Aug 30, 2016-Rotary Forum

By Dick Dannells

Pres. Greg Baker opened the meeting at 12:38 PM, with on this date in history: Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005; Sandy Koufax set the National League strikeout record against the San Francisco Giants in 1959; and Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” made its debut in 1964.

Jeff King came to the podium to thank all those who made Summer Sizzle such a big success that included, but not limited to: Charla Anderson and Harlan Silva for check-in; Montisa Phelan Lopez and John Traversaro for facility arrangements; Connie O Henley and her team for ticket sales; Bruce Beaudoin and Erik Mund for bringing in the sponsors; Terry Fibich and his BBQ team that included Peter Candela and Joel Conn; Ashlea Boyer for running the silent auction; Steve Curry and his team of Sandy Lubin and Cliff Nagler for running the reverse drawing; Deenie Dotson and Scott Astrosky for keeping track of the raffle tickets; and Mark Olson and his team for running the bar. Linda Osty announced that 23 out of the 40 tickets to the Katcho dinner on October 2 have been sold and she is urging those without tickets to purchase the remaining 17. The big winners of $1071 in the Summer Sizzle reverse drawing included Charla Anderson, Sheila Hardy and Anya Stanley. Kari Ziegler’s Best Buy vouchers are worth $1000.

Ashlea brought up a bit of Summer Sizzle silent auction humor: Jeff and Sally King had the same paddle number, but were bidding against each other on a succulent plant and Jack Hardy took a gift basket for sale at the silent auction that his wife Sheila did not want to sell so she wound up having to buy it back. Pres. Greg announced that Jim Lewis is recovering from back surgery. He also urged everyone to consider attending the District Conference and Rotary international’s 100^th anniversary to be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on October 14-16. Karen Zappia announced that the District Gov.’s visit will take place on September 20 with the usual barbecue at Steve Curry’s ranch. Steve Curry announced that AmpSurf will be having their annual fund raising barbecue on Saturday, September 10. The big winners of $1071 in the Summer Sizzle reverse drawing included Charla Anderson, Sheila Hardy and Anya Stanley. Kari Ziegler’s Best Buy vouchers are worth $1000.

Fine master Jack Hardy had everyone stand and then asked those that were wearing Rotary pins to sit down. Lee Ann Liscombe, Steve Curry and Roger Frederickson were left standing and were fined $25. Roger Frederickson was about to be fined for not attending Summer Sizzle, but got off the hook by explaining that he was attending his daughter’s soccer tournament. Joel Conn was recognized for his wife Sarah’s birthday without a fine as he has the fine-free badge. Bonnie Mogan’s two-year club anniversary resulted in a $20 fee. Pres. Greg received a $25 fine for getting his dates wrong. Honorary member Paul Jones donated $25 Happy Bucks to celebrate his 87^th birthday

Pres. Greg introduced Dan, who holds a bachelor’s in business management from Michigan State University and a master’s of public policy from Cal Poly. He has worked his way up from Principal Administrative Analyst, Budget Director, and Assistant County Administrative Officer to his present position in 2012. His primary roles are to advise the 5 member County Board of Supervisors so they can make well-informed decisions; to oversee 2800 County employees  and the $571 million budget and finally to be the emergency service director in case of countywide disaster such as the recent Chimney Fire. That fire is now 80% contained with only a small outbreak in the North West corner of the county. The County is a political subsidiary of the state and is responsible for many diverse functions such as County schools, libraries, foster care, prosecution services and the county jail. The County is in good shape after successfully recovering from the 2008-2009 downturn. The county is at a 4 ½% unemployment rate and it’s adding employees incrementally using a slow steady approach. They maintain a 3% debt level, which allows them to have the highest bond rating and in refinancing a $150 million loan they saved a ½ million and interest payments. The biggest concerns at present are the water situation with the drought conditions continuing; the vineyards that require a high water usage; controlling the medical-use marijuana laws and the PG&E power plant that is scheduled to be closed in 2025. They hope to negotiate a present use of the desalination plant and someday actually purchase it out right when PG&E no longer has use for it. ¶

“When you get down to nothing, God is up to something.”