About
I'm not afraid to get in the grime to get things done.
I also know to seek the advice from those who are experts in their field. I have the wisdom enough to listen to those with years of accrued knowledge, and the sense to apply that to actionable solutions.
Picture of me getting inside a fermentation tank, arms above my head with bluette gloves.
My Story
I was raised in Placerville. I was the kid riding my bike on the horse trails and coming home at dusk. Exploring the outdoors solidified my love for California's nature, there is no other place as beautiful. I graduated from high school early to take more academically rigorous classes at the local community college, Sierra College. I transferred to the best public school in the state: the University of California, Berkeley, where I earned a BA in English. I was so excited to go to the same university my grandfather went to on the GI Bill after WWII.
After college, I moved to Orange County to live with my grandmother. I was honored to help her in the sunset of her life, and her kindness to all, fierce independence, and lightning-quick wit are qualities I hope to emulate. I jumped into work in the restaurant industry. I met my husband and shortly after we married we moved across the country to Pittsburgh, PA to experience real winters. There, I turned my work in restaurants into a full career in the service industry, starting as a server and ending as the General Manager and sommelier of two restaurants. I learned from those with more knowledge than me, worked long and hard, and helped train new employees in the art of hospitality (and how to mop). Restaurants taught me how to work as a team-player and a leader in high-stress environments, make the right decision quickly, and how to train and empower those around me.
Living 2500 miles from home, we really missed our family in California. And when a miraculous opportunity to work at a local winery in Placerville came along, we packed our bags and cat, and drove across the country again.
Shortly after our daughter was born. The pandemic allowed us to spend some precious family time together, and then the Caldor fire came and nearly burned the winery I was working at down. When the chance came to move to rain-filled Humboldt, we took it. There I continued my service-background by working for Eureka City Schools as the Principal Secretary of Eureka High School. I made sure to connect with every worker there; the janitors, lunch ladies, painters, aides, teachers, administration, and my fellow secretaries. Working at the High School is like a microcosm of the city. And there I learned that everyone who worked there was very much involved because they care about the future of the kids. I learned much about public funding and dove into two special grants that make auto-shop and other technical career training at high school possible: CTEIG (the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant) and Perkins V. This opened up my eyes to how vital these grant programs are to having robust and interesting learning in schools, and how they can help in other areas.
We moved to Redding in 2024. I've prioritized raising our daughter and devoting my time to volunteering in the community. I'm the treasurer at her school's PTA and volunteer with her Girl Scouts troop. I love getting to pour myself into the community, and I see being a City Council member as another way to give back.
If you ask those who have worked with me, they would say I am hard working, open, honest, and want the best for everyone.
How to Bridge The Funding Gap
On Oct 20, I received an email from David Benda from the Record Searchlight. Below is his email and my response to his thoughtful questions. I originally posted this on Facebook.
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This is David Benda with the Record Searchlight. I am doing a story about the Redding City Council race. The story will focus on the city’s financial crisis and what are some of the ideas you have for turning the tide, so to speak. I am sure you have seen the latest budget reports and revenue assumptions from the interim finance director.
How would you close the funding gap?
The city’s plan already includes cutting police and fire jobs. Would you support further reductions in those departments? If not, what would you cut instead?
Are there city services or programs that are off limits from funding cuts.
The city and county over the years have tried and failed several times to pass tax measures to help raise revenue. Would you support more efforts to go that route? If not, how do you propose to bring in more money to the city?
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Hi David,
Since working with tight budgets is something that is not new to me, here is what I would do.
I think the thing we need to accept is that the economy is in a down turn at the moment. With an ongoing war happening, the fuel prices are going up, which raises the cost of everything. I believe the revenue assumptions at 0% growth for this coming year are a good place to start. None of us have a crystal ball to know if 2027 is going to be a growth, stagnant, or constricting year, but as actual monies in have been less than projected, 0% seems like the right number to work with.
The budget plan put forward is trying to achieve the 10% reserve fund by 2031. I would look to see if building that reserve fund is something we should review during a low or negative sales tax revenue year. Is building that reserve fund at the expense of our city services something we want to undertake in the coming years? Especially if revenues fall short of projections.
