until California passes a budget and a pay freeze for salaried state workers. In doing so the governor is acting on a series of court decisions, dating back to 2003, all of which state Cal- ifornia cannot pay its work- ers without a budget in place, said Lynelle Jolley, a spokesperson for the Cali- fornia Department of Per- sonnel Administration. Fed- eral laws, however, require the state to pay hourly workers at least minimum wage. The order has less to do with budgeting issues and more to do with legal requirements, she said. Controller John Chiang has resisted the governor’s orders arguing they are impossible to implement on the state’s outdated comput- er system without carrying over minimum wage into future pay periods, which could also be illegal. Contracts with the Cali- fornia Highway Patrol and CalFire will keep officers and firefighters unaffected, Jolley said. At the Red Bluff CHP office, four non-uniformed personnel could be affected, as well as the station’s lieu- tenant and sergeants, spokesman Philip Mackin- tosh said. The branch employs another 20 uni- formed officers, none of which are expected to be on the receiving end of the minimum wage order. Requests for comment from the affected employ- 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 ees were denied. “It would be a very polit- ical situation, and we try not to get involved in stuff like that in an official capacity,” Mackintosh said. At CalFire, local Chief Gary Durden said of his department of 200-plus employees, he expected only between 10 to 20 would be affected. Firefighters and equip- ment personnel, including bulldozer operators, are likely to be exempt, leaving only dispatchers, support and management workers like Durden himself vulner- able. Durden said he was uncertain whether he would DiSalvage Co. 1 Year Anniversary SALE EVERYTHING 1 DAY ONLY SAT., JULY 10 10AM-5PM 620 Main St., Red Bluff 1/2 OFF (530) • “Main Street or Wall Street” banking, which do you want As Local As.... CALL TODAY 529-1222 237 South Main Street • Still offering better than free checking • Now offering Health Savings Accounts • Local decision making • Community Support even be affected until his monthly paycheck comes in — a situation now familiar to the chief after years of budget stalemates. “I always hold out some optimism that they’ll have a budget before the end of the month,” Durden said. CalTrans District 2 employs some 900 employ- ees across nine counties, but it was unclear just how many are active in Tehama County or how many would be affected by the order, said spokesman Michael Mayor. He deferred further com- ments to CalTrans head- quarters in Sacramento, which in turn deferred com- ments to the Department of Personnel Administration. The local Department of Motor Vehicles in Red Bluff accounts for another seven state workers, spokesman Armando Botello said. Further questions were referred to the state’s per- sonnel department. Tehama County’s repre- sentatives in the capitol, meanwhile, held different views on the governor’s approach. Assemblyman Jim Nielsen said he saw the governor’s order as a strate- gic move to force talks and a distraction from ongoing negotiations, which could soon produce a budget. “It’s not the best option,” Nielsen said. “It’s not even a good option at all.” Sen. Sam Aanestad, issuing a statement through his communications direc- tor, said the governor had no choice. “Since the legislature has failed in its duty to enact a budget according to legal deadlines, I see no other recourse but for the gover- nor to cut costs any way he can,” the statement said. ——— Geoff Johnson can be reached at 527-2153, extension 114 or gjohnson@redbluffdailyne ws.com.