Welfare queen mentality combined with rah-rah palaver reveals mayor’s conceit and ignorance
If you are going to brag, it shouldn't be about getting a welfare check from the government.
Category Analyses
New court case against city: nepo baby vs. whistleblower
An employee pointed out his boss, the mayor's son, O.J. Hechler, was hired as a felon who was still on probation, in violation of city policy. He was fired shortly afterward.
From “Exceptionalism” to “Exceptionalism”
If you have never heard of Carl Schmitt, you've missed the glue that holds all the Administration's actions together. Schmitt was Germany's leading jurist in the 20s and 30s. As professor of jurisprudence he wrote political theory attacking liberal parliamentary democracy. Those books are the blueprint of the new America.
Rough start for Sierra County Arroyo Flood Control District Directors
Can this board set the mission and policies that will stick? They have 10 months as temporary appointees. Or will their work be wiped out, swept away by successors, since each of their five seats will be on the November 2025 ballot?
What’s in a name? Reading @realDonaldTrump on Truth Social
Two days ago, @realDonaldTrump posted a glorification of ICE activities in Los Angeles. I analyze the writing to look for the real Donald Trump and what he is really saying to us as he advocates for an expansion of deportation.
City Manager Gary Whitehead is exercising oversight over capital projects
Whitehead is saving the people a lot of money by critically evaluating capital projects and just in time. Over the past 10 years capital projects have burgeoned from less than $2 million a year to $73 million this year due to long neglect of city infrastructure.
T or C Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan–process and projects list pared down for greater impact
Next year's ICIP process will be better, since new City Manager Gary Whitehead is making city doings a thousand times more transparent. This year's process was the same kabuki theater.
Copper Flat Mine: Water, water administration, and water law
This article is a long comment on Kathleen Sloan's analysis, "New Mexico Copper Corporation will still use a lot of water" (https://sierracountycitizen.org/new-mexico-copper-corporation-will-still-use-a-lot-of-water/).
New Mexico Copper Corporation will still use a lot of water
270 jobs for maybe 20 years if copper prices don't fall in exchange for a polluted site for 100 or more years that will repel tourists and recreation seekers? Sounds like a trade-off a desperate third-world country would make.
Justice, law, and order
Our president's Big Beautiful Bill hides a small passage which makes contempt of court decisions of federal courts completely meaningless. To explain the importance of this new rule, I go back to my earlier discussion of justice and focus on the type of justice called "equity." It's a big deal.
Solar farm has not been operating for two years
The usual passivity from T or C city commissioners when the electric department director reported the solar farm hasn't operated for two years. We're just hearing about it now? Cancel the stupid contract for nonperformance while you can!
County Commission passes .50 mill levy for Sierra County Arroyo Flood Control District
How many voters understood they were raising taxes when they approved the new flood control taxing district on the November 2024 ballot? How many voters understood there was already a 1.50 mill levy for flood control?