I would work closely with the City Manager and Department Directors to review their budgets. The plan accepted with revisions by City Council at the last meeting captured some of the vacancies that have been created over the last year during the hiring freeze. Striking those from the budget so we can realize their savings is the first place to start.
Looking at the pie chart of what the City spends its money on, police and fire are the biggest chunk of the general fund. I would ask for their detailed spend reports and take time to look at every item spent to locate any savings I could find. Travel for professional development, contracts for services, materials and supplies, all need to be reviewed.
My goal will always be to preserve as many jobs of our civil servants as possible. I would like to exhaust every avenue possible before seeking furloughs or cutting more positions.
I think that if more tax measures were to be brought up, it absolutely needs to be done in partnership with the people. Right now, the people have said “no new taxes - do with what you have.” So that is where we need work.
Money Saving Options:
Accept the plan put forth by Nick Zettel to bring electric customer service in house. With that plan, we save $1.55 million over 5 years, give better customer service, and create 8 jobs created from rate-payer money that go directly back into the community. That is not only saving money for the utility, but investing in our community at a small scale.
Another option for saving money would be to revisit this decision to move to Oracle. In conversation with many directors, they have expressed it’s lack of functionality and that it can add to the work load by being more time consuming than their previous system. The cost of Oracle is $400k/year. That it is a subscription service, and owned by Larry Ellison, are two things that I dislike. I want to see if we can go back to AS400, find and train up programmers, and bring our data back from the rented cloud and secure on our own servers. It may cost a bit up front, but the overall savings and better data security would be worth it. If you have ever bought a lemon of an appliance and had to go back a year later to get the better one, this is exactly how I see this move to Oracle.
Money Raising:
Work with City Manager and Department Directors to identify any missed areas of potential revenue. They will be more aware of ways their departments can raise money that is specific to their departments.
In times of financial distress, the lure to sell off city assets is big. I do not think that is a good strategy for making money. Leasing properties is something I would consider.
I would also dedicate staff to seek and apply for grants.
Let’s ask our neighbors with money. Can the Redding Rancheria donate money for a needed project? Sierra Pacific?
This is just a start. I value working with the professionals who put in their effort daily to run this city. I'm positive we can come up with even more solutions together.
Thank you for your questions,
My Findings on Circle 6 & City of Redding
Oct 6, 20206
Non-Agendized Public Comment
Elise Ramirez Sloan
As you know, I am not fond of no bid contracts. I did a few records requests to find out more information regarding the city and Circle 6, and I wanted to share this information with the public.
What I found out is that 2/3rds of the no-bid contract for $300,000 came from Enterprise Funds. And from their reserve fund at that! If you look at the contract, their formula for costs outlines that 1 day of 1 of their consultants work is $2,800. 1 person’s work day, almost $3000. It also includes an optional phase five, of which more contracted services are recommended for a period of 1-3 years.
I went looking for information about Florida based Circle 6 and their credentials on why they might be appropriate to conduct an audit for the city, I see that they’ve worked with the Department of Defense, US Army, Navy, and Veterans Affairs, all federal level agencies, but not any municipal government let alone a CA municipal government. I also did not see any accounting credentials on their website. I also did not find Circle 6 or any of their principlas on the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Which is where registered cpas can be found. I found interim finance director Joe Bowers easily.
That the city council would fast-track this contract shows a lack of discernment.
I also discovered that there was a second $78,000 contract with Circle 6 to pay for a re-organization study of city services in July. This is within the $200,000 limit that the city manager can authorize without council approval. Was the contract executed before Circle 6’s recommendation for further services at their presentation during the last council meeting.
$78,000 is a lot of money for a reorganization study, that to my opinion, is something that falls under the duties of the City Manager’s office and could be completed with department directors.
The combined $378,400 could almost cover the full salary and benefits of the city manager for a year. A fully outfitted patrol car is $90,000. The salary of someone working the front desk in the permit department starts at $47,000.
In reviewing these contracts, and that this city council chose Mr. Tarbot as city manager, I do not trust this current city council to make sound financial or personnel decisions that support the long-term stability of this city. Economic ups and downs will happen, and the decisions of this council have long-term repercussions. This council appointed a city manager who quickly contracted almost $400,000 to a firm based out of Florida, instead of bolstering current staff or seeking services at a better price, and that concerns me.
