News release

Michael Flaherty has been appointed the Rescue Union School District Board of Trustees to fill a vacancy left by Michelle Bebout’s resignation to assume her elected four-year term.

Flaherty was selected at the board’s Jan. 31 meeting and will serve the duration of Bebout’s two-year term. The seat will be up for election in November 2024.

there was a bit of buzz in the community and we wanted to make sure we got ahead of that and that our team members heard directly from us,” Minor added. “That’s why we shared early without having a concrete plan.”

Minor added that the South Lake Tahoe City Council and city manager were informed in advance as well.

“We didn’t want them to think it was Raley’s pulling out of South Lake Tahoe. We remain committed to our Emerald Bay (Road) location,” Minor said. “I don’t want the team or the customers to think we didn’t want to stay.

It has always been our intent to stay in this location. We hoped for a different outcome.”

South Lake Tahoe city officials stated they would miss Raley’s but the change also opens opportunities for other businesses.

“Raley’s has been a great partner and will continue to be in the location at the Y,” said assistant city manager Lindsey Baker. “We will certainly miss them being there but also look forward to seeing what may be on the horizon.”

The announcement came months before plans had been solidified for the store closure, which is set for sometime in early June, Minor said, Minor added that while the early announcement is out of the ordinary for the corporation, the usual progression of closing a store is to relocate employees to other Raley’s.

Both the Heavenly Village and Emerald Bay Road stores are unionized. Minor said they will be working to honor those employee contracts. It is unclear how many positions will be filled at the Emerald

Michael Gordon. “It was abundantly clear during the interview that Michael has a servant’s heart and is dedicated to our students and community. We look forward to working with Michael for the benefit of our Rescue USD community.”

MiChAEl FlAhErty

“We are glad to welcome Michael Flaherty to this position,” said Board of Education President

Flaherty and his family live in El Dorado Hills. He will take his oath of office and be sworn in as trustee at the Feb. 21 meeting of the RUSD Board of Trustees.

Bay Road location with those displaced from the Heavenly Village location.

When asked if Raley’s may open any other locations within a 30-mile radius of South Lake Tahoe, Minor said they have been looking into options.

Trustee

“It is the greatest honor and privilege to serve on the Rescue USD school board,” stated Flaherty following his appointment.

RUSD Superintendent of Schools Jim Shoemake welcomed Flaherty to district leadership, noting, “Michael has been deeply involved in our community for years and our board is stronger as a result of adding him to our team.”

El Dorado County Fairgrounds

Mountain Democrat photo by Krysten Kellum

Fairgrounds Continued from A1

“We are really grateful for the collaboration we had with El Dorado Transit and the air quality department and we continue to encourage ridership on the shuttle to get as many people through those gates as we can,” Dunkak said.

Dunkak described 2022 as the fair’s “comeback year.” She noted parking sold out several times the weekend of the fair’s return following two years off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That time around, more than 70,000 flocked to the fair in a matter of four days. Attendance records going back to 2002 show a previous high of 67,000 attendees in 2019, the last time the fair was held.

Fairgrounds facilities are utilized and rented out almost every day of the year, according to Dunkak. Some rentals are as small as a meeting of 10 or as large as a music festival.

Dunkak anticipates other improvements that are part of the fair’s five-year capital improvement plan will be completed by the end of this year, such as remodeling the fair’s board room and improving washing racks in the goat barn.

Strategic goals of the nonprofit Fair Association include revamping building spaces, including the Mark D. Forni Building. The largest indoor facility on the fairgrounds named in memory of the past fair board member and longtime friend of Placerville Speedway is slated to get ADA compliant restrooms as well as audio and visual equipment upgrades.

The first 17 acres of land on which the fairgrounds sits was purchased from the Forni family in 1939 using state money, according to historical information listed on the Fair Association’s website. Most of the facilities that stand on the fairgrounds today were built between the Great Depression and World War II as part of Works Progress Administration and New Deal programs.

The Board of Supervisors voted to approve the Fair Association’s budget of $1,642,363 for 2023, but not without having a discussion about a need for the fair to have a capital reserve fund.

The fairgrounds are owned by El Dorado County but maintained by the Fair Association.

Funding for capital improvements have historically come from the county’s General Fund.

“I think it is time to consider how do we move beyond that and make the fair operations selfsustaining,” posed John Hidahl, District 1 supervisor.

Dunkak said it is a prospect they struggle with “constantly.”

The Fair Association’s goal is to leave the majority of its profits in a county account to be used for capital upgrades.

“We’ll pick the most dire project and hammer that one out, then we have unexpected ones that come up that fortunately within our revenues we are still able to cover,” Dunkak said.

Hidahl suggested the Fair Association be a candidate for Transient Occupancy Tax funds “from the standpoint of impacts from tourism,” adding the board could consider the topic in the future.

“There are no guarantees but when we get to the annual budgeting process and look at how can we distribute those funds on the West Slope for these kinds of resources … is that a category that makes sense for the board to start putting some revenue into?” Hidahl asked. “Hopefully as we grow our TOT funds, there will be more funding available and we can consider it in the future.”

American Rescue Plan Act funds in the amount of $800,000 helped the association repair and replace asphalt along with other needed projects last year.