A reader comment from this blog was posted on the Nevada County Tea Party Patriot website by local blogger and The Union columnist Russ Steele, apparently to stir up the group — and on Christmas Eve, no less:

“From rsteele Posted 12/24/2009 2:57:21 PM

Steve Enos a local gadfly comment on the Tea Party on Jeff Pelline’s blog.
December 24, 2009 at 11:32 am

‘Sad… a very, very small group of folks that show how clueless some folks are. The silent majority, no way, just a small clan of haters.’

600 people is not a small group and non (sic) of us are haters, just mad as hell.”

I think Russ meant “none,” not non. Misspelling words are becoming a hallmark of the Tea Party Patriots, at least lately. No hyperlink was provided either — bad Netiquette.

One article on the Tea Party worth pondering is here.

We had BP Landscapes out to fix our sprinklers this summer, so we received a four-color postcard in the mail last week asking for our vote in the “best of” category for lawn service/landscape in The Union.

“As last year’s recipient of the Nevada County’s Best Of, we ask that if you feel BP Landscapes has served your needs and you are satisfied with the work done, please place your vote for us,” it reads.

We like BP Landscape, their staff and management but not because of a “best of” listing. Many people find the listings highly subjective, and a mass mailing like this only adds to the perception.

Noor

“I won’t let that happen,” Charlotte Farmer, a thoroughbred aficionado and Noor fan, told me on Wednesday.

The remains of Noor, who set three world records, are buried in the infield of the 1/2-mile track at Loma Rica Ranch, where the champion was put down in November 1974, at the age of 29. Noor was owned by Charles Howard, the same man who owned Seabiscuit.

Under an original plan, Loma Rica had planned to erect a monument to honor Noor and build a surrounding horse park as part of its development.

But the long-stalled housing project was revised last September — brought on by financial problems of the Getty Trust and a drawn out approval process at City Hall. Loma Rica is now in the EIR approval process.

“The horse track . . . will not be retained as a horse track,” according to the revised plans on file at City Hall. “It will be developed as part of a business park.” (The reference and a graphic is at 3-13).

Some open space will exist around the site, however.

In its heyday in the ’60s- ’70s, thoroughbred racehorses trained routinely on the 1/2-mile oval. Like Loma Rica Rancho, the horse racing track was built by Errol MacBoyle, of Idaho-Maryland Mine fame.

Farmer and her friends plan to fight the proposal, and if needed, enlist the support of award-winning trainer John Sherrifs, who trained horses at Loma Rica and has fond memories of the oval.

Sherrifs trained Zenyatta, now reigning supreme in the horse racing world after winning the $5 million Breeder’s Cup Classic. He previously has spoken out about development plans at other California racetracks.

There was an awkward moment at the county supervisors meeting on Tuesday, where board members initially agreed to merge the treasurer/tax collector and auditor/controller offices.

Not a single citizen spoke up on the issue during a public comment period, prompting Chairman Hank Weston to solicit public comment before the Jan. 12 meeting.

Well, here’s some *signed* feedback from readers commenting on this blog (which encourages signed feedback, not anonymous comments, and has recorded about 1,900 of them in less than a year):

•”The notion that the county just realized they could consolidate the auditor/treasurer’s offices is an outright lie. They’re trying to slip this through before people realize that all the foxes are going to be guarding one henhouse. I hope that the people of Nevada County wake up before next Tuesday’s Supes meeting.” —R.L. Crabb

I also reported on Grass Valley’s proposal that LAFCO (the Local Agency Formation Commissions) be consolidated and some duties be handled by county staffers instead. Decades ago, the state legislature created LAFCO as an independent agency to discourage sprawl and encourage orderly government. (No word of this in the local media — yet).

Here’s what one reader said:

•”Interesting that LAFCo’s comments on the ID-MD mine project DEIR were among the most detailed and most damning of all of the comments submitted. LAFCo basically seemed to be saying that the plan to annex the mine property into the city had some serious problems and would not get rubber-stamped by LAFCo. Wonder if there’s any connection…?” — Tom Grundy

Technology is changing the way, as well as the venue, where people express themselves. It’s no longer just in a letter to the editor, phone call or appearance at a government meeting.

Technology also is changing the way citizens observe government meetings. Like a growing number of people, I watched Tuesday’s meeting from a live video stream on my computer via NCTV.

The blog Sierra Voices has “dug deeper” on the proposal to outsource management of the library system, providing some detailed feedback to the county and elected officials.

Citizens are expressing their opinions on the county’s consolidation plans — just in different ways and different venues.

Some of them also feel “disenfranchised” from the traditional places for expressing themselves, whether it’s the local newspaper, the Rood Center or City Halls. A pointed example is expressed in a reader comment at the end of this writeup.

Al Gore and his Oscar-winning movie “An Inconvenient Truth” have been vilified by the “global warming is a hoax” crowd.

In fact, concerns about human-caused global warming were being discussed more than 50 years ago — in a Bell Laboratory Science series, no less.

The Bell Laboratory Science Series was a series of educational films made for Bell Labs by director Frank Capra, Walt Disney and others.

Each film explored a single subject: weather, the sun, the circulatory system and DNA. The host of the first eight films was “Dr. Research,” played by Emmy-award winning TV personality Frank C. Baxter. The host for the last film in the series was Walt Disney.

“Each movie intertwined animation and live action to better explain the complexity of a particular subject,” according to Wikipedia.

In “The Unchained Goddess,” the Bell Lab film discusses global warming. “Even now man may be unwittingly changing the world’s climate through the waste products of its civilization,” Baxter as “Dr. Research” explains.

