Whoopie! Looks like we may actually have an election in Nevada City this year -if all three potential candidates follow through. It’s a good thing, because for the NC to skip two elections in a row would have been somewhat embarrassing.
I should mention that the news of Evans Phelps last minute candidacy comes courtesy of “Scoop” Pelline, who gets bent out of shape when he doesn’t get all the credit for what happens in “his” town. I only mention him since he thought to bring my name into the discussion on his blog, in his usual snide manner. He likes to note that I live in Grass Valley now, which is meant to imply that I have no business even saying the name of my former home. (Even though over the course of thirty years I’ve lived on Spring St., High St., Nevada St., Boulder St., Grove St., Manzanita Diggins, Bourbon Hill, and for a while I lived in the old railroad shed on Sacramento St.)
It’s okay. I’m used to being on the outs with the ruling class over there. In my last post, I talked about “them good ol’ days” when I did campaign posters for Pat Dyer and Steve Cottrell. While both won their respective elections, neither were part of the clique that’s run Nevada City since the mid-eighties. As Steve told us, there was a concerted effort to keep him out of the mayor’s chair that lasted -what was it?- fourteen years?
Yeah, I’d call that a slight. I even commemorated the occasion with this cartoon. Thank goodness it happened before we all died and went to…well, you get the picture.
And now, in the last few days it appears that a new plot twist has been inserted into the 3rd District Supe race with the announcement of a proposed shopping center on Spring Hill, next to the yet uncompleted Dorsey Drive interchange. Immediately the internet was awash with conspiracy theories of collusion between “the good ol’ boys”, meaning Grass Valley mayor and supervisor candidate Dan Miller, the Ingram family, and the Darth Vader Development Corporation. It’s unclear, though, why this cabal would choose to announce this Darth Mall right before the election, arousing the sleeping hordes of naysayers who will now pour money and time into reelecting incumbent Terry Lamphier, whom they believe will oppose the project. Could such a conspiratorial axis of evil be that stupid? Anything’s possible.
But Scoop is on the job. Never mind that he just dissed me as an outsider who should not meddle in another city’s affairs of state. Never mind that he can’t even see District Three from his porch up on the hill. The standards are different for him.
As for me, I look forward to a spirited contest. I know Terry and Dan, although I am not close to either. I wish them both luck, and may the best man win. I would remind both of them that the equal treatment rule applies: If they get too negative I may have to do what I did with Van Zant and Seghezzi and draw them as they describe each other. Keep it clean. It will make my job harder, which will make some people happy.
Editor’s note to comments: No namecalling. Show some class, if possible. And have a nice day 😉
Interesting how the carpetbaggers feel they have solidified their positions in the community well enough to chastise those who grew up there for having an opinion.
It’s also of interest to note that, although I too lived in a list of Nevada City addresses that mirror your’s Bob, (including the same Boulder Street abode, when we roomed together), I also lived in a few in GV, but mostly, and much like the majority of locals, I lived outside of both towns. Add to that the fact that the sister cities of the foothills used to be thought of as one community when I was growing up, and it is even stranger to see newcomers stake out their imagined territories. It wasn’t until the 70’s, when NC started it’s move to restoration and GV began using the Marysville model of grow-any-way-you-can, that any discernible difference was noticed.
It’s tough to hear people throwing out trash like, “You don’t live here, so butt out'”, as if that erases all the memories of growing up there, and all the people and places you shared so much time with can be wiped away with a snide comment.
I don’t care if you were born there, or moved in sometime later: we are all just passing through. So, give it a rest, and be thankful that so many care so much about the place you call home. And remember; a patriot is by definition a fellow citizen; not just those who see things and act the way you do.
Re: “you don’t live here, so butt out”
Probably first said by the Maidu.
Definition of a flatlander: anyone who moves here after you
Re:Re: “you don’t live here, so butt out”
Quoted by Terry Pittsford, jeff pelline, the Maidu, and earlier life forms.
Flatlander: see earlier quote by Herb Caen. (below)
But yeah, you got it, Terry.
I moved to Nevada City in 1977 and am now an out-of-stater, but I sure appreciate being able to comment here –– especially when it relates to local politics.
When I arrived in Nevada City in ’77, I was very lucky. I was the Wednesday-Sunday night bartender at the National Hotel. I took over the shifts that Folsom Miles had worked for many, many years. And in ’77, the hotel bar was the social hub of the community. If there was someone worth meeting, they would inevitably be sitting at the bar sooner or later.
From the get-go, I received warm welcomes and handshakes from men and women who never once treated me as a newcomer. They treated me like a resident of Nevada City, pure and simple, and asked only that I give the town the respect it deserved.
Thinking back to those early years when I was getting acquainted with Nevada City, I had the pleasure of getting to know Vin & Joan Agar, Charlie Allert, Henry Anderson, Betsy Bennett, Wayne Brown, Babe Childers, Herb Dodini, Dick & Bev Hackett, Pete Ingram, Lee & Sally Lewis, Bill Lambert, Elza & Luvia Kilroy, Isabel Hefelfiner, Lon Cooper, Marian Libbey, Bob & Ruth Paine, Alice McGee, Ed Powell, Dave Tobiassen, Walt Warnecke, Dick & Jean Worth, Rick Worth, Christine Freeman, and so many others.
Those names have something in common: they are all deceased, and it was my honor to have known them. I learned something about the town from each person, and when I served on the planning commission and city council, I kept their vision of Nevada City in mind.
They welcomed me as a resident and not a “newcomer,” because I think they sensed that I didn’t move to Nevada City to change things –– I moved there to enjoy and appreciate all the work they had done to make it the amazing community that it was.
If that makes me a sour-puss curmudgeon today, then so be it.
Just to clarify: I didn’t use “newcomer” as a pejorative. I can’t count the good people I’ve known who moved into the area for reasons other than gain or power. May they continue to come. But, to one who was there before; a newcomer is, in fact, a newcomer, just as Herb Caen said a flatlander was someone who got there 5 minutes after you did.
Carpetbaggers, on the other hand, are truly contemptible, IMHO. And one of their favorite schemes is to criticize long-standing members of the community as a way of creating instant validity of their opinion; something akin to the notoriety achieved by shooting a celebrity.
Even though we only met occasionally, Steve, I never considered you anything but a friend. (By the way, I worked in the National kitchen with Chef Gary when the Ness’s owned it. I still remember his rich, classic dish; the Neptune, which was asparagus, crab and Bearnaise on a butterflied filet. Wow!)
Steve…your list of names is nostalgic for me. Went to school with some, and remember the others around town too. As a kid we lived on Park Avenue. A fun town to live in. Lots of wonderful people…and characters.
Well not really…one guy drops out and tells everyone to vote for someone else.
http://yubanet.com/regional/Op-Ed-Nevada-City-candidate-Jonathan-Valdman-Vote-for-Evans-Phelps.php
As the world turns…