Edelheit ready to take on role of county supervisor

Lisa Edelheit is confident in her abilities to take over as the new Mariposa County supervisor in District 1.

She was elected by a healthy margin in the recent general election and is now preparing to take over the seat held for 12 years by Supervisor Rosemarie Smallcombe.

“I’m probably the best positioned of the candidates,” said Edelheit, who has been regularly attending board meetings and has met with many people in her district throughout the campaign.

She also knows it’s a big undertaking.

“I have a lot to learn,” she said.

During her campaign, Edelheit traveled from Midpines to El Portal to Wawona to Fish Camp to Ponderosa Basin and everywhere in between.

What she learned “depended on where I was at,” she said.

In places like Wawona, Yosemite West and Yosemite Valley, she said the people there felt they were not being heard by county officials. She also learned there are significant agreements between the county and Yosemite National Park that have not been renewed.

“They feel like they are not getting the services they pay for,” said Edelheit.

One of the agreements involves firefighting and though all agencies continue to work together, the formal agreement has expired.

“That is a huge concern,” she said.

Another major focus for Edelheit is the fact there seems to be a disconnect between the county and Yosemite Hospitality, the concessionaire for the park.

Edelheit stressed that Yosemite Hospitality, a division of Aramark, is the “largest private employer” in Mariposa County.

“There is a real lack of understanding,” said Edelheit.

She said Yosemite Hospitality employs the “front line workers,” and those people are county residents. Some, she said, have long careers working in the park and nearly all of them live in Mariposa County.

“We need to bridge the connections,” said Edelheit. “I am hoping things get better with Aramark.”

She said there are some issues people don’t think about that are important. The Wawona Hotel, for one, she said, could be partially reopened which would be beneficial to everyone. She said a report has been completed.

The closing of that hotel has been a major hit to the county’s Transient Occupancy Tax collections and its future, at least the main hotel, is in doubt.

“Why not have more dialogue?” she said. “It is important to have a connection with Yosemite.”

In a couple of other places, Midpines and Ponderosa Basin, she said, one major issue that came up with the fact there is only one way out during a wildfire.

That’s also true in many other places in the county and an issue Edelheit said needs to be seriously addressed.

So many issues

Even with different issues in varied locations, she said there are many common issues, not just in District 1 but all over the county.

Fire insurance, water and wastewater, housing, roads and so many more, she noted.

Vacation rentals, too, are an issue and Edelheit said “we need to figure out how to deal with them.”

In some places, she said people want vacation rentals while in other places, they are not wanted.

Part of dealing with that, she said, is having enforcement, something the county really doesn’t have when it comes to vacation rentals, a sector of the economy that provides a lot of income.

“There is not an easy solution,” she said.

That issue relates to housing in general, which is certainly on the top of food chain of issues in the county.

“Housing is a huge issue,” she said.

Edelheit pointed out that when Aramark signed their initial contract with Yosemite, providing employee housing was supposed to be a part of the deal. That has yet to happen.

Up to snuff?

Another focus for Edelheit will be development codes, something she believes is the “number one” issue.

She is especially concerned about making sure the county’s mining codes are not updated because there are active mines gearing up to submit formal documents for permits.

Edelheit said the county needs some sort of mechanism to make sure those companies pay fees that will benefit county residents. She likened it to the developments north of Fresno, where housing developers have paid for fire stations, schools, roads and more.

“Everyone else does this,” she said.

She said she’s not against the mining aspect, but wants to make sure there are benefits for the county’s residents as well as ensuring it is operated properly.

“We need to make sure we do it right,” she said.

To do that, she thinks the board of supervisors has to take a hard look.

“We need a more focused board,” she said.

She also feels the county hires “too many consultants” and believes getting good employees could help solve that problem.

“We need the experience,” she said.

Some also believe the county is too top-heavy when it comes to administration.

Though Edelheit said she has to find out for herself, she did say “we need more workers. We need a creative, competitive environment.”

The union issue

During the campaign, Edelheit said she “took some heat” for getting donations from unions as well as the fact she was involved with unions in her career.

Edelheit spent 40 years as a union organizer, something she said “has trained me well” for moving into the role of a county supervisor.

Part of that, she said, includes being able to work with all of the parties involved.

“We can disagree and not be disagreeable,” she said.

In addition, Edelheit pointed out that unions are a big part of life in Mariposa County. In fact, the vast majority of workers in the county belong to labor unions.

County employees are all unionized, as are school employees, hospital employees, federal workers like the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and more. In addition, PG&E workers are in unions, as are CAL FIRE employees.

“These are the hard working men and women of the community,” she said. “Why beat me up on that? It’s your own people.”

Why run?

The question of why she ran is interesting because Edelheit said she had no intentions of seeking office.

It came when Smallcombe decided not to run again. Edelheit said Smallcombe has had her support since taking office, but when she made that decision, Edelheit began thinking harder.

“If not me, then who?” she said. “Somebody’s got to step up.”

So she did.

To get elected, Edelheit then had to run a campaign that took her to living rooms and barbecues and many other events.

“I worked it,” she said. “I was not going to run a social media campaign.”

All of that traveling opened her eyes about the various issues people care about — and they are broad.

That includes the fact Mariposa County has an aging population and it is a huge issue.

There is also the issue of the John C. Fremont Healthcare District, which though it is a separate entity, Edelheit believes it is directly tied to Mariposa County.

“I think the hospital is critical,” she said.

She feels the same about the schools, saying those, too, are tied directly to the success of Mariposa County.

Edelheit sees no reason why those three entities can’t work together on common issues for the general good of the public.

“The county has a role,” she said.

She also believes more efforts need to be made in developing more Firewise communities in the county. That effort is underway in Midpines and Ponderosa Basin, she said, and it can make a huge difference for residents.

Another thing she hopes to do is conduct town halls to better inform her constituents.

“They are good things to have,” she said. “I would like to do more.

All of that, and much more, is what drove Edelheit to seek the office of supervisor.

Come early January, she’s going find out how much she can get accomplished by being on the other side of the dais.

She knows it will be a challenge, but thinks by bringing issues forward, she can get things accomplished.