Here’s the video:

I noticed this reader commentary at the bottom of a story at theunion.com on Monday: “You Betcha! wrote: and why is ex-under sheriff John Trauner working in the Assessor’s Office? What, double, triple, quadruple dipping isn’t enough. How much ‘retirement’ does this excuse for an executive need. The Cadillac payments can’t be that high.”

Hyperbole and snide commentary aside, I checked it out. (My journalism mantra is to always read online comments for possible tips). Sure enough, it’s true.

“John is on special assignment to the Assessor’s Office for administrative matters,” according to a statement from the county.

After retiring at the end of 2006, Trauner (whose father also was a leading government official in our county) continued as the undersheriff for another year under Sheriff Keith Royal. Trauner was drawing a pension and regular salary at the same time totaling about $200,000 annually.

It’s a widely criticized practice known as “double dipping” — not Trauner’s fault, mind you, but one that has come under nationwide scrutiny for reform. Trauner has come out of “retirement” before.

In February 2008 he returned to the Rood Center — this time in human resources.

In his part-time HR job of 12 hours per week, Trauner earned about $635 weekly at $53.09 per hour, according to the article. County HR called the position “temporary.”

I’m sure the stinging comments from “You Betcha” stem from the timing of Trauner’s special assignment in the Assessor’s Office: The Rood Center is considering privatizing the library system, combining the jobs of two elected officials and absorbing some duties of LAFCO to cut costs.

In addition, the county’s unemployment is at double digits and many more people are “underemployed.”

On the other hand, perhaps Trauner has unique skills compared with other qualified applicants. You can decide.

My job, and that of all journalists, is to be a watchdog as well as celebrate a community. The latter is the fun part; the first part is much harder — worse in a small town — but it goes with the territory. Or should.

Decades ago, the state legislature created Local Agency Formation Commissions to discourage sprawl and encourage orderly government.

But government cost-cutting has prompted the City of Grass Valley to propose consolidating the independent regulatory commission for our county and shift some of the work to the Rood Center staff, according to my sources.

Shifting some LAFCO duties to the county comes in the wake of plans to also combine two county elected positions — auditor/controller and treasurer/tax collector, as well as “outsource” management of our library system.

Supervisors on Tuesday gave their initial approval to combine the two elected positions and will revisit the issue on Jan. 12. (The meeting was streamed live on NCTV).

Meanwhile, LAFCO Executive Officer S.R. Jones confirmed on Tuesday that the agency received a letter from Grass Valley City Hall, dated Dec. 21, about the consolidation, and the issue will be discussed at the commission’s Jan. 21 meeting. She read some excerpts but did not want to offer an opinion. (LAFCO already meets every other month because of cost cutting).

Cities, counties and districts help fund the LAFCOs, which are independent regulatory commissions that are the legislature’s watchdog over the boundaries of cities and special districts.

Consolidation could cut costs but also raises concerns about regulatory independence. Let’s hope for a “go slow” approach.

I’m all for cutting costs where appropriate, but we don’t want to risk losing our system of “checks and balances,” either. I feel the same way about the proposal to combine the two elected positions.

The county’s LAFCO commission members are Robert Bergman (Nevada City), John Drew (district), Kurt Grundel (district), Paul Norsell (public), Ted Owens (county), Hank Weston (county) and Lisa Swarthout (Grass Valley).

The background on LAFCO’s are here.

BTW, Jones (known as S.R. among “insiders”) remarked she is a regular reader of this blog and noticed the “new look.” Blogs like this are redefining our media landscape.

The year-round farmer’s market in Nevada City on Spring St., called the Nevada City Marketplace, is taking shape.

A new idea has been introduced too: fresh sandwiches, sushi, salads and the like “to go.”

The fresh, local food will be prepared at In the Kitchen on Zion Street, a popular cooking school with a new commercial kitchen. In the Kitchen is located across from the Gold Run School.

It’s a classic example of local businesses working together. “Farm to table” cooking is a growing business here despite the recession, as I’ve written before. Wendy Van Wagner of In the Kitchen and her brother at Bluebird Farm have been leaders in this trend.

Refrigerated display cases for the “to go” food, as well as fresh for fish at neighboring Nevada City Seafood, are being installed this week as the Marketplace takes shape. Local food from nearby farms will be sold too in food stalls.

A hair-salon operator wants to rent long-vacant space in the Union Street building in downtown Nevada City that is also occupied by Beach Hut Deli and the D.A’s office — a sign of revitalization.

It would mark yet another hair salon in the area, joining Stray Cuts and soon-to-open Bel Capelli on Broad Street.

On the other hand, as I wrote previously, the more upscale salons match our demographics of an older population. This one would have more than a half dozen hair-cutting stations and cater to men, too.

There’s another upside: The new businesses opening in Nevada City will draw locals, not just tourists — a needed step to diversify our economy. Other examples include Cal Organics and Nevada City Marketplace.

A barbershop was once considered a staple to any downtown. Grass Valley still has the Gentleman’s Quarters.

Sue Horne has filed her form 501, known as a “candidate intention statement,” to run for county assessor, according to the elections office.

As reported here first, Horne said she was seriously considering running against Ted Owens, her former colleague on the county board of supervisors, for the position.

Incumbents Greg Diaz (county clerk-recorder) and Hank Weston (supervisor) also filed their 501 form, according to the elections office.

Barry Pruett, a local GOP’er and “tea party” patriot supporter, previously filed his 501 form, as I reported.

In Nevada City, innkeeper Andy Howard is expected to run for the city council seat being vacated by Barbara Coffman, and incumbent Sally Harris will run again, according to my sources.