 A big thank you to everyone who joined me for a Community Chat at Poor Red's on Oct. 21. As the evening progressed, we had a full house with great conversation and dialog. I truly appreciated everyone's engagement as well as the opportunity to have a brief, general conversation around housing, to understand what you love about living in Diamond Springs and El Dorado, and to hear, firsthand, your ideas as well as concerns about additional development. Open dialog will lead to better outcomes.
Many people remarked how refreshing it was to have a space where we could have productive and respectful dialog, and I couldn't agree more! Of course, the cold beverages and good food at Red's didn't hurt either! Many thanks for chatting...we will do it again!
Really appreciate Poor Red's owner, Jeff Genovese, for hosting the Chat. Loved being on your fabulous patio!
 On October 11, I had a very productive meeting with California's Insurance Commissioner, Ricardo Lara, along with Supervisor Turnboo. A major goal of our meeting was to press upon Commissioner Lara how devastating insurance challenges (exorbitant prices and lack of coverage) are to the residents of El Dorado County, challenges that are compounded by the Caldor Fire. From my perspective, Commissioner Lara seemed to understand our strong concerns, and he is working on two initiatives that may be helpful.
One is to demand that the California Fair Plan offer a traditional insurance policy so homeowners only have to have one policy. When I asked about the affordability of that proposed policy, he did state that those details have not been fully vetted but that much of the cost of insurance is in administration. If you have two policies, you are paying double administration costs. SO, we will see about this "fix", but it is one step closer to rectifying the devastating costs of having to have two insurance policies.
The second initiative I am more hopeful about. Commissioner Lara is working to mandate that insurance companies have to consider vegetation management and resiliency efforts when they set insurance rates for homeowners. The goal is that if there is an incentive, property owners will make the investments to harden their homes and clear their properties. More to come about these measures and it was a productive discussion in helping Commissioner Lara understand our County's extreme needs and challenges.
 On October 14th, we had a very productive Redistricting Workshop because of all of the great public feedback and engagement. Thank you! Here is where the BOS landed.
We directed staff to take Map 1 (see above) and tweak it with the following parameters. As much as possible, 1) Keep Pollock Pines in one district. If not possible, make it only in 2 districts, not 3; 2) Work to keep Cameron Park in 1 district; 3) Keep Serrano HOA in one district; 4) Do not divide Camino or Diamond Springs or El Dorado; 5) Do not divy up "The Divide".
Our next Public Workshop will be Wednesday, November 3 at 9 a.m. where we will look at new maps based on this direction. Please stay engaged and give us your thoughts!
Redistricting Website
Once again, the heart of our County is beating strong as folks are coming together to rebuild the Grizzly Flats Community Center! So proud of our amazing, generous and loving community, and can't wait to see you all on October 28th!
"The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members."
Coretta Scott King
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