Friday night on Channel 18, and episode of California Connection was
aired that had been produced last year. A portion dealt with the
rock slide and the effects on the economy of Mariposa. It did
mention that the detour had been built but the information that was
given left the impression that Mariposa was on the way to becoming a
Ghost Town. Actually it was not a timely report because if the
producers at Ch. 18 had been at the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee
meeting in Fresno last Thursday they would have seen quite a group of
ghosts there to press for Mariposa County to be a full fledged member
on that committee. Mariposa County was granted membership owing to
the fact that from the beginning Hwy. 140 is a designated AMTRAK
corridor from Merced to Yosemite National Park.
Late last spring Supervisor Bob Pickard wrote a letter to the
Committee requesting membership for Mariposa County. That started
the ball rolling. Supervisor Fritz and Supervisor elect Aborn
attended a meeting in Merced reinforcing the request. Some members
of the Committee were not so receptive to the request but listened
politely. As it turned out the Committee asked for a formal letter
from the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors which was slow in
getting to the table. Finally, after Supervisor Aborn joined the
Board, he and Supervisor Fritz pressed for the proper document to
request membership which the Board provided, and hopefully the rest
will be history.
Why should Mariposa County care about having a designated corridor
on Hwy 140? For one thing, all of the AMTRAK literature shows our
All Year Highway as being the preferred route for rail passengers
debarking in Merced for their visit to Yosemite. It is preferred
because it is the shortest all weather route into Yosemite Valley.
That was the reason it was built in the first place in l926. But the
important point here is that our Supervisors did not give up, which
would have been easy. And our community did not give up which is
testified to by the number of merchants who took time from their
businesses to ride AMTRAK from Merced to Fresno and back for the
meeting. Further, and perhaps most importantly, Mariposa must
continue to support our Supervisors in their attempts to encourage
the state and CalTrans to affect a permanent solution to the rock
slide that is damaging our economy.
Last week at a special meeting at the Government Center, the Board
of Supervisors took testimony from Mariposa citizens, from the Park
Service, Delaware North, Yosemite Resorts, various county
departments, businessmen and women and ordinary citizens (not that
ordinary) about their concerns relative to the long timeline that
CalTrans has published regarding the final solution. In a letter to
the Board from CalTrans, they seemed to offer a shorter time period
for the beginning of the final solution from a planning period of
three years to about 18 months. The reason for the lengthy planning
period is because so many agencies need to review the plan which has
yet to be selected.
May I be so bold to point out that the final solution will come
about regardless of the tinkering of various agencies which exposes
the nonsensical position we have gotten ourselves into regarding the
need to satisfy every nitwit agency and requirement before anything
can happen. It is as if tribute must be paid to the gods of planning
before anything can happen. The system has adopted the seemingly
important artificial pretext of making every decision a melding of
opinion rather than technically superior choice. The solution to the
problem created by the slide could be facilitated far quicker if we
could somehow circumvent the need for each element to some how
demonstrate their relevance or justification. Do you know that the
whole highway from the town of Mariposa to El Portal was built in
1924 to l926 in less than two years? That is without all of the
advanced technical machines and advantages of our modern society.
The labor was provided by prisoners.
Let's go back to the letter crafted by the Board of Supervisors
requesting admittance to the Rail Committee. The original letter was
straight forward, said what it meant and asked for action. The Board
took hours dissecting the words attempting to not make any one mad at
us. When we have a strong, truthful and correct position easily
defensible, we only offer opportunities for others to deny our
requests because they view us as uncommitted or weak.
I was told that the testimony offered by the visitors to the Board
was not strong enough to give the Board the information that they
were looking for. It must be clearly understood that those who
testify about almost anything have a reluctance to offer too much
information fearing that the Board would be offended. We are in a
struggle for our very existence as a county and community and it is
no time to be timid. At my age I may not know how this all turns out
but I will tell you from years of experience in such things that if
those elected to represent us do not stand firm and resolute in the
face of seemly impossible odds, that they will have failed us.
They do not have to be rude or cruel but just hold their ground.
The State of California is going to spend 98 million dollars to con
us into believing that we will become more relevant if we hold our
Presidential Primary in Feb. 2008 instead of June. Nuts. The real
goal is to lift term limits on legislators. That 98 million could be
spent in many better ways, including paying off the debt. A bit of
it could be spent restoring Hwy 140 or even doing a better job so
that the 28 foot restriction on vehicles can be lifted. (Tour buses
are 40 and 45 feet long). That 98 million could go towards
upgrading the infrastructure of California. Or, it could be left
with the private sector for reinvestment in job creation in our
communities. You see, the political establishment thinks that they
know better how to milk the cow than the farmer does.
For many months, and even years, families in Mariposa County have
been waiting to invest their hard earned (already taxed) capital in
new projects. Projects that would bring jobs and economic strength
to Mariposa County. I pointed out last week that it is the
responsibility of the Board of Supervisors to see that these
opportunities are not lost due to the inaction of government. We
have a General Plan and we have Specific Plans which we adopted with
the idea and understanding that once we reviewed the contents and
approved of them, then we could follow the plans and move ahead with
our lives. The promise of Planning in our county has failed us and
we must respectfully ask our elected representatives to take charge.
It was easy enough to give 4% raises to Department Heads, (some much
more). It should be just as easy to make government work.
To learn much more about Mariposa County along with
historical photos:
A signed copy of "Images of America" - Mariposa County,
By Leroy Radanovich can be purchased at his web site:
Radanovich Galleria & Books
This is a early day photo of the Mariposa Mine in
Mariposa County
that is mentioned in the article to
the left by Mr. Radanovich.
This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a
warm tone ready for framing
Radanovich Galleria & Books
Mariposa in 1920
This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a
warm tone ready for framing
Radanovich Galleria & Books
Mariposa County Courthouse written by Leroy Radanovich and
Scott Pinkerton is a book about the oldest courthouse in California that is still in use today.
The book is signed by Leroy Radanovich.
To purchase the book:
Radanovich Galleria & Books
Mariposa in 1860
This photo and others can be purchased in various sizes.
All prints are archivally printed on fiber based paper, given a selenium wash which renders the photographs permanent with a
warm tone ready for framing
Radanovich Galleria & Books