Letter to the Editor: Why I want to be your next supervisor
My passion for the Lake Almanor Basin began as a young boy when my parents loaded us up in the family station wagon and headed up old highway 32 to spend the summer in Plumas County.
My love of this area continued to grow and in 2016 we were thrilled to finally retire and move to Chester and make it our forever home.
Even before Covid and the Dixie fire while attending the Board of Supervisor meetings I became acutely aware that there were issues within the county that were being ignored. I made the decision to seek the position of Plumas County Supervisor to see if could help guide Plumas County in a positive direction. Not to the left or to the right but forward. The role of a County Supervisor is and should always remain non political and non partisan.
With the loss of 55 county employees over the years someone should have taken notice, I know I sure did. We are currently competing with much larger counties that are able to offer much larger salaries and benefit packages. How do we top that? We promote the things that bigger counties can not offer. The beauty of this area, limitless recreation options, the charm of a small community and a lower cost of living and the comradery . Though the salaries offered here may not match those of a metro area we have them beat hands down in every other aspect of a better quality of life.
The current county employee situation began years ago with prior BOS focusing on county expenses and overhead and not address the issues of providing a living wage for county employees.And the exodus began.
With the designation of a Disaster Zone being declared by Governor Newsom additional funds have and will continue to be made available to help Plumas County recover from Covid and the Dixie fire. We can and should direct some of these funds to employee salaries. None of this will happen overnight. We all know only too well how incredibly slow our government moves. I am sorry to say this but, we all need to be patient a little while longer.
I see a community coming together and sharing thoughts and ideas in an open forum, and in Town Hall meetings. Let’s promote the momentum, the excitement and the community involvement that we are now seeing in this community.
If I am fortunate enough to be successful in my bid for Plumas County Supervisor I promise that when I take the California Oath of Office I will take it on behalf of all the constituents of the Almanor Basin and Plumas County.
Tom McGowan
Candidate for Plumas County Supervisor District 3