Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Other Position Filled; No Candidate For Two Seats In November

First there was a vacancy in ward 6 for Gurdon's City Council, after Russell Hansen moved out of the city limits.

Then came a resignation in ward 1. However, instead of resulting in two vacancies on the council, the slot in ward 6 was filled -- by the councilman who resigned from ward 1.

In Monday night's council meeting, Tammy Pledger submitted a letter of resignation from ward 1 because she had recently moved from the district. She was nominated and approved to represent the voters in ward 6, where she moved to.

Now, there is a vacancy in ward 1, which will most likely remain unfilled until the Nov. 5 General Election, except for the fact no one filed for this post by the Sept. 6 deadline.

Actually, there could be two vacancies to be filled on the council following the election. There are no candidates in either ward 1 or ward 3. Currently, David Williams is the representative for ward 3, but isn't seeking reelection to the city board.

Roy Quinney, ward 5, also isn't looking to be reelected, but this district has Phillip Giles as its candidate.

In ward 6, Tammy Pledger and Glen Hughes show to be the only contested race.

Gene Flowers will continue to be the councilman in ward 2, while Edna Cooper will retain her position from ward 4.

Following the resignation and appointment of Pledger, it was business as usual in a shorter than normal meeting.

Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith said a different mechanic had to be found to repair the damaged police car because the original mechanic was going on vacation. However, he said the car should be ready by Friday, hopefully.

A letter has also been sent to the Rural Advocacy Committee asking it to reconsider the city's application for a grant to purchase hand-held radio/pagers for the Gurdon Fire Department.

The city had submitted two grant applications to the agency at one time, with the other being for playground equipment for the park.

RAC regulations only allow for one grant application at a time, and because the park grant was received first, it was dealt with in that manner.

However, the city doesn't have to go through the entire grant writing process again for the radios, which is why the letter was written to the RAC.

Smith said there are currently two vacancies on the GFD. Applications can be picked up at Jake McBride's service station, the city recorder's office or at the Gurdon Police Department.

The applicants will then undergo the city's normal hiring process, including going through the personnel committee screening.

Smith said the city is going forward with its cleanup campaign. The street department's salary budget is in good shape, so Smith allowed the crew to work Saturday in preparation for the Forest Festival and Air Expo.

Once some of the current street work is completed and out of the way, Smith said city crews will begin working on a beach volleyball court at the city park. It is hoped to get this project completed before winter arrives.

The council heard the second reading of an ordinance to create a police department account for drug buys.

This ordinance, if approved on its third reading next month, would regulate the use of drug turnback money from other agencies to Gurdon's Police Department.

The ordinance would mandate the funds be placed in a separate account with both the mayor and city marshal needing to sign before any money could be removed from the account. In addition, the marshal would keep $100 on hand at all times for buys.

Expenditures of more than $100 would require approval of the council. This was questioned by Williams, who said it could take as long as a month for the GPD to get the money, unless a special meeting is called.

City Marshal David Childres said it wouldn't be a hardship for his department, as few drug buys locally are for more than $100.