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Volume 170 • Issue 72 | 75¢
mtdemocrat.com
Monday, June 21, 2021
County government getting back to normal Chris Daley Mountain Democrat correspondent El Dorado County government will “open” once again for business Tuesday June 22. After more than a year supervisors will convene their first public, in-person board meeting beginning at 9 a.m. that day. The Mountain Democrat asked each supervisor, Chief Administrative Officer Don Ashton and Clerk of the Board Kim Dawson to comment on some of the challenges they and their staffs have faced over the past year. Although District 2 Supervisor George Turnboo and District 3 Supervisor Wendy Thomas only began their official terms of office in January of this year, both have had some negative and some positive experiences on the job. “It will be really good to get back to normal,” Turnboo said in a phone interview Wednesday. “I’ve been positive and diligent reaching out to
constituents. I’m a hands-on guy and I really enjoy helping people.” He said he looks forward to meeting with people face to face and he expects a good public turnout at Tuesday’s meeting. Turnboo said he has met with Congressman Tom McClintock a couple times, including once at his District 2 office. “I think it’s the first time Tom has been to a supervisor’s office,” he added proudly. They are working together on forest management issues, revitalizing a robust logging industry and exploring the possibility of opening a co-generation plant in the county. Thomas wrote, “One of the more significant impacts has been the lack of ability to connect. People haven’t been in the office and we haven’t gathered with staff around a conference table to rumble with issues. Our (complete) board has never been together in a board meeting.” n
See Back to normal, page A2
Mountain Democrat photo by Eric Jaramishian
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors will be back in its meeting room Tuesday as in-person meetings return.
Mountain Democrat file photo by Gray Baker
Phil Mosbacher, with family at his side, is sworn in as El Dorado County surveyor by Judge Suzanne Kingsbury in January 2019.
Surveyor Phil Mosbacher dies Mountain Democrat photo by Sel Richard
A group dedicated to preserving the El Dorado Hills sign on the south side of Highway 50 is asking for the public’s help.
Community effort may bring facelift for 60-year-old EDH sign Sel Richard Staff writer The beloved El Dorado Hills monument sign gracing the southern hillside along Highway 50 has garnered the attention of some intrepid souls who are now asking for community support.
Spearheaded by resident Wade Klinetobe, the EDH Save Our Sign Committee recently received approval from the Rolling Hills Community Services District Board of Directors to begin fundraising efforts toward a full renovation. The structure sits on land owned by that CSD. It is a welcome step toward the goals of eight volunteers who, earlier this year, sanded and repainted the monument letters and cleaned the surrounding area with personally donated materials. “The scope of most major repairs would either involve surrounding the existing sign with a rebar cage, encasing it in shotcrete/concrete and then either reapplying more stone veneer or stamping the shotcrete to have a similar stone
appearance,” explained volunteer John Davey. “These ended up being six-figure projects.” Other options considered include the deconstruction and subsequent rebuilding of the stone wall or the filling of interior void space and re-grouting the exterior stone veneer. Not only are these possibilities less expensive, but the sign would largely retain the same appearance. Davey indicated that surveyed community members expressed a preference for the sign to “look the same — no changes.” Local firm California Masonry Concepts, based in El Dorado Hills, has generously agreed to take on the project and is providing materials and labor at cost. The committee has now begun a campaign to raise $10,000. “This will cover the repair
costs and allow for a contingency budget in the event of additional costs,” said Davey, adding that this first phase will only bring the sign back to its original appearance, albeit better than its original condition. “The sign has been in place for almost 60 years so our hope is that these repairs should allow the sign to exist unchanged for another half century.” The committee hopes to start renovations this summer, contingent on fundraising results. Future phases will focus on vandalism resistant security measures. For more information or to make a donation visit edhsign.org or follow edhsign on Facebook and Instagram. Visits to the sign are prohibited without a signed waiver from the Rolling Hills CSD.
Andrew Vonderschmitt Staff writer El Dorado County Surveyor Phil Mosbacher died unexpectedly June 10. He was the first of his 15 siblings to be born in Placerville. His parents Howard and Lucille Mosbacher moved the family from Los Angeles to the foothills in 1959, packing up nine children and heading for a new home, sight unseen. Phil grew up with the wilderness at hand and loved the outdoors so much that later in life he graduated from California State University, Humboldt, with a degree in forestry. In his younger years he was known to be curious and fearless. And though the fearless spirit never abated, it was accompanied by careful thought and consideration in later years. Sister Eileen Cleland, two years his junior, recalled that Phil and his younger brothers were always to be found in the woodshed building “some kind of unsafe contraption.” “He was a genuine, beautiful soul,” she said. “If there was anyone who was a special person, it was Phil.” A graduate of El Dorado High School, Phil was a skilled high school athlete, playing both soccer and football. In 1977 he earned his place on the allleague football team. He also spent a large part of his youth in the 4-H program raising pigs. Sue Mosbacher, Phil’s wife of 19 years, reminisced about their first meeting on a church singles bike ride. “He would zip up and go off-trail and grab elderberries for us to snack on,” she said. “He basically was a big kid in a grown man’s body, just full of energy.” They became an “old married couple,” she said, explaining they knew early on they were going to be together. He became an immediate father for Theresa, Sue’s daughter, and she and Phil’s n
See Mosbacher, page A6
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