BOB PICKARD

The announcement that Bob Pickard will not run for re-election after
12 years of service to the voters of District 5 and Mariposa County
does not come as a shock. Most people who serve on the Board find
two terms enough, and some one. When you come from the private
sector and have been in business you find county government to be
very difficult. Not because it is too complicated for the average
citizen but because it isn't. Coming from a situation where one
makes independent decisions quickly in order to survive and are
responsible for the results for those decisions, having to respond to
the many rules, policies, laws and so on of state and county
government which often have either no relevance nor common sense,
takes a bit of adjustment. Once the adjustment takes place, usually
three years, the office holder begins to become useful and valuable
to the system.
 
Bob Pickard learned his lessons well. Not every vote over 12 years
was the right vote in everyone's eyes; not every position over 12
years can be the best for everyone; but he was faithful to the people
of his district and Mariposa County. His greatest ability was to
understand and work with state government, which is perhaps the most
important function of membership.
Not every Supervisor gains the skill and understanding of how the
State functions, but it is important that someone on the Board have
that chore.
To criticize that skill is to not understand that Mariposa County is
a legislative county; without a charter and subject to the whims of
the legislature and state government. If someone from our Board does
not take that responsibility, Mariposa County suffers.

I have spent a bit of time with Bob discussing the various matters
that I and he were involved in. I always found him intelligent,
respectful and helpful even when we did not agree, and that was not
very often. He was a Supervisor for most of my tenure on the
Planning Commission and I watched him study the issues and contribute
a great deal.

Recent events related to planning have exposed a number of
deficiencies with our planning system. First of all, the department
is understaffed is not argued. But there can be many reasons for a
department to have difficulties regardless of the level of staffing.
First of all, is all of the documents which are used to make
decisions are not consistent. That means that they do not agree,
which makes the use of them very probable and difficult for staff.
There are four levels of planning. First are the laws and policies
of all levels of state government. Then there is the General Plan of
Mariposa County, adopted less than a year ago. Next come the zoning
documents which are the operational policies which implement the
General Plan. That is referred to as Title 17. With out the General
Plan being legally consistent then a number of things can and do
happen. Having these two documents not agree becomes the basis of
legal actions against the county.
When no legal action is contemplated, having to administer the codes
become more of a discretionary decision of the Planning Director. No
one, no matter how skilled, can please everyone and especially when
having to make decisions affecting areas that are either not
addressed in the adopted documents or only partially addressed due to
a lack of review for consistency.

The next level is the Specific Plans for the communities of
Mariposa, Coulterville, Fish Camp and Wawona. Again, consistency
between these plans and the other higher levels of planning must be
in agreement in order to be useful. The big problem aside from the
lack of consistency is that over the years since the adoption of
Title 17 and the Specific Plans, has the county seen fit to fulfill
the requirements for almost constant review for the purposes of
making the documents useful to changing conditions and changing
codes?  The lack of an Advisory Council in the town of Mariposa may
make the political climate a little easier for both the Board and the
Planning Department, but is also removes the citizens of Mariposa
from the process. And it is certain that these citizen committees
who are not responsible to the voters would become rancorous, but are
very necessary. Why? Because the citizen planners take ownership
for the product and having the support of the community can not make
life worse for County Government.
An example has to be the imposition of parking standards on the
restaurant move in Mariposa this last week. Many communities which
are similar to Mariposa, not dependent on strip malls or wanting to
look like, say for example, Oakhurst, find that they lose the desired
ambiance when there is more land paved over for parking than
supporting activities. The other issue that has changed in Mariposa
over the last ten years or so is that many of our citizens and
visitors walk. Walking! What a unique concept. We build side
walks for walking; creek walks for walking, and then cancel the
advantage of walking by insisting on more and larger parker lots.
Motels have parking lots: many businesses have parking lots; the
county has parking lots and the Downtown Parking District has parking
lots. The risk here is that we will have more square feet in parking
than we have in useful activities.
The Town Planning Area of Mariposa very badly needs a citizen
advisory group. The problem it is stated that the Planning
Department is understaffed and can not serve the advisory group.

Here is a Flash!
Title 17, which has served us for twenty years was not crafted by
the Planning Department. In fact, when it was found that progress
could not be had having a professional planner attend the meetings,
the committee worked without one. No doubt the decisions of the
Advisory Committee had to be reviewed by the Planning Dept and County
Council, but the job got done.
Imagine that.

The retirement of Supervisor Pickard leaves the field in the hands
of Sheriff Allen, the announced candidate for the seat. Since we
will soon be asked to make some selections for Supervisor in three
districts in Mariposa County, maybe we could make a list of things
that we are interested in and why. At the top of the list is to
rescind the ordinance that ties Supervisors salaries to those of the
Superior Court Judges. The Supervisors get their pay raise each year
before they negotiate with the employees and Department Heads. What
kind of position does that place the Board when having to negotiate
with the employees?
Next should be the reactivation of the Advisory Councils in all
communities that have a Specific Plan, and adopt Specific Plans in
other communities which qualify. Get the planning process squared
away so everyone knows what the rules are and why. There are more
things but that can wait. These two are quite a bit to bite off.

Leroy Radanovich

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Leroy Radanovich

To Read More By Leroy Radanovich:
Leroy Radanovich's Mariposa Life Archives
 

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