Editor’s note: Jack’s turn again this week. Shortly after the 2013 Mountain Fire that destroyed homes and caused the evacuation of thousands from our Hill, the cost of suppressing that fire was estimated at about $27 to $28 million in taxpayers’ dollars, the greater portion of which was borne by the U.S. Forest Service. Two…
Many of you may not know that the Town Crier is as old as Idyllwild Arts. Our first issue printed in November 1946 and we are working out plans to celebrate our 70th year later with readers and advertisers invited. I love looking through past Town Criers and often get lost in reading old stories…
Tuesday night, we not only inched, but leapt a vital step toward building the Idyllwild Community Center because of Supervisor Chuck Washington. This is much like when the former Supervisor Jeff Stone took a decades-old movement to expand our local library and pushed it forward so we now enjoy not just more space, but modern…
Editor’s note: In light of the recent closed dealings at both Idyllwild Fire Protection and Idyllwild Water districts, I’m taking a break again this week to let my newspaper colleague, Brian Hunhoff, speak his mind on open government. Ten Commandments for open meetings By Brian J. Hunhoff “I think heroic deeds were all conceived in…
Many Idyllwild residents take issue with any suggestion of replacing the local fire/ambulance department with any other. They feel that any outside entity taking control of the station would eliminate local control. I think IFPD ceded local control years ago. Most of the employees are off Hill residents, just like at the two Pine Cove…
By all indications, I believe that Idyllwild Fire commissioners and the San Jacinto City Council knew about and condoned the Joint Powers Authority to provide fire protection service to a population about 20 times larger than Idyllwild. The IFPD chief claims he and the SJ city manager put their heads together on this thing on…
My accumulation of things over the past 58 years causes me to prefer acquiring experiences as gifts on occasions, such as birthdays and Christmases, instead of more stuff. So, as my birthday approached last weekend, I decided to fly from a conference in San Francisco to Seattle to visit close friends. I wanted to experience…
Editor’s note: I’m stepping aside again this week to let Jack express an opinion based on his recent investigations. BC It appears that Idyllwild Water District’s GM Tom Lynch is at it again. On Monday, April 11, IWD Director Steve Kunkle sent an email to Lynch asking to attend the next agenda meeting that Lynch…
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors developed an ingenious idea recently to deal with that pesky state open-meeting law, the Brown Act. In its straining to develop a balanced budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year a few weeks back, Supv. Kevin Jeffries saw a need to create four subcommittees to deal with areas of the…
That administrative law judge rendered his decision to reverse Capt. Jim Reyes’ termination in July 2014 from Idyllwild Fire. Sadly, IFPD’s pride proves too great to accept it. The district’s legal fees continue mounting, primarily because of this and Reyes’ separate and pending civil lawsuit. Last fiscal year, IFPD exceeded $100,000 in legal costs; this…
