Editor’s note: I’m stepping aside again this week to let Jack express an opinion based on his recent investigations. BC As reported in a previous issue of the Town Crier, Idyllwild Water District General Manager Tom Lynch is taking the position that an individual member of the IWD board may not unilaterally get an item…
Last week, two Idyllwild School employees were honored by the Hemet Unified School District. Health Technician Melissa Churchill received Idyllwild School’s classified employee of the year award. Bob Leih received both the school and the district’s teacher of the year awards. Even though we had given both of these employees coverage in the TC for…
Raising a director’s compensation from $50 to $100 a meeting (including committee meetings) in 2013 hit a nerve. By voting out two Idyllwild Water District incumbents last November, the community obviously wasn’t thrilled with some of the past board’s actions. Because doubling sewer fees (and water revenues are going up while consumption is going down,…
We joked at the news meeting last week that this edition would be the Idyllwild Arts issue and we appear to have succeeded in that endeavor. Jack and I babysat grandkids Saturday night so we sadly missed our friend Marshall Hawkins’ Alumni Jazz Concert in the new William M. Lowman Concert Hall on the Idyllwild…
“If you think everything seems to be going well, you obviously don’t understand the situation.” “The light at the end of the tunnel is the head lamp of an oncoming train.” A couple of weekends ago, Jack and I joined Mandy at the Scotsfest on the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Mandy and I left…
Sometimes when I sit here early Tuesday afternoon, ruminating on a topic to write about, I read some of the Post-it® notes stuck on the edges of my computer screen. These notes help me access online research sites, list the numbers of each Xerox tray and jog my memory about things I might write about…
Back in early 2006, we started a news meeting in a local cafe, outside the confines of the office, to plan our weekly news budget. It became a habit and now we hold our news meetings most Wednesday mornings — publicly. The idea was to improve our news coverage through the give-and-take public interchange that…
I attended last week’s Governmental Affairs Day in Sacramento, speaking out to four elected officials on the propane issues we face on the Hill. The first was at the open mic following Santa Barbara Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s address. I spoke up then because she serves on the Natural Resources and Water Committee. She expressed interest,…
Last week’s Idyllwild Water District story and editorial about the board deciding to postpone a meeting illicited a rant from one IWD director. He took it so personally that he said unless we publish an apology to him in the paper, he will never answer a question JP or I ask him again. I asked…
“Inadequate quroum.” “Didn’t have necessary quorum.” Either way you say it, it’s stacking the deck, arranging a situation so its outcome fits you. That’s what Idyllwild Water District Prez Jim Billman and GM Tom Lynch did by canceling last week’s board meeting. Why? Because electing officers was on the menu, along with other matters. And…
