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Volume 171 • Issue 65 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Friday, June 3, 2022
Placerville budget
Council makes room for more veg management Andrew Vonderschmitt Staff writer On May 23 Placerville’s city manager, department heads and City Council met to hear a presentation from Finance Director and Assistant City Manager Dave Warren and discuss a proposed balanced budget for fiscal year 2022-23. The budget projects more than $11 million in general fund revenues with roughly $10 million in expenditures for the fiscal year. After anticipated budget requests that include capital improvements, computer equipment, additional or expanded staff and training requests, the draft budget anticipates a $74,000 surplus at year’s end. Requests for additional personnel in several departments — police, engineering, finance, community services, development services and administration — would come with a total additional cost of approximately $850,000. The lion’s share of that cost would come from the general fund with American Rescue Plan Act and water and sewer enterprise funds picking up the slack. The Capital Improvement Program budget came in at just over $6 million. The CIP includes expected items like public parking rehabilitation, street maintenance projects and sewer system maintenance. A few standouts include environmental clearance and conceptual design for a new public safety building and a roof replacement for historical City Hall at 487 Main St., both of which are financed through ARPA funds. Placerville Drive bridge widening and pedestrian and bicycle facility improvements, covered through Measure L funds, are also included. Vegetation management became a priority discussion when Placerville resident Sue Rodman asked for additional support in making her town fire safe. “The one deficit I see here is veg management,” she said, advocating for vegetation management to be added as a line item on the annual budget. “If you don’t, nature abhors a vacuum and it will grow back.” n
See Budget, page A8
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
A crew with A1 Drilling Co. takes samples for soil tests June 1 as El Dorado County moves forward in possibly building a navigation center and short-term homeless shelter on Perks Court off Missouri Flat Road.
County takes another step in homeless shelter effort Eric Jaramishian Staff writer El Dorado County is moving fast to develop a short-term homeless shelter and navigation center by fall and has taken its next step toward that goal. Per direction from the Board of Supervisors, county Health and Human Services Department staff are looking into two locations — county-owned property on Perks Court off Missouri Flat Road adjacent to Highway 50 and the Gold Trail Motor and Motherlode lodges at 1970 and 1940 Broadway. The hotels are in Placerville and the Perks Court site is just outside city limits. Health and Human Services Director Daniel Del Monte told
“There have been unmanaged camps in (the Missouri Flat Road) area as well as Placerville and this is a tool to deal with unmanaged camps, recognizing there is no perfect place.” — Wendy Thomas, District 3 supervisor supervisors at a May 24 board meeting that negotiations are currently under way with the owner of the hotels. Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors approved a contract with Livermore-based contractor G&G Builders Inc. to complete preconstruction work on Perks Court to determine the timeline, costs and feasibility of a navigation center with an emergency component. Del Monte said the process
could take 45-60 days to complete. If all goes well, the county could have its short-term navigation center by October this year, according to Del Monte. Public opinion shared at the meeting generally praised supervisors for taking action on developing a navigation center. Navigation centers, as defined by the county, combine shelter and supportive services with an end goal to exit individuals out of n
See Homeless shelter, page A9
Farewell, friend. Wally’s love and kindness remembered Julie Samrick Special to the Democrat
H
e was slight in stature, but Wally
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Richardson was a giant of a man. An El Dorado Hills resident, veteran and neighborhood greeter, Wally was ultimately a friend to all who knew him. He died peacefully on May 21 with his wife of 64 years, Jenny, by his side. He was 98. After retiring from a career as a commercial airline pilot, Wally remained true to his roots, never wavering from the power of human connection. “‘This is your captain speaking,’” Wally mimicked his pilot self when we sat down in late 2020 for an interview about his life. “I would stand in the door and I could tell that people liked having me say goodbye to them.
The word ‘goodbye’ is actually a contraction of a little English prayer, meaning ‘God be with you,’ so when you’re saying goodbye to someone you’re really saying, ‘God be with you.’” After moving to El Dorado Hills from the Bay Area 20 years ago, Wally recalled how much a simple greeting could affect people while he was out on his daily walk up and down the Lake Forest corridor. He began waving to passing cars and greeting those on foot with his famous “k-nuckle” bump, particularly Marina Village Middle and Lake Forest Elementary students as they walked to and from school. Wally made it his
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mission to uplift as many people as possible, eventually handing out bookmarks and mugs he had made with his inspiring Wally-isms inscribed, including “the only time you look down on someone is when you’re helping them up” and “be kind whenever possible.” Wally often spoke about the ripple effect he hoped his actions would have on young people, citing Saint Mother Teresa’s words, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” In 2016 Wally was Marina Village Middle School’s first promotion speaker, and he and n
See wally, page A8
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Photo by Diane Orciuoli
Wally Richardson’s signature smile and wave was a mainstay near Marina Village Middle School and Lake Forest Elementary School in El Dorado Hills. Thousands of students enjoyed “Wally-isms” and friendly greetings nearly every day.
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