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Arts group to move as Old City Hall deemed unsafe Andrew Vonderschmitt Staff writer In early August a Placerville building inspector revoked occupancy of Old City Hall at 487 and 489 Main Street, leaving tenant Arts and Culture El Dorado without a location to do business. Options left for the Gold Rush-era buildings owned by the city are restoration, demolition or vacancy, according to city staff. Also known as the ketchup and mustard buildings, the one painted red at 487 Main St., began its life in 1860 as the Confidence Engine Company’s fire station. The mustardcolored building, at 489 Main, was built by Emigrant Jane in 1861 after she sold a herd of wild horses she brought from back East to Placerville.
Old City Hall
Mountain Democrat photo by Krysten Kellum
Built in the 1860s, Placerville’s Old City Hall has been deemed unsafe for occupancy. Timber shoring and scaffolding have been in place since 2021 as the city tries to stabilize the structure.
Arts and Culture El Dorado has resided at Old City Hall since September 2018, when it entered into a shortterm lease with the city to utilize the ground floor space as offices and small exhibition space. City officials say they knew the roof of the n
See old city hall, page A10
PG&E offers direct payments to Mosquito Fire victims via program
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Pacific Gas and Electric Company is offering direct payments for those whose homes
Volume 171 • Issue 129 | $1.00
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Friday, November 4, 2022
Mountain Democrat staff
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were destroyed in the 2022 Mosquito Fire. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, PG&E executives project a “probable” loss of $100 million in connection to the forest fire. Part of the utility’s Community Recovery Program, PG&E officials state their goal is to resolve claims within 75 days from the time a claim is submitted. The program was launched in May and has issued more than $37 million in payments to 2021 Dixie Fire claimants, according to a PG&E news release. Fire victims can submit claims using an online portal at DP4CR.
com. Across El Dorado and Placer counties, 78 homes were razed in the 76,788-acre Mosquito Fire that started in early September and was reported fully contained Oct. 22. A U.S. Forest Service investigation into the cause of the blaze is under way. PG&E spokesman James Noonan told the Mountain Democrat the state’s “application of inverse condemnation makes energy companies strictly liable for damages from wildfires caused by their equipment, even when all safety and operational requirements are followed.”
PG&E officials are asking those impacted by the blaze to submit a claim with supporting documents to receive payment “to fully settle and resolve” losses. Officials note payments will be based on “an objective framework that uses information about the impacted property, including square footage, acreage and any available insurance, to calculate an offer.” “Resolving claims in a timely, open and transparent process will be a critical part in helping restore the places that our customers and n
See PG&E, page A2
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Auditor Harn facing lawsuit Noel Stack Managing editor The El Dorado Hills Community Services District is taking its public fight with county AuditorController Joe Harn to court. Last month the EDHCSD filed a lawsuit against AUDITOR-CONTROLLER Harn, who purposely JOE HARN left Lighting and Landscaping Assessment District fees charged by the CSD off property tax bills. At that time, the auditor said he took action after noticing discrepancies in the assessments between what CSD consultants submitted and what the EDHCSD Board of Directors approved. He then asked CSD officials for a letter “indicating that the CSD board was responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of the assessments,” as it had done the prior year. No letter was received. “The CSD sued Harn in 2017 related to the CSD’s failure to comply with the Mitigation Fee Act,” states a news release from the AuditorController’s Office. “One of the outcomes of that litigation is that the CSD now is required to indemnify Harn and the county from any errors (in) the CSD’s … fees under the Mitigation Fee Act.” EDHCSD officials see it differently. In October the district posted a statement on its website claiming, “… the requirement of the county auditor (the indemnification letter) is not based in any law or fact. Rather it is about his office being bothered by questions from the public; a basis in conjecture of a slipshod civil grand jury report about LLADs, and; his concern for the district charging a lessor assessment than the maximum permitted by resolution of the district board of directors.” A letter sent directly to the auditor accuses Harn of “political pandering” and called him “a bully on the playground.” Fall 2022 property tax bills sent out excluded assessments for more than 20 EDHCSD LLADs, an approximately $1.4 million loss for the district. EDHCSD General Manager Kevin Loewen earlier said scheduled upkeep will continue as usual in those LLADs. Harn received a copy of the lawsuit this week, calling it “a colossal waste of money.” “I was served a 117-page document (the lawsuit) and I haven’t read the whole thing,” he shares in his news release. “I did notice a significant error right up front. The suit states that the CSD board voted unanimously to charge its residents these assessments; actually, Director Heidi Hannaman voted no. Interestingly, the CSD’s GM signed a verification under penalty of perjury indicating that he is responsible for the accuracy of the statements in the lawsuit and he believes the facts are correct.” The Mountain Democrat reached out to Loewen for additional comment regarding the n
See Lawsuit, page